Jonathan is a technical Founder with over 20 years of experience as a systems administrator across a broad array of IT disciplines. He has held a number of diverse roles over his working life: senior positions in various large corporations; founding several businesses; holding trusted roles in nationally accredited NFPs, NGOs and education providers, and in the Australian Defence Force satellite communications sector. Jonathan engages on a range of matters as a Cybersecurity Ambassador with the New South Wales Cybersecurity Innovation Node, including industry integration and technological trends. Well-connected to an array of Australian business advocacy groups, Government bodies and Startups, Jonathan regularly contributes to innovation and industry forums in IoT, biometrics, protecting critical infrastructure and supply-chains.

Jonathan is the Founder and CEO of Sydney-based scale-up Verifai. Verifai's goal is to increase supply-chain security, transparency, and visibility through the deployment of unique technologies that generate trustworthy data, provide provenance assurance, and protect assets at rest and in transit. Passionate about solving global problems and working alongside creative entrepreneurs, Jonathan is dedicated to building real solutions that positively transform the world.

Questions:In 2019 – Is when I think from memory we began was you applied to become a NSW Cyber Ambassador – which is about Connection with industry specialists who are experts within their field of cyber, addressing the growth challenge of skills shortages, supporting one another with events, to promote and support their specialist roles to those who are unaware of opportunities.I would like to first understand your career pathway, can you remind me where it all began starting from say secondary high schoolWhat is a systems administrator? What are the skills required/best suited for this role?What do you mean by supply-chain security & how does cyber security fit into this?When has your problem solving skills been pivotal in a taskWhat do you look for when hiring a person?As an ambassador you have also played a role in delivering content to secondary students – how did you find the experiences and why do you volunteer for these presentations?What are you most curious about right now?Is there something I should have asked, or you wish I did ask you before we finish?

Useful Links: 

Connect with Jonathan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-kempe/ 

NSW Cyber Security Innovation Node - https://nswcybersecurityinnovationnode.com.au/

Sarah Box LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-box-25670667/ 

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