Omer Yezdani
Chief Data Officer,
University of the Sunshine Coast
Omer is recognised across Australian higher education as a leader in innovation and an authority on the deployment of data analytics strategies and practices to drive change.
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr Omer Yezdani has led strategy, operations, growth, transformation, people, marketing, financial management, data, technology and risk in public, private and social enterprise for over 25 years. After completing his first degree in Strategic Marketing, Omer commenced his career with a major ASX-listed firm, working on market and growth strategies for third generation technologies in telecommunications. Developing an interest in public policy, he went on to work in the Federal Government for over a decade leading major reform in national policy in educational innovation, regional engagement, youth, and Indigenous affairs. During this time Omer advised a wide variety of senior members of the Australian Government, achieving landmark intergovernmental relations reform and digital transformation.
Completing a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Omer engaged in several high-profile initiatives, as a Senior Advisor and State Director in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Department of Education, before leading business transformation at Australia’s leading digital university. Following two Excellence Awards, and Latin American Scholarship Award, Omer completed his doctoral research in complex systems at Griffith University, while also lecturing in strategy, marketing, and human resource management.
Omer has led major transformation in the industry of higher education, Australia’s third largest export, to drive growth, digital transformation, and business optimisation, that creates value and community benefit. Omer has led a wide variety of initiatives in higher education to improve student engagement, satisfaction, and student support, learning analytics, community engagement, standards, and quality. Omer served as the Executive Chair of the National Australian Network of University Planners, and with Universities Australia to tackle sexual assault and harassment and on the Multicultural Advisory Committee. As a volunteer member of the Strategy Board, Omer advises Southern Cross Care, a major provider of aged care services in Southeast Queensland.
OMER’S WORK WITH TECH ADOPTION:
- Leading enterprise information architecture and technology adoption for data & analytics
- Services framework and data driven innovation ecosystem.
- Development and implementation of target state information architecture, modernising digital foundations, and technology migration pathways.
- Transition to cloud, AI, and machine learning adoption
- Culture and capability, data literacy and communities of practice
- Relational data warehousing, lake house and fabric architectural approaches
- Data governance, policy, procedures, and data management methodologies
- Analytics platform design and deployment
- Strategic insights, maturity assessment and operating models
- Corporate strategy, enterprise risk management, operational planning, and performance management.
AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT OMER:
He has a dog called ‘Sandy’ who is a Beagle x Cattle.