Published on the 02/12/2014 | Written by Newsdesk
A disagreement about the direction NICTA should take when it loses federal funding in 2016 has prompted the resignation of CEO Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte…
The turmoil continues for National ICT Australia which now finds itself with a new boss as well as an ongoing funding dilemma.
NICTA, which was founded in 2002 and has since gone from strength to strength – currently producing one in four of the nation’s IT PhDs – learned in the May budget that the Abbott Government was cutting it loose and would stop all funding from 2016.
Since then Professor Durrant-Whyte has led a strong push to forge industry and university links.
Earlier this month NICTA announced a tie up with RMIT University on a joint data analytics lab valued at around $1.5 million.
It also runs joint research programmes with the Australian National University lab; Swinburne University and Monash.
In May NICTA also became the first organisation to join the Telstra Research Partnership Programme and there have been reports that the agency was in negotiation with Indian IT company Infosys about a potential partnership.
Until a long term successor is appointed, NICTA has named Duane Zitzner, a member of NICTA’s International Business Advisory Group, as CEO. Zitzner recently retired from HP and currently serves on the boards of Alien Technology, Entone, ProStor, Synnex, and Firetide in the US.
The NICTA board is chaired by Neville Stevens who leads other directors Professor Michael Brooks, George Campbell, Jennifer Clark, Michael Deaker, Tony Henshaw, Professor Peter Lee, Professor Mary O’Kane, Glenn Wightwick and Russell Yardley.
According to a statement released last week Professor Durrant-Whyte and the Board of NICTA had “differences of opinion regarding the strategies and governance structures required to secure the medium and long term future of the organisation. These differences were unlikely to be resolved. They centred on the role of the CEO and the Board in determining alternatives for the future of the organisation beyond June 2016.”
Clearly Professor Durrant-Whyte lost that tug of war. He will however remain with NICTA until early 2015.
