PETER AUHL

CEO, EQi CONSULTING

DIGITAL INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR 2019

CIO OF THE YEAR 2017

Peter Auhl is a multiple award-winning CIO who leads organisations through transformational change and drives innovation to achieve better outcomes for communities. With over 20 year’s experience in State and Local Government and private industry, Peter has removed barriers and helped IT and Government to “get out of the way” and enable people to make their own decisions and shape their futures.

Passionate about putting people at the centre of everything his teams do, Peter has led large scale implementations across State and Local Government departments, changing how people interact with government services and information.

From searching for rare opals during his time in the mining industry to designing solutions to complex problems that solve issues for the State of South Australia, Peter has received praise for his innovation from Steve Wozniak and Sir Richard Branson.

Peter was the keynote speaker at Committee for Wagga's Smart City Seminar in March 2019. More information about this project can be found here.

CHRIS THORPE

CEO & FOUNDER, LEADING EDGE DATA CENTRES

Chris Thorpe is the CEO and founder of Leading Edge Data Centres. He has spent his career leading, transforming and growing businesses through different technology and economic cycles, and regulatory environments. Chris has gained extensive knowledge with over 27 years experience both in the IT and Telecommunications industries across USA, Europe and Australia. 

Chris is a visionary who continuously strives for innovative solutions.  His vision for Leading Edge Data Centres was to provide Regional Australia with the same internet connectivity and pricing as the capital cities.

JACYL SHAW

GLOBAL DIRECTOR

GHD DIGITAL D-LAB, GHD

With over 20 years’ experience delivering innovation, Jacyl is the Global Director of Digital Lab at GHD Digital - the fast-growing digital transformation and technology engine of GHD, a global professional services firm with 10,000+ people and 200 offices worldwide. Working with multi-sectoral clients from higher education, industry, start-ups, accelerator hubs, government and research agencies, she provides tailored consulting programs, projects and services.

Prior to her current role at GHD Digital, Jacyl was Engagement Director at the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Connect - a capital and cultural transformation project creating an innovation district on the former Royal Women’s Hospital site. Her expertise has been shaped earlier through her experience as a strategic adviser, corporate lawyer, Supreme Court Judges’ Associate working abroad and founding several start-up businesses.

Jacyl creates and delivers new value creation initiatives and ways to foster “innovative and creative” thinking and doing. At GHD Digital, she executes upon a corporate digital innovation strategy that includes Smart Seeds, an award-winning global innovation program for clients, stakeholders and communities across more than 15 cities worldwide.

In 2019, she was awarded Microsoft Executive of the Year as part of the Women in Digital Annual Awards. Jacyl was also the 2018 scholarship recipient from Chief Executive Women and the Harvard Club of Australia to study ‘The Future of Work in the Digital Age’, delivered by the Harvard Business School.

Jacyl has a BA, LLB, LLM and a Masters of Enterprise and sits on several boards.