Advisory board
Human Centred Innovations is backed by an expert advisory board that helps guide our product development and strategy.
Rod Gallagher
Partner, Deloitte Consulting, Deloitte Australia
Rod specialises in technology and operational change with a focus on delivering business outcomes. Rod is a partner at Deloitte Consulting focused on Business Transformation using SAP solutions.
Whilst Rod has undertaken engagements in a number of industries, his primary Industry focus is Consumer & Industrial Products.
Rod has 32 years’ experience in Consulting gained in global consulting organisations in Australia, Asia Pacific and the UK. Rod has worked on major IT projects throughout his career and currently leads Infosys Consulting’s South Western Practice based in Melbourne. This Practice has grown from 8 consultants to over 100, including 70 employees and 30 contractors serving some of the largest organisations in Australia.
Prior to rejoining Deloittes, over the last 4 years Rod has lead engagements that have focused on developing IT Strategies and Roadmaps through to the implementation of solutions for these clients. These implementation projects mainly related to the new and emerging SAP solutions.
In addition, Rod has worked with clients to exploit the latest technologies in the use of Cloud and Omni-channel solutions. This work has been in a variety of organisations including ANZ Bank, NAB, Orica, Ixom, DuluxGroup and Asahi.
Rod is also the Chair of the Industry Advisory Board for La Trobe Universities Post Graduate course – the Masters of Business Information and Management Systems. Rod also sits on the Industry Advisory Board of La Trobe Universities Post Graduate Masters in Predictive Analytics and Cyber Security
Andrew Davidson
Advisory Board Chair, General Manager, Software Development, Telstra
Andrew is an experienced executive in Telstra, promoting, driving and delivering innovative solutions for users of telecommunications services. He holds a number of appointed positions across social, commercial and educational bodies which provide him a unique, wide-ranging perspective.
He is the General Manager of the Software Engineering team within Telstra's Global Enterprise Product Engineering team who are responsible for delivering innovative solutions to the market to help businesses thrive in a rapidly changing, highly competitive market. With 20 years of experience across Telstra, Andrew's career has traversed many areas in the business, resulting in a deep and well-rounded understanding of not only the technical side of the Telecommunications industry, but also the commercial and human challenges involved in delivering world class products to market.
His formal training in Computer Science and Engineering have allowed him to reach out across business boundaries to work as a Research Specialist, a Research Manager, Innovation Leader, Product Manager, Product Strategy specialist, Customer Experience Manager, Product Infrastructure Manager, Technology Manager and now General Manager delivering solutions used by over a million users in enterprises across Australia.
As a direct result of this broad exposure, Andrew is deeply passionate about the ability for small, cross-functional teams to deliver value to market rapidly, seeking wherever possible to focus on incremental delivery of capability over the more traditional, "big bang" approach to Go-To-Market activities.
Outside of technology, Andrew has invested time to the growth of Disabled Sport (specifically Volleyball), having worked as an International Referee for the World Para-Volley organisation (formally WOVD), and representing the Asia-Oceanic Zone as Secretary General to the AOCVD from 2002-2006. This period saw incredible growth in the sport in our region, particularly in disadvantaged countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar, helping bring a sense of pride to individuals who have suffered terribly due to war and poor medial access.
He has worked as the CEO and Chairman of the Australian National Homebrewing Conference, and President of the Melbourne Brewers, seeking to strengthen the social bonds between homebrewers, raise the profile of home brewing as a hobby, and help develop a ground swell of enthusiastic brewers transitioning into commercial breweries, building a strong local industry providing growth in employment opportunities in the process.
Andrew is a member of the Executive Council of the Royal Society of Victoria, acting as Honorary Treasurer. The Royal Society of Victoria convenes an independent community of science practitioners, educators, adherents and enthusiasts who advocate for and advance the value, prestige, excellence and visibility of scientific education, methodology and achievement within and for the benefit of Victoria, promoting the importance of scientific endeavour in today's world. Founded in 1854 the RSV was the birthplace of the early infrastructure and social planning that led to Victoria's success. Today the RSV seeks to promote science as a discipline amongst our younger generation to ensure that Victoria plays a continued and valued part in the development of Australia as a global intellectual powerhouse.
Andrew has been a senior lecturer at RMIT, where he taught a masters level course in Software Engineering, leading the transition towards Agile Delivery in Australia by delivering real-world industry perspectives on what was failing in the software industry, steering students on a path to alter that through application of Agile methods.
He continues his contribution to education as a member of the Advisory Council for the Master of Business Information Management and Systems at La Trobe university.
Brad Wynter
Organisation Improvement and Smart City Innovator, City of Whittlesea, Melbourne Australia
Brad Wynter has worked in Local Government for 8 years at the City of Melbourne and 17 years at the City of Whittlesea. Brad was brought into Whittlesea to establish an innovation unit. The innovation department has since won 14 national awards and 4 international awards. This includes recognition by the Intelligent Community Forum based in New York for the development of a Smart Community at Whittlesea in 2007, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Brad has qualifications in psychology, sociology, electronics, computer programming and business.
Brad was awarded the Australian Telecommunications User Group Excellence in Communications Management Award in March 2011 for his work in establishing a Smart City focus and facilitating broadband at the City of Whittlesea and local government sector telecommunications leadership.
Professor Toyoaki Nishida
Professor at the Department of Intelligence Science and Technology, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University
Professor Toyoaki Nishida is a professor of Department of Intelligence Science and Technology, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University. He received the Doctor of Engineering degree from Kyoto University in 1984. His research centers on artificial intelligence and human computer interaction.
He was appointed an Associate Member of the Science Council of Japan, a vice-president of Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence (JSAI) and a member of the board of directors of Information Processing Society (IPS) Japan. In 2001, he founded a series of international workshops on social intelligence design. He opened up a new field of research called conversational informatics in 2003. He currently leads several projects related to social intelligence design and conversational informatics.
He serves as an Editorial Board member of several academic journals, including Web Intelligence and Agent Systems, AI & Society, and is the Editor-in-Chief for Journal of JSAI.
Dr Samantha Loi
Psychiatrist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
Dr Samantha Loi is a trained old age psychiatrist working at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Unit since January 2015. Dr Loi has just completed her PhD with the University of Melbourne, and her thesis investigated factors associated with depression in older carers. Her other interests lie in exploring how technology can improve the quality of life of older adults, and the history of psychiatry. She is also involved in volunteer work at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre for the last decade and presented some of this work at previous RANZCP Congresses.