Vale Denis Page
Denis Page (photo fromThe Canberra Times)
Campus Plus CEO and cofounder Nick McNaughton pays tribute to a pioneer supporter of Canberra business
Denis Page was one of the pioneers of the ACT innovation ecosystem. He started life as a chartered accountant when he came to Canberra in 1968. He rose through the ranks to become a partner at Ernst & Young.
He saw the need for civic service when the ACT secured self government. He believed people had to be prepared to put extra effort into making sure of the right foundations. He believed the community needed a business council to ensure the ACT could achieve its full potential and was elected the inaugural chairman of the Canberra Business Council.
This opened many new paths for Denis, and his family and friends wondered where he found the time for so many boards and after-hours assignments.
Denis was probably best known as the founding chairman of the information technology incubator Epicorp.
Founded in 2001, Epicorp established a strong technology commercialisation process for the Australian Capital Region. Under common ownership of the region’s research institutions, with government and private sector support, Epicorp fostered the commercialisation of intellectual property from within the Australian National University, CSIRO, the University of Canberra (UC), NICTA, and the Australian Capital Region’s industries.
Epicorp was supported by an $8 million ‘Building on IT Strengths’ (BITS) incubator program grant from the Federal Government (Department of Communications, Information, Technology and The Arts - DOCITA), a supporting grant from the ACT Government, and the provision of buildings from CSIRO.
Epicorp was tasked with creating a strong high-technology commercialisation system for the Australian Capital Region under common ownership and management involving the region’s research institutions and supported by Government and the private sector. Epicorp drew together the relevant resources and players in the Canberra region and fostered and supported the commercialisation of technology and knowledge from the ANU, CSIRO, UC and industry within the broader Australian Capital Region community; and complemented other commercialisation initiatives.
He believed Epicorp led to greater awareness about the IT industry and the realisation the territory could become a national leader for the sector. To make this happen, the community, business and ACT and federal governments all had to recognise they had a role to play.
''The big lessons over the years are you cannot be in isolation,” said Page in 2012. ''To contribute, not only in the sense of your own family, your broader community, you've got to find the ways and means which we can use those skills and contribute and hopefully people will feel there is added value somewhere.''
Epicorp Chairman and FLAIM Systems Chairman Ken Kroeger worked closely with Denis for many years.
“It goes without saying, that if it were not for Denis, my career would have been very different and much less meaningful,” said Kroeger. “I first met Denis as part of the ACT’s mentor program in 1997 when we interviewed him to help us set up an informal board for Catalyst Interactive. We quickly became an inseparable business team and worked closely together for over 20 years. He was always the patient teacher and me the student. I will forever remember Denis for several things, but the indelible moment that best summarises his character took place the day we sold Catalyst to KBR. Quietly celebrating the outcome at his favourite café in Manuka, Denis’ voice took on a serious tone ‘Ken, if you feel that I don’t deserve one of the dollars from the sale, say so now and I will not accept a single dollar from the proceeds.’ The lesson imparted to me by Denis is that no one can take away your integrity, only you can give it away. I think about him often and dearly miss his wise council.”
Denis Page was recognised in the 2012 Australia Day honours as an early founder of key Canberra business organisations. Denis contributed not just to the business sectors. Look through finance, property, tourism, cleaning, charity, and international relations sectors in the ACT - even support for multiple-birth families - and you'll find Mr Page's fingerprints.
''Maybe I've helped bridge the activities of the professional firms with the broader community and business aspects of the broader community and hopefully demonstrated they can all effectively work together,'' he said in 2012.
Denis is survived by his wife Denise and their twin sons, Gavin and Warren, and several grandchildren.
