David Merson, founder of Mincom, was recognised with the inaugural CSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT at the ninth annual iAwards on Wednesday 25 May.

Mr Merson was ‘surprised and honoured’ to receive the award, saying that it was “important for our industry to have award systems such as the iAwards, which allow us to recognise and celebrate our successes”.

Making the announcement at the iAwards gala dinner at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday night, Dr Alex Zelinksy, Director of the CSIRO ICT Centre said: “We hope this award will become the benchmark for recognising individual achievement in the Australian ICT world and I cannot think of a more worthy initial recipient than David Merson.”

For 21 years, David Merson was the chief executive officer of Mincom Limited, a company he founded in 1979. During his tenure, Mincom grew to become Australia’s largest software developer and exporter with 1,200 staff, annual revenues of $200 million, and global leadership in a number of software product categories. He retired as a Director of Mincom in early 2005.

Mr Merson is now involved in venture capital, is an independent company director, and serves on a number of public sector, research, and charitable boards and committees.

According to AIIA’s Chief Executive Officer, Rob Durie, choosing Mr Merson for the inaugural award was an easy decision. “David has been the driving force behind the success of Australia's largest and most international software company,” Mr Durie explained. “David has been an icon in our industry, showing how Australian software can compete on the international stage.”

The CSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT will be awarded annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the Australian ICT industry, in either in a single, high-impact initiative or in a long-term series of successes.

David Merson was chosen as the winner by a select panel of leading figures from the ICT industry and the ICT media in Australia.

According to panel member, Bruce McCabe (Managing Director of research and analysis firm, S-2 Intelligence), the CSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT is “particularly important as it focuses on the individual and how much the individual can contribute to Australia’s ICT industry. This award shows our industry just what is achievable and the difference that one person can make.

“David Merson built an organisation that has been a beacon for the local software industry,” Mr McCabe added.

The panel included Dr Alex Zelinsky, Rob Durie, Bruce McCabe, along with Rod Badger, Deputy Secretary, Department of Communication, Information Technology and the Arts, Dave Skellern, Acting Chief Executive Officer of NICTA, Len Rust, Publisher of The Rust Report, Professor Arun Sharma, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Commercialisation) at the Queensland University of Technology, Mike Shove, Managing Director and CEO of CSC Australia, and Phil Robertson, Director of CISRA.

The CSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT commemorates the work and dedication of long-term champion of the Australian ICT industry, Tony Benson, who died in February 2005. An industry stalwart for more than 40 years, Tony set an outstanding example of selfless contribution to Australian ICT industry development.

According to Rob Durie, “Tony Benson was always such a fantastic contributor. He was a constant source of ideas, energy and enthusiasm about growing Australian ICT companies. It is fitting that an award celebrating individual achievement in our industry should be named after him.”

The iAwards are presented by AIIA, the Australian Financial Review and the CSIRO ICT Centre, and are held in conjunction with CeBIT Australia. Winners will go on to represent Australia at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) in Bali in late 2005.

Information on all iAwards winners can be found by visiting AIIA’s website.

The iAwards are strongly supported by industry and government and are proudly sponsored by Telstra, National ICT Australia (NICTA), Welsh Development Agency, IBM, the Department of Communications IT and the Arts (DCITA), CeBIT Australia, I-Nex Corporation, Accenture, Australian Computer Society and ZDNet.

On 12 May, an AIIA delegation met with the NSW Department of Commerce (DoC) to further negotiate the ProcureIT contractual framework for ICT contracting.

Austrade has recently launched a new online training module on the free trade agreements (FTAs) with the USA, Singapore and Thailand.
The module, which can be accessed at www.myexportcoach.gov.au, gives an overview of each FTA, explains what each FTA means for ICT companies, and outlines ways in which ICT companies can leverage opportunities arising from the FTAs.

By David Fisk