National ICT Australia Ltd (NICTA) founding chairman, Neville Roach AO, has announced his decision not to seek reappointment and to retire from the position.Roach has held the position of Chairman since NICTA’s incorporation in September 2002.

Neville Stevens AO, was elected as the new chairman. Stevens assumes the position after two years as dDeputy chairman.

A prominent figure in the Australian technology industry, Roach has been involved with NICTA since 2001 when he chaired the consortium that was selected by the Australian Government to establish and develop a pre-eminent national ICT Centre of Excellence under the Federal Government’s Backing Australia’s Ability program.

The successful consortium partners and now founding Members of NICTA are the New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory Governments, the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the Australian National University (ANU).

The organisation was formally launched in May 2003, with its headquarters at the Australian Technology Park (ATP) in Sydney and research sites at the ATP, UNSW, and ANU. Since then, NICTA’s footprint has extended nationally with new sites in Victoria and Queensland and links with research institutions in Western Australia. NICTA now has 16 research programs across Australia, over 40 individual research projects, and around 350 staff and students. The company has also commenced collaborative projects with industry, including IBM and Microsoft and SMEs including Canberra’s The Distillery. In 2004, it filed four patents.

With over four decades of experience in the ICT industry, including 10 years as chief executive and seven as chairman of Fujitsu Australia, Roach has been instrumental in defining NICTA as a publicly funded, commercially-driven research body. He has also played a key role in establishing links between NICTA and leading researchers, institutes, technology companies, and financiers in Australia and overseas through his leading position with Australian and international business associations.