AI in Sport: Tasmania's First Chapter

Sarah Gillman

Sarah Gillman is a co-founder of Sportstech Tasmania and Deputy Chair of Womensport & Recreation Tasmania. A former ABC journalist and broadcaster, she has worked as a presenter, producer and reporter across news, current affairs and sport, and has taught journalism at universities in Tasmania, Darwin and Canberra.

Sarah is a long-standing advocate for women in sport, engaged as a researcher, trainer and mentor by the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Institute of Sport and Womensport Australia. She sits on AFL Tasmania's Women's Advisory Group and is Tasmania's representative on the AFL's national Women and Girls' Game Development Action Plan Leadership Advisory Group. In 2021, The Mercury named her one of the most influential women in Tasmanian football for her role in kickstarting girls football.

Kristy de Salas

Kristy de Salas is a Professor of ICT and Associate Head ICT Research and Partnerships at the University of Tasmania, where she works across emerging technologies, digital empowerment, education, and industry-engaged research.

She is passionate about helping people build the confidence, capability, and connections needed to engage with emerging technologies in meaningful and responsible ways. When she's not working, you'll usually find her bushwalking Tasmanian trails, going for a run, or developing games and creative projects with her independent Games development company, Giant Margarita.

Kristy.deSalas@utas.edu.au
https://www.linkedin.com/in/giantkristy/

Amanda Castray

Amanda Castray is Pro Vice-Chancellor, Campus Life at the University of Tasmania, where she leads a portfolio including campus life, sport, student accommodation, libraries, arts and cultural collections activities.

She is UTAS Alumna, holds a Master of Science in Executive Leadership and is a Harvard Business School graduate. Before returning to Tasmania in 2024, she spent six years in the UK as Director of Campus Life at Ulster University, helping deliver an award-winning student experience.

With a career spanning government, private industry and higher education, Amanda brings extensive experience in innovation, economic development and leadership. Passionate about sport, wellbeing and community connection, she serves on the Southern Tasmania Netball Association Board, is a Mental Health Ambassador, and mentors emerging leaders through the Tasmanian Leaders Program.

Dr Mike Briers AO

Dr Mike Briers AO is Co-Founder and Chair of Sportstech Tasmania. Over three decades he has built shared data infrastructure for whole industries rather than single organisations, co-founding two Cooperative Research Centres, the Capital Markets CRC and the Food Agility CRC, and two national research infrastructure facilities, SIRCA and Intersect Australia. He was Australia's first Industry Professor of Internet of Things, at the University of Technology Sydney, and is an Adjunct Professor in the School of ICT at the University of Tasmania.

Sport came first. A former Australian judo champion and the first Tasmanian to win a national title, he trained in Tokyo on scholarship in 1978 and later served as President of the Judo Federation of Australia. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2016 for distinguished service to higher education, finance, digital technology and the sport of judo. Hobart-born, he returned home after thirty-five years in Sydney.

Chris Jackson

Chris Jackson believes sport could be Tasmania's most underused platform for innovation. As co-founder of Sportstech Tasmania, he's out to prove it, bringing tech companies, researchers, government and sporting bodies together to solve problems and build new industry.

He knows both worlds from the inside. He leads national tech company Data#3's Tasmanian business as State Manager and sits on the TasICT executive, drawing on 20 years in technology with Telstra, Fortinet, The Project Lab and Intuit Technologies.

His commitment to using sport for impact runs deep. As Vice President of SFL Tasmania, he's helped lift women's participation towards parity, and coached senior women's and rep teams. He co-founded Gridiron Tasmania, served on the Gridiron Australia board, and managed the Australian Outback under 19 team at the 2016 World Cup.

Chris holds an MBA in Sports Management from Torrens University and Real Madrid Graduate School, and is a Non-Executive Director of Cancer Council Tasmania.