Sydney ITS Business Networking Event 2025

Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte is the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer. 

From 2017-18 he was Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Ministry of Defence, from 2010-2014, he was CEO of National ICT Australia (NICTA), and from 1995-2010 Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems, an ARC Federation Fellow, and the founding Director of the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) at the University of Sydney.

Hugh is an honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia (HonFIEAus), a Fellow of the IEEE (FIEEE), of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA), of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), and of the Royal Society of London (FRS).

Shawn heads up the automotive research centre for IAG, Australia and NZ’s largest general insurance company.  The IAG Research Centre explores all things automotive related to insurance, including research into Automated Vehicle Systems, Connected Vehicles and Electric Vehicles.  Shawn has worked in the automotive industry for 30 years in Australia, Germany and the US.

Flora Salim a full Professor in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, where she also serves as the Deputy Director (Engagement) of the UNSW AI Institute. Her work focuses on multimodal machine learning and foundation models for time-series and spatio-temporal data, behavioural modelling with multimodal sensors and wearables, robust and trustworthy machine learning, and on applications of AI and LLMs for smart and sustainable cities, and for mobility, transport, energy, and grid systems. She has received multiple nationally and internationally competitive fellowships, such as Humboldt Fellowship, Bayer Fellowship, Victoria Fellowship, ARC Australian Postdoctoral Industry (APDI) Fellowship, and many accolades and awards such as the Women in AI Award Australia and New Zealand (2022) and IBM Smarter Planet Industry Innovation Award. She is a member of the Australian Academy of Sciences’ National Committee for Information and Computing Sciences and an elect member of the Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Experts. She is a Vice Chair of the IEEE Task Force on AI for Time-Series and Spatio-Temporal Data.  Prof Salim is a Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society (ADM+S), co-leading the Mobilities Focus Area. She is also a Key Chief Investigator in the ARC Training Centre for Whole Life Design for Carbon Neutral Infrastructure, leading the Program on Machine Learning for Carbon Performance. She has worked with many industry and government partners, and managed large-scale research and innovation projects, leading to several patents and deployed systems locally and globally. 

Adele Beachley is the Executive Director of Sydney Co-ordinated Adaptive Traffic Systems (SCATS) in the Customer Strategy and Technology Division. With a strong background in technology and business development, Adele has decades of experience across global organizations in various industries. She specialises in deploying technology, RFID, mobility, and analytics in transport and logistics. Recently, Adele has ventured into innovation, creating products and applications centered on computer vision and machine learning for frontline workers' smartphones.

Apart from her professional role, Adele is a dedicated volunteer board advisor for a grassroots non-profit organization that utilizes technology and innovation for humanitarian causes. Fluent in five languages, she has a personal interest in beekeeping, wellness, and brain health. Adele, with her commercial expertise, took on the role of leading the SCATS business at Transport for NSW in January 2022, driving its strategic agenda forward.

Dino Beverakis, the Vice President & General Manager for the APAC region, joined the senior leadership team in February 2024. In this role, he oversees teams based in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.

Dino brings a wealth of experience to the organisation. His background includes leading professional service companies, where he has consistently delivered operational excellence, built strong customer relationships, and driven growth. His passion lies in coaching and motivating teams, fostering a culture of ownership and high performance.

Before joining the team, Dino held several leadership roles. Most recently, he was associated with Avaya, where he served as Managing Director for the ANZ region. During his tenure at Avaya, Dino led a team of Sales and tech specialists who provided consulting, design, and implementation services for communication channels to various professional services customers focused on customer experience. Prior to that, he contributed his expertise to companies such as SINGTEL/OPTUS, Hitachi, and HP. Dino is based in Sydney, where the regional APAC headquarters are located.

As Chief Executive of ITS Australia, and with an extensive career in transport strategy, Susan is ideally placed at the intersection of technology and transport. Supported by strong connections to the international ITS community and the global network of ITS Associations, Susan works tirelessly advocating for the benefits of transport technologies for business and for the broader Australian community.

Susan is highly regarded for her roles supporting the growth and innovation of the nation’s transport technology industries. She works across a number of industry advisory groups and is a regular advisor to the State and Federal Governments, and their Ministers, on transport technology and mobility issues.