Mark de Raad, From arts to IT to Arts

Mark de Raad was born in ’t Gooi in Laren, The Netherlands and emigrated to Australia with his immediate family in the mid 80s as an emerging teenager - first to Victoria, and then later to Adelaide. From a background of jewellery and watch making, Mark’s father was most keen that he focus on an alternate career choice. After quite a few twists and turns that included significant studies as a musician, music teacher, and a physiotherapist, he eventually settled on a career in ICT. In a long term committed relationship for over 24 years, Mark is proud to call Adelaide and Australia home whilst still valuing his Netherlandish roots - retaining strong ties to language, culture and family in Europe.

Founding a company in 1996, I-Nex, he has been headquartered in South Australia ever since providing software solutions across Australia, into Asia and Europe. Focussed on product and custom solutions in change management, automotive and manufacturing, safety systems in oil and gas projects and specialist tools for association and not-for-profits, the company also has a strong focus on social projects, particularly education and health services. Initially started as a network and systems support group, software soon became a passion when it managed to combine artistic skills, creative problem solving with critical thinking. Having spanned a career starting with mainframes, to decentralised desktop computing, to now cloud and SaaS services, it has certainly been quite the journey of continued application and learning!

More recently, Mark has been asked to chair and sit on several government and non-government boards - particularly focussed on Arts organisations - including the State Opera South Australia, Coriole Music Festival, Recitals Australia, Chamber Music Adelaide, Cabaret Fringe Festival - and has consulted for most of South Australia’s significant arts companies. In a way, bringing life full circle with his arts beginnings and now bringing over 25 years of management and business experience to those organisations.

Mark is always looking for a challenge (“a project with real problems to solve”) and would be delighted to network further with the local community. You can connect with him at www.deraad.com 

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