Professor Ron Johnston, Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Innovation, is one of Australia’s leading thinkers about the way technology shapes our future. He was educated as a scientist in Australia and the UK, and worked for many years in Europe and the US in the private sector, international organisations and universities. He has published more than 200 books, articles and reports, covering a broad range of issues related to science and technology policy and management.
Professor Johnston’s role in Australia has been recognised by his election to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and by his appointment as Deputy Chair of the Australian Science and Technology Engineering Council, Director of the Australian Commission for the Future, Trustee of the Powerhouse Museum, member of the Australian Manufacturing Council, and a member of the NSW Innovation Council. He has recently been appointed a Life Fellow of the Powerhouse Museum.
For thirty years Riel has been co-creating innovation, leadership and transformation in both the public and private sectors around the world. He is one of the world’s leading strategic foresight designers and practitioners. Currently Riel holds the position of Head of Foresight at UNESCO in Paris. Previously he has worked as a senior manager in the Ontario public service (Ministries of Finance; Universities; and Industry) and for some thirteen years in total at the OECD in Paris (Directorates of Economics; Science & Technology; Education; Territorial Development; Development Centre; International Futures Programme).
Since July 2009, Kurt is the Secretary-General of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), an association of twenty-one leading research-intensive universities (Oxford, Cambridge, Leiden, Leuven, Heidelberg, etc). Before joining LERU, he was the chief legal advisor (2004-2007) and the chief of staff (2007-2009) of the Flemish Minister for Public Works, Energy, Environment and Nature. He is also a professor of law (however on parttime leave since 2007) at the University of Leuven, the university where he studied law (1984-1989), obtained his PhD in Law (1989-1995) and spent (until now) his whole academic career.
Ken Guy is the Director of Wise Guys Ltd., a company he launched in 2000 to conduct innovation policy research and provide advice to innovation policymakers and administrators. In 1989, he founded Technopolis Ltd., an innovation policy consultancy that, by the time of his decision to leave and sell the company in January 2000, had grown to be a leader in its field. Ken is prominent in evaluation and assessment circles. Building on early work in the 1970s in the fields of risk assessment and environmental monitoring, and on the evaluation of collaborative R&D programmes during his time at SPRU in the 1980s, in the 1990s he established evaluation as a core competence of the Technopolis group of companies.
Göran Roos is chairing the Value Add and Industrial Growth Sub-Committee of the Economic Development Board in Adelaide; He is a member of the Council for Flinders University and also a Stretton Fellow appointed by the City of Playford at University of Adelaide; Adjunct Professor at ECIC, University of Adelaide, South Australia; Australia; Adjunct Professor at University of Technology Sydney Business School, Australia; and Adjunct Associate Professor in the College of Business, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Göran is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) as well as of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA).
