Our founders

Jack Burton has been involved in commercial computing since 1989, beginning in Fortran programming and later database design, leading—after interludes in sales management & management consulting—to ICT management and eventually computing consultancy.

He is well known throughout the Australian computing profession and in particular within the Australian free and open source software industry.

Mr Burton serves as Director & Company Secretary. From foundation, he headed up Safecoms' secure cloud services division and (jointly with Mr Holden) consulting division. Since 2017 he has been responsible for all operations at Safecoms.

Outside of Safecoms, Mr Burton serves as Director of Saosce Pty Ltd, a firm he founded in 2002. He has also held academic roles at Torrens University Australia (2018–19), the University of South Australia (2020–24) and Stanley College (since 2023).

In addition to his commercial & academic activities, Mr Burton has undertaken a large amount of pro bono service over the years, for a variety of computing-related industry bodies & professional societies, including Open Source Industry Australia Ltd (OSIA: 2007-08, 2010–16 & 2018-present), OpenSA Inc. (2009–13) and the Australian Computer Society Inc. (ACS: 2007–2013).

Mr Burton holds a Bachelor of Science from Monash University and is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society. He also maintains professional memberships in the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM, USA), the American Society for Quality (ASQ, Software Division), the Information Technology Professionals Association (ITPA, formerly SAGE-AU) and the Telecommunications Association (TelSoc).

Carl Holden's first foray into computing was in the 1970s, maintaining CP/M based equipment running Microasis software. He was always very passionate about technology and "making a difference".

He served as Chairman of the Board, led Safecoms' former automotive cybersecurity division and jointly (with Mr Burton) ran the consulting division in the company's first year.

Mr Holden was a serial entrepreneur. Outside of Safecoms, his directorships included Holden Dynamics Pty Ltd (founder, 1987), Dotmobicard Pty Ltd (founder, 2010 as Internetworx Pty Ltd), Internet Investigation Services Pty Ltd (founder, 2013) and Fatigue Fighter Pty Ltd (co-founder, 2014).

In addition to his commercial activities, he undertook a wide range of pro bono service over the years, for a variety of industry & community bodies, including Open Source Industry Australia Ltd (OSIA: 2010–13), The Oaks Chamber of Commerce (2000–16, which he founded) and the Australian Kindness Movement (Founding President, 1994–2017).

Mr Holden was a Member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and an Associate of the Australian Computer Society. He also maintained professional membership in the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM, USA), the Armed Forces Communication & Electronics Association (AFCEA, USA), the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) and the Information Security, Audit & Control Association (ISACA).

Sadly, Carl Holden passed away in August 2017. He will long be remembered by all those who had the privilege to know and work with him. His memory lives on at Safecoms in the many initiatives which had their genesis in Carl's famous brainstorming sessions.