NICTA chief gets another three years

Skellern was first appointed CEO in May 2005 and according to Neville Stevens, chairman of NICTA, there was "no hesitation" extending his contract.

"David has built upon a solid foundation and taken the organisation forward by cementing its research program and commercialisation plans," said Stevens in a statement. "With David's experience and the positive impact he has had on NICTA, and the favourable reaction from the ICT sector in such a short period, the Board had no hesitation in appointing Dr Skellern for a further three years".

Skellern said his time with the NICTA has "renewed his belief in Australia's technology industry: "NICTA's people, strong research program and its entrepreneurial team has renewed my belief in Australia's ICT future... In the time I have been involved in NICTA I have seen the development of a vibrant and dynamic organisation. We are harnessing the best ICT talent, to build Australia's ICT capabilities."

In 1989, after spending 15 years working on various projects at the University of Sydney, Skellern became Chair of Electronics at Macquarie University. He went on to work as a researcher for Hewlett Packard Laboratories and also co-founded the Radiata group of companies, which in 2000 boasted the first 54 mbps wireless networking chipset.

Radiata was eventually bought by Cisco Systems for AU$565 million and Skellern moved to the US to take up the position of technology director of Cisco's Wireless Networking Business Unit.

In a statement, Skellern said he was looking forward to the next phase of his career: "Over the next three years I plan to oversee the first phase of the commercialisation of some very exciting research, further establish Australia's ICT research on the global stage, and continue to build a dynamic culture where people seek to work".