Valda is the CIO at Australia Post and is responsible for strategy, planning and the delivery of all information systems, supporting architecture and facilities management. Before joining Australia Post, Valda held positions of Finance Director, and Executive Director Information Systems, respectively. Most of her career has been spent with Carlton and United Breweries Limited.

Valda has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Science from Melbourne University.  She is also a certified practising accountant and a member of the Australian Computer Society. Her experience includes various senior accounting positions, company secretarial positions, business planning and information technology roles.

Jane Lomax-Smith is a pathologist, with a background in research and teaching in Adelaide, London, and Boston. She is now a consultant pathologist in private practice.

Prior to being elected Lord Mayor of the City of Adelaide in May 1997 she served five years as a City Councillor, with membership on a myriad of committees. Her decision to become involved in public life is centered on her sense of equity, justice, and fair play.

Since taking on the mantle of Lord Mayor, Jane has championed such issues as preserving Adelaide’s unique heritage, maintaining and improving the city’s vital park lands, and supporting the development of strategic programs which address the city’s social responsibilities. She is also a strong voice in opposition to discrimination, supports reconciliation, and defends equal opportunity for women.

Sharon Brown is a dynamic businesswoman. She currently holds the title of West Australian Telstra Businesswoman of the Year and is the first female to be elected to the position of Convenor at the Australian Information Industries Association (AIIA).

Sharon has held positions both in Australia and America that have increased the fortunes of the respective companies and currently manages over eighty staff for AlphaWest, the biggest multi-disciplined information technology company in Western Australia.

Valerie Pretzel, Director of Pretzel Logic, WA's leading internet consultants and developers knows first hand the challenges and successes of managing Generation X – the average age of their staff is 25.

Valerie is also this year's Telstra Business Woman Award-winner of the Business Owner category.

Elizabeth Hartnell-Young has just published a book telling you what you need to consider, the technologies that are available, and the steps to take.

Elizabeth's company consults to industry in leadership, career mentoring, and personal coaching. She is the founder of "women @ the cutting edge" a project to celebrate achievements through developing professional portfolios while training staff in the use of technology. She is a committee member of the Australian Institute of Management, Management Development Group, an executive on the Women's Planning Network (Vic) and member of the Women In Leadership Implementation Committee.

Egidio (Edge) Zarrella has worked in information systems in Adelaide, Sydney, and Toronto, Canada. Edge is the Partner in Charge of the Management Consulting Services Group including Enabling Technologies in the Adelaide practice.

In this role, Edge provides information systems consulting services for a variety of clients in the financial, manufacturing, local government, insurance, and legal sectors. This includes strategic planning, security reviews, and information technology efficiency reviews of management information centres. Edge has also conducted numerous management workshops to facilitate business and information systems strategy, business risk, disaster and fraud risk strategies.

Edge has worked for a large number of government departments that include business strategic planning, systems implementation and business transformations. He has a Bachelor of Accounting from the University of South Australia.

Rob has more than 14 years experience in information technology. During this time he has filled senior management roles including Systems Development Manager and Information Systems Manager and has two years' experience at executive management level.

Recently Rob reviewed the IT organisational requirements for a South Australian private hospital. The review covered strategic, tactical, and operational aspects of the hospital’s IT function. He has also been involved with the evaluation and selection of information technology solutions for a number of organisations. Rob is currently providing project management assistance to a South Australian government agency replacing its core business application.

Rob has wide experience in information systems management and strategic planning. He has successfully managed the outsourcing of mainframe, network, and LAN services for a large South Australian company. This process involved the establishment of contracts and service level agreements with a worldwide IT outsourcer, the transfer of personnel, the audit and valuation of current IT assets to determine the viability of transferring them to the outsourcer, and the determination of internal policies and procedures to manage the relationship.

Mike Slattery is National General Manager of Telstra's customer sales and service group, responsible for business processes and information systems development. There are around 250 major applications incorporated in this role, involving 1,500 staff directly and another 1,300 staff indirectly, in annual development and maintenance. Mike is a key member of Telstra's customer process and information group that applies Telstra's significant worldwide investment in process and information technology.

Mike has had managers and staff working on the potential impact of an Australian GST since fourth quarter of 1998. He now has a dedicated GST taskfForce specifying requirements and creating a work plan. GST has a most significant impact on these areas of his management accountability, as they cover the customer facing areas that deliver many of Telstra's products and services. There are some interesting observations to be made when considering the Y2K activities and plans with next year's Sydney Olympics plus the normal and basic business needs that require support and development.

Dr Marianne Broadbent is Director of GartnerGroup’s IT Executive Program in Australia and New Zealand where she works with CIOs and business and IT management teams. She was previously a Professor in the Management of Information Systems at the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, Visiting Researcher at Boston University, and Head of the Department of Information Services at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

Her industry research, consulting, and advising activities have involved over 80 businesses in nine countries and has managed her own successful consulting and advisory services firm. She and her colleague Peter Weill are authors of the book Leveraging the New Infrastructure: How Market Leaders Capitalize on Information Technology published by Harvard Business School Press in June 1998.

Marianne has a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Sydney and Macquarie Universities respectively, and a doctorate from the University of Melbourne.

Noel Waite AO is Chairman of The Waite Group, Director of the Australian Institute of Management, the State Training Board and past Board Member of the Public Transport Corporation. Noel's background includes directorships of private, public sector, and educational boards and committees.

In 1993, Noel was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for "service to business and management, particularly for advancing the development of women in management."

She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Certified Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management Consultants and a Chartered Fellow of the Australian Human Resource Institute. Noel is also the designer of the Top Steps Career Development series, The Ultimate Step and The Board Step.

Patti Peirce is National Manager, Customer Activation, Billing and Assurance – Testing in Telstra. Her accountability is to ensure that a large number of Telstra's core systems are fully tested prior to implementation, to ensure maintenance of production stability.

Patti holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas. She has lived in Australia for 20 years and has over 20 years' experience in the IT industry in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. Commencing as a programmer, Patti has had senior management roles with many industries, including transport, banking, oil, and telecommunications.

Over the past ten years, Patti has specialised in the telecommunications industry. In particular systems integration throughout Southeast Asia, predominantly for Malaysia Telecom, through a consulting services company in which Patti was one of the principals.

Since joining Telstra in 1994 Patti has been involved in projects ranging from the implementation of the Austel numbering plan project (8 digit phone number conversion), to testing and year 2000 compliance.