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ANU Names New CIO
iTnews
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Details
- Date Published
- 8 Sept 2026
- Priority Score
- 1
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 9 Sept 2026, 08:00 am
Authors (1)
- Staff WriterPROCESSING
Description
Lands technology executive from UNE.
Summary
The Australian National University has appointed William Confalonieri, formerly of the University of New England and Deakin University, as its new Chief Information Officer. While Confalonieri has experience overseeing digital transformation and AI implementation within academic settings, the report focuses primarily on administrative leadership changes rather than technical AI safety research. The article lacks substantive discussion on catastrophic risk reduction or frontier AI safety governance, serving instead as a record of personnel movement within the Australian higher education technology sector.
Body
Key points
William Confalonieri has been appointed as the Australian National University's new chief information officer, replacing acting CIO Sajid Hassan.
Confalonieri most recently served as chief information and digital officer at the University of New England, having previously spent nearly a decade at Deakin university.
He starts his new role at ANU on November 9, filling the position vacated when Zoran Sugarevski moved to the University of Queensland in April.
Image credit: William Confalonieri/LinkedIn.
Supplied
The Australian National University (ANU) has appointed William Confalonieri as its new chief information officer (CIO), taking over from Sajid Hassan, who has been in the role in an acting capacity.
His appointment was revealed in a staff newsletter, and Confalonieri has since also announced the change on LinkedIn.
Confalonieri has enjoyed a long career managing IT at academic institutions and was most recently the chief information and digital officer (CIDO) at the University of New England in Australia.
At UNE, Confalonieri headed up digital transformation efforts across technology, data, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital services.
Prior to UNE, nearly a decade at Deakin university as its CIO, and later on, as CIDO.
"The University of New England (AU) has been a wonderful chapter. A beautiful place with beautiful people. I am proud of what we built together and confident in the team carrying it forward," Confalonieri said in a LinkedIn post.
"The scale, the mission and the ambition of Australia's national university made this an opportunity I simply couldn't walk past."
Confalonieri starts on November 9 in his new role at ANU.
Hassan stepped in as the interim CIO after Zoran Sugarevski moved to the University of Queensland in April this year.
An ANU spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.