Optus and UniSA appoint new chair of cyber security and data science

The first Optus Chair of Cyber Security and Data Science has been appointed at the University of South Australia (UniSA), where cyber security researcher Dr Mamello Thinyane has been named for the position.

Optus first partnered with the UniSA in 2020 to fund research and education that would advance cybersecurity innovation and skills for the upcoming generation.

Thinyane’s appointment is a co-funded role that builds on this existing alliance.

Based in Adelaide, he will lead a team within the Cyber Security Research and Collaboration Hub at Lot 14, focusing on innovative research and teaching.

Thinyane brings 15 years of international experience in managing digital development projects in Africa, Asia, and Australia.

Thinyane moves from his position at the United Nations University Institute in Macau, which he held from 2016 to 2023.

In this role Thinyane led research into citizen cyber resilience and data and sustainable development for six years

Prior to that he worked at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa as associate professor from 2012 to 2016 and also worked as a visiting researcher at the Australian Centre of Cyber Security at UNSW in Canberra from 2015 to 2018.

“I would like to extend a warm welcome to Dr Mamello Thinyane as he develops a world-class cyber security and data science research program at UniSA," Optus managing director of enterprise and business Gladys Berejiklian said. 

“This partnership between Optus and UniSA provides an opportunity to train the next generation of cyber security professionals, undertake powerful applied research, and to find solutions to some of the most pressing societal cyber security challenges," Thinyane said.

UniSA’s deputy vice chancellor, research and enterprise Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington AO said it is a real coup to secure Thinyane for the role, given his global experience in computer science. 

The university intends to develop new technology that Optus and other organisations, including defence, can deploy to strengthen data security.