James Kelaher
James is a leading adviser on business and technology strategy, specialising in improving services to consumers and citizens. He is a founder and director of the Smart group of companies (www.smart-group.com.au), which focus on technology, telecommunications and digital service delivery, and provide incubator support and capital to innovative start-ups.
Previous to this, James worked in the private sector running technology, manufacturing and outsourced services businesses for ADI, owned by Thales, the French multi-national. He has also been a managing director and board member of the Health Insurance Commission (the statutory authority which previously ran both Medicare and Medibank Private), a deputy secretary in the Department of Human Services and the chief operating officer of the Australian Federal Police.
He was involved in a number of early government online health initiatives, chaired the Australian government’s PKI registration authority charged with introducing information security to the health sector was the founding chair of ‘ECLIPSE’, the Australian health insurance industry’s transaction exchange for public and private hospitals and health funds.
James has spent considerable time looking at the online environment around the world and is a highly regarded expert on issues such as governance, data protection, identity management, citizen adoption, standards, regulatory arrangements and best practice.
He is a member of the National Consultative Committee on Security and Risk and the National Standing Committee on Cloud Computing. He is also a director of QEStel, a regional telecommunications provider and TrustWorks360 an online identity solution developer which follows the privacy by design principles. James holds a bachelor’s degree in Arts/Commerce, an MBA, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Risk Management Institution of Australasia, the International Association of Privacy Professionals and is a Fellow of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants.