An astrolabe is an ancient device originating in Roman times and used for a variety of astronomical, navigational and even mystical purposes. It allows you to align circular discs containing separate ‘databases’ – one with the earth’s lines of latitude, another mapping well known stars in the sky, a circumference of time measurements etc.
And it was portable. The Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias used one to calculate the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. The Smithsonian Institute has called it ‘the original smart phone’.
Two years ago, we adopted the astrolabe as the symbol of our brand-new company. It seemed to capture something about what we hoped to achieve, bringing together multiple strands of knowledge, experience and expertise to provide a practical approach to complex challenges in urban and regional change, renewal and growth.
And always with our eyes to the skies, which we saw as the only limit to what we might achieve.
Two years in – what a team
Reaching our second anniversary this month and with a growing team, we wanted to take some time to reflect on our achievements, the commitment of our staff and the gratitude we have being able to work with our clients making a positive impact on people and places
Our work combines long experience and industry-leading expertise in business strategy, urban planning and land use, data analytics, smart cities and technology, project management, policy development, demography, engagement and design thinking.
It’s a comprehensive offering from a team of professionals led by Belinda Comninos, with her recent promotion as Astrolabe’s new CEO. Her driving vision for the company is to make it the 21 st century model of a desirable workplace.
“We want to be that place where you can’t wait to get to work, where what you do is meaningful to you and you can see the impact that you are contributing to with our clients and their stakeholders. Plus, know that you can do this with flexibility, allowing space for all the complex responsibilities and ambitions we have in our lives outside of work.” Belinda says.
Aside from Belinda’s promotion, Astrolabe is excited to welcome Geof Heydon and Andrew West, bringing heavy-weight capability to our offering in data, 5G, IoT and Smart Cities.
Geof is a leading expert in IoT and Smart Cities. He co-founded the IoT Alliance Australia industry group with over 40 year experience in telecommunications.
Andrew is a communications industry specialist with 20 years’ experience helping clients apply tech across healthcare, cyber security, communications and IoT. He is also an actual rocket scientist.
The outlook is upward
Clients are the focal point of everything we do. We are driven by their needs and rewarded by their successes.
It’s been an amazing two years. The team we have built has an amazing drive, but it is the collaboration with clients that we have valued the most, and enabled us to participate in developing and implementing change for people and places.
For those that have been part of our journey, thank you!
Check out our team page to get information on our full team and their experience.
Read about our Associate Director, Dr. Kim Johnstone’s reflections of one year with Astrolabe on her LinkedIn profile.