Mary O'Kane AC
... is the company's Executive Chairman, and leads all projects undertaken by the company. As a computer engineer undertaking pioneering research in artificial intelligence, a former university vice-chancellor, a member or chair of many Government and private sector boards and committees, an active consultant and public speaker, Chief Scientist and Engineer for the State of New South Wales 2008-2018, and current Chair of the NSW Independent Planning Commission, Professor O'Kane has an extraordinary breadth and depth of experience in the innovation, research, higher education, energy, ICT, public policy and development spheres. She also has extensive national and international networks reflecting this expertise.
In the innovation sphere, Professor O'Kane has been a reviewer for several innovation agencies in Europe, including the FFG, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, and VINNOVA, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems. She is frequently invited to give keynote speeches on productivity and innovation.
Professor O'Kane has a history of carrying out reviews of government and scientific agencies in Australia and has been significantly involved in many research centres, currently chairing the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre and the Space Environment Management Cooperative Research Centre.
In the higher education sphere, Professor O'Kane was Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide from 1996-2001 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) from 1994-96. Before that, she was Dean of the Faculty of Information Sciences and Engineering at the University of Canberra. Through O'Kane Associates she advises many universities in Australia and the region.
In the energy sphere, Professor O'Kane was Chair of the Board of the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, and in 2018 a member of the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market, and chair of the NSW Energy Security Taskforce.