Movers and shakers: Craig Soutar resigns as NZTA CIO

There will always be a service provider and enabler elements in the CIO role….But there will also be more opportunities to be ‘transformative’.Craig Soutar

Craig Soutar is leaving the CIO role at New Zealand Transport Agency after nearly eight years.

Soutar joined NZTA after a transitional period working as an independent ICT consultant and six years at ANZ National Bank.

In an earlier interview with CIO New Zealand, Soutar talked about how the CIO role is evolving.

“It used to be a service provider or service partner, and then moved on to be an enabler.

“In more recent times, it has become a true transformative leader around business process, business intelligence and business change management.

“I think there will always be a service provider and enabler elements in the role,” he said.

But there will also be more opportunities to be ‘transformative’…You align yourselves to where the business needs to be, you just need to be intuitive enough to not move too late.”

Mark Corbitt is now the chief technology officer at Delta/Aurora Energy, based in Dunedin. Before this, he was GM IT at Contact Energy for four years. Corbitt’s previous roles included CIO at Housing New Zealand and head of solutions and service delivery at Telecom NZ (now Spark).

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Dianna Taylor is the new general manager technology/CIO at New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB). She was most recently with Kiwibank as CIO, and before that GM information technology. She replaces Colin Philp who is now CEO of IntegrationWorks.

Nisha Clark is now head of ICT delivery at Mercury. Before this she was head of application delivery and design, technology at Vodafone New Zealand.

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Steve Griffin is now the country general manager at Epicon Solutions. Before this, he was country manager and director Asia Pacific sales – public sector, for Unisys.

Steve Griffin at a CIO roundtable discussion.

ANZ customers are now able to access an ANZ ATM with a simple tap of their card or smartphone. The bank is the first in New Zealand to introduce ‘Tap PIN’ functionality, so customers no longer need to put their card in the slot to start an ATM transaction.

“New Zealanders are embracing contactless technology, and so it makes sense to introduce it at our ATMs,” says Sarah Berry, ANZ New Zealand general manager, banking products.

To access the ATM PIN entry screen on any of ANZ’s 700 ATMs nationwide, customers simply tap their ANZ Visa card or smart phone with ANZ goMoney Wallet (with Visa card activated) on the payWave symbol.

“This technology is a major leap forward for ATMs,” says Berry. “It will not only make ATM transactions faster for our customers, but it is also much safer as it reduces the risk from fraudulent skimming devices placed on machines as the card or mobile wallet never leaves the customer’s hand.

Global camera phone brand OPPO has launched into the New Zealand market.

“We’re confident more and more New Zealanders will realise that you can get a premium phone at a reasonable price,” says Kuan Li, head of marketing, OPPO New Zealand. “We launched in Australia in 2014 and within two years we were in the top tier of smartphone brands in the nation.”

OPPO is partnering with 2degrees, as well as entering a retail partnership with JB Hi-Fi.

“OPPO makes high quality, high value mobiles that can be enjoyed without having to drop $1000 which I think is definitely going to attract attention – the R9s especially. Like 2degrees, OPPO is about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible so it’s great to be working with another challenger brand,” says Roy Ong, chief marketing officer, 2degrees Mobile.

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Global engineering and advisory firm Aurecon, will be recruiting approximately 30 graduates around the country, as part of its annual graduate recruitment programme.

Aurecon is looking for new staff to support a range of infrastructure projects, including the Auckland City Rail Link, a series of dairy plant projects for Fonterra, and the Northland Bridges project.

“While the majority of the investment over the past few years has been in road infrastructure and the restoration of key services in earthquake affected areas such as Canterbury and Kaikoura, there has also been good investment in major infrastructure projects such as the Auckland City Rail Link,” says Carl Devereux, New Zealand regional director, Aurecon.

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