Brand Hoff
Class of 1965
Class of 1965
Technology Pioneer & Entrepreneur
At school, Brand Hoof represented Mount Lawley in hockey, and was Captain of the Chess Team.
Since those days, he has had a long and successful career in Australia's technology industry, and along the way has influenced the way the world maintains its digital record keeping.
After leaving Mount Lawley Senior High School, Brand studied at the University of Canberra, and started his career working for the Federal Government.
He designed and developed the Network for the Federal Treasury and, as the Director of Computer Services at the National Library of Australia, was responsible for the development and implementation of the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN) to all Australian libraries.
In 1981, Brand left for private enterprise, joining Computer Sciences Australia, and in 1985, along with his wife, Peta, set up Tower Software.
Tower's electronic document and records management software, Trim, was a hit, and used in over 32 countries around the world. In 2008, Tower wa acquired by Hewlett-Packard for US$105 million.
TOWER Software contributed to the development of international and local standards including the AS4390 (the Australian standard for records management), the ISO 15489 standard (an international standard for the management of business records), and the MoReq (Europe) and DoD 5015.2 (US Department of Defence) standards.
Brand has received many awards over his career, including the ACT New Exporter of the Year (1996), ACT Small Business of the Year (1998), the National AusIndustry Innovation Award (1998), the Federal Minister DOCITA Award for Excellence (2000),and the AIIA SME Australian Exporter of the Year (2000).
Brand was inducted as an Export Hero and Life Member of the Export Institute, elected as a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society (2008) and as a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In 2010, he was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra. He is also a Director on the Canberra Business Council.
In 2011, Brand was awarded the prestigious Pearcey Medal for "outstanding lifetime achievement and contribution to the development and growth of the IT professions, research and industry"
In 2012, he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia "for service to the information communication technology sector, to innovative product development and research, and to the community of the ACT."
It has been said that "His pioneering efforts in Document Management Systems positioned Australia as the world leader in the creation and use of this now pervasive technology."