CDO Club Names Rebekah Horne, Chief Digital Officer at the National Rugby League (NRL), as First-Ever Australian CDO of the Year 2016
NEW YORK and SYDNEY, Feb. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Rebekah Horne, Chief Digital Officer at the National Rugby League (NRL), was today named the first-ever Australian Chief Digital Officer of the Year 2016 by the CDO Club, the world's largest community of C-suite digital and data leaders.
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Horne was announced as the recipient of the award after participating on the "DNA of the CDO – Reinvention or Unique?" panel moderated by global executive search firm Odgers Berndtson, held at the inaugural Sydney CDO Summit on 1 March 2016.
Paul Rush, Partner at Odgers Berndtson, curated and moderated the panel, which explored the role and origins of the Chief Digital Officer title.
The CDO Summit was held at the UTS Business School in Sydney, Australia, and was presented by Accenture Digital. Sponsors also included Odgers Berndtson and Unico.
Horne joined the NRL on 29 February in the wake of a new broadcast deal which allows the sports organization and its clubs to keep revenue from digital sources, giving the Chief Digital Officer more control over digital assets such as websites and social media.
ARL Commission chairman John Grant praised the appointment: "We expect our fans to increasingly engage with rugby league content – including accessing live games, highlights, tipping, ticket purchases and much more – through our digital platforms."
Horne previously served as Chief Digital Officer at Network Ten since January 2013, where she launched video streaming service Ten Play. In less than three years, Ten Play covered more distribution platforms than any other online television service.
According to Ten Network Holdings Limited CEO Paul Anderson, Ten Play generated an average of 25 million page views and 13.5 million video views a month.
Altogether, during her tenure as CDO Horne grew digital revenue by 74% and yield by 27%.
She also served as the Chief Executive Officer of TopFloor.com, a Los Angeles-based start-up. Founded by Brian Lee and funded by Google Ventures, Polaris and Science-Inc, TopFloor.com is a social commerce platform that delivers content-driven sales events into social media streams.
Other previous roles include Australasian, then International, Managing Director of Fox Interactive Media (in the International role she managed 26 territories), and a senior content and commerce position at Optus.
Horne has 20 years' experience in digital, telecommunications, mobile and media companies. From 2006 to 2011, She was responsible for the internationalization of News Corp's digital business, Fox Interactive Media. She held a senior content and commerce position at SingtelOptus.
She has been a Non Executive Director at Greencross Limited since September 8, 2015, as well as serving on the boards of a range of subsidiary companies for Network Ten.
David Mathison, Founder and CEO of the CDO Club, presented Horne with the AU CDO of the Year Award.
"With this award," Mathison remarked, "we recognize Rebekah's strategic vision when it comes to bringing innovative digital service solutions and revenue models to an industry deeply affected by digital disruption.
"As Rebekah brings her notable experience and leadership skills to serve a new audience, namely millions of Australia's rugby fans, we know that we leave this award in good hands. We're proud to select Rebekah Horne as our first Australian CDO of the Year," Mathison concluded.
This was the first-ever Australian CDO of the Year Award by the CDO Club. The CDO Club has nominated the CDO of the Year in the U.S. since 2013, the U.K. since 2014, and Europe since 2015.
The next CDO Summit is the 4th annual NYC CDO Summit on April 27, 2016 at Thomson Reuters in New York.
About the CDO Summit
The CDO Summit addresses the challenges and opportunities arising from Big Data, the cloud, digital disruption, and social and mobile media. CDO Summit gatherings include the very best digital strategists and practitioners on Earth, speaking in intimate, collegial, and supportive environments designed to encourage networking, learning, and knowledge-sharing. For more information, visit CDOSummit.com.
About the CDO Club
The CDO Club is the world's largest community of C-suite digital and data leaders. Our 1,500+ registered members receive access to breaking news, original research, career development support, networking opportunities, and inspirational events. For more information, visit: http://CDOClub.com.
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