CIO Credit Union of Australia

I'm excited to announce that I've accepted the role of CIO for Credit Union of Australia. We will be relocating to Brisbane hence there is so much to do..so little time.

More details later......but here is the Press Release


CUA, Australia’s largest customer-owned financial institution, has today announced the appointment of David Gee as Chief Information Officer (CIO). Mr Gee will join CUA on Monday 5 September.

Mr Gee is a highly experienced CIO with an international career spanning a broad range ofindustries and roles featuring strong, transformational change. He joins CUA from KPMG IT Advisory’s Australian practice, where he was Director, consulting to a range of companiesincluding the major banks and corporations. Prior to that David held CIO roles in Eli Lilly, a top 10 global pharmaceutical company, across its US, Japan, China and broader Asian operations over a 15 year period. Mr Gee has significant experience in driving change using both business process re-engineering and with six sigma.

According to CUA’s Chief Executive Officer, Chris Whitehead, Mr Gee’s extensive sector experience with its strong focus on IT-led transformation will be invaluable to CUA as it progresses on its growth strategy.

“We are delighted to announce the appointment of such a high calibre CIO. I am confident that David’s international experience and background in transformational change will bring great perspective to the organisation and ensure we remain focused as we continue to refine
our IT strategy.

“CUA has a number of major IT related projects underway, including the installation of a new core system and the development of our digital strategy. Recently we’ve had great success with the launch of iPhone and Android applications and our Facebook site, and we look forward to David’s passion for innovation in the digital space to progress these initiatives.

“David was the successful candidate from a very strong field of applicants which is testament to our growing profile and the desire of quality candidates, both internal and external, to join us on our exciting journey of growth,” said Mr Whitehead.

Mr Gee said, “The transformation journey that CUA has embarked on aligns closely with my previous experience and is an area in which I find the greatest job satisfaction. Since returning to Australia in 2010 I have been looking for the right opportunity to move back into a corporate CIO role and am genuinely excited about the activities and initiatives taking place at CUA and the opportunities for me to make a meaningful contribution.”

Even Celebrity Chef George thinks I should be leaving KPMG !

This morning....

Just imagine that you are in the Hot Air Balloon over Melbourne. You would be thinking "what a beautiful day it is today...the sun is shining and the weather is just gorgeous"

"I'm so lucky and happy...a great day to be alive"

But the world is full of disturbances both economic, social and political. At the same time there are just appalling images of famine in Africa where the poorest of poor are struggling to just stay alive.

There is so much to be grateful for and we all take everything for granted.

Let me ask all of us to picture ourselves way above it all and that just might help many of us to look beyond our own circumstances.

Borobodur - what you see when you really examine closely....

Borobodur is the largest tourist attraction in Indonesia (a Buddhist Monastry in a Muslim country). It is indeed an incredible structure of Ancient Stupas from the 8th century.

What you see is clearly magnificent and monumental it has detail and is shaped into the form of a Mandala - a Sanskrit word meaning "circle". By definition a Mandala is meant to assist the process of mediation. We found that design to be quite poetic as the journey of circum-navigating Borobodur is in itself a journey and a pilgrimage.

The first time through we appreciate and notice 'shapes and forms'. But it is the return visit that we really start to understand the meaning and story. That was true of our own recent trip and on our return we started to examine the stone reliefs which decorate the sides of Borobodur. Like many things in life there is an important lesson to be learnt if one examines things more closely.