Keynote speakers
We were pleased to present the distinguished keynote speakers:
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Tom O'Toole

Tom O'Toole
"I'm just a baker. Someone who happens to know the taste of deprivation, failure and despair. A man who knows what poverty and being illiterate feels like. And who also happens to know how to turn a failing little bakery in an isolated and dying country town with a population of 3,000 into a company with an annual turnover in excess of $12 million, serving over 900,000 customers per year. A bakery that has become one of the highest earning single bakery retailers in Australian history. I guess that’s why people call me the “complete package”. I’m living proof that “if this bugger can make it, anyone can!"
More about Tom O'Toole and Beechworth Bakery.
Rob Livingstone

Rob Livingstone
Rob Livingstone, owner of Rob Livingstone Advisory Pty Limited, is a highly respected and experienced CIO, with over 33 years of professional experience in the Corporate world, the last 16 in which were as Oceania CIO of a number of multinationals.
Rob is also a Fellow of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, where he lectures postgraduate students in the IT Management Program.
Building on his expertise in the management and operation of complex modern businesses, Rob Livingstone left his last role as the CIO of Ricoh Australia to start his own niche advisory business in mid 2010.
Prior to entering the IT world as a CIO in the mid 90s, Rob held a number of senior operational, strategic advisory and executive positions in a range of industries both locally and overseas. These include defence-aerospace, manufacturing, public utility, packaging, construction through to logistics.
Rob is also highly numerate, analytical and has formidable skills in such areas as Statistics, Operations Research and Organisational and culture change.
Rob Livingstone has written for a number of publications, and has published a book on Cloud computing. Published on August 1, 2011, Rob’s book entitled "Navigating through the Cloud – A plain English guide to surviving the risks, costs and governance pitfalls of Cloud computing", has already attracted attention from a range of sources, both in Australia and overseas. It is available from Amazon as well as from www.navigatingthroughthecloud.com, initially in paperback form, soon to be followed as an eBook.
More about Rob Livingstone and Rob Livingstone Advisory.
Steve Bittinger

Steve Bittinger
Mr. Bittinger has more than 35 years of professional experience in the IT industry. Prior to joining Gartner at the beginning of 2001, Mr. Bittinger was the chief technology officer at inter-touch, providing broadband Internet access in five-star hotels worldwide. Previous to that, he was the global infrastructure manager at Reckitt & Colman, responsible for strategy, standards and infrastructure, including developing a global network that linked 100 locations in 45 countries.
Mr. Bittinger also served as technical director at Pegasus Networks, an Internet service provider. His broad experience also includes management roles at the University of Tasmania and Shell Oil New Zealand, covering telecommunications, data center operations, client services and software development. He has worked full-time in the IT industry since 1974, with more than 30 years of experience in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.
More about Steve Bittinger.