has left Orion Health and is now a management consultant, drawing on his CIO and CISO
experiences across the globe for nearly two decades.
Kennedy joined Orion Health as a contractor in February 2012, and was made chief information security officer six months later. The CISO role was then integrated into the inaugural CIO post. He was also an advisor at KPMG for almost a decade, and was IT security architect with IBM Global Services for four years.
Kennedy has been a guest lecturer at the CIO program of the University of Auckland and says he will continue to support programs to train the "next wave of industry leaders".
Ashley Mudford is now the principal advisor, secretariat lead, at the Department of Internal Affairs, following three-and-a-half years CIO at the Department of Conservation.
John Ruthven is the new president and managing director for SAP Australia & New Zealand. He succeeds Andrew Barkla, who is taking on a new role outside the ICT industry.
Ruthven joined SAP in January 2014 as the regional lead for cloud and line of business solutions across the SAP Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) region. He will be reporting to regional president Adaire Fox-Martin.
Edwina Mistry: Clarion call to support the next generation ICT leaders
Edwina Mistry (right) of the Manukau Institute of Technology is one of the organisers of the Shadow IT program. (Photo by Jennie Vickers)
The Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) and LearntoMod are calling on schools to participate in the first JHack
JHack will bring together over 20 high schools and 100 students across Auckland in a series of programming challenges in a competition format. “The ultimate goal of JHack is to introduce programming to kids in a fun format to show how they can be a part of New Zealand’s digital economic future,” says chief organiser Edwina Mistry, MIT industry and community engagement manager.
Mistry says the program welcomes ICT companies and ICT departments to support it as sponsors or mentors.
"In order to address IT industry shortages, it is important to encourage kids starting at school to look at IT as a career,” says Mistry. "JHack is an opportunity to show kids IT in a positive and fun context."
“Some school kids, parents and caregivers buy into the myth that IT career means being highly technical and steeped purely in the Maths and Sciences. However in reality, IT has various options including programming, infrastructure, project management, sales, and IT support to name a few; all roles that benefit when people from a diverse background become involved.
Daniel Martushev, chief engineer at HP and JHack organiser says as an IT professional he has attended hackathons and seen first-hand the surprising and innovative ideas communities develop over the span of a weekend event.
“These programs involve kids in a fun format, showing how they can play a role in the country’s digital future..
“On a personal note, I have been teaching my six-year-old son how to program using some amazing kid friendly tools. As I’ve watched him enjoy learning what he can ‘create’ with code, I’ve decided to help drive the creation of a hackathon in a kid friendly format with the ultimate goal of having fun while learning.”
Mistry says invited schools will field teams of students to work through a series of programming tutorials earning badges as they progress over the month of June. The first 35 teams to qualify will be invited to compete at the final event on the 4th of July, held at MIT’s new Manukau campus.
The final competition will pit teams against each other for prizes requiring kids to use programming and problem solving skills learned during the June build-up event.
Mentors from the IT industry will be assigned to work with each school, she says. These industry mentors will provide support, guidance, encouragement and promote self-esteem and independent thinking.
Simon Taylor is now working on contract as senior project manager at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. His previous role included head of enterprise delivery at Kiwibank and director of a consultancy on transformation Programmes
New executive appointments at Origin IT: Simon Tong as non-executive director on the board; Steven Gregan, CFO; and Carolyn Dunn,,marketing campaign manager.
