Geordie Guy leaves EFA

Aussie IT mover-and-shaker Geordie Guy has vacated his vice-chair position on the board of Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) following a disagreement over the future direction of the organisation.

Guy told ZDNet Australia in an interview today that he had split from EFA last Saturday due to "creative differences".

"The chair of the board has a very specific vision for the organisation and it's moving in a very specific direction. I disagreed with that," Guy said.

Guy spent two years as vice chair of EFA, fuelling public debate around issues including the proposed mandatory internet filter, data retention and the ubiquitous high-speed National Broadband Network policy.

"The way EFA is going at the moment, it really does seem to be focused on developing relationships ... developing closer bonds with similar organisations, industry groups, other lobby groups and in particular a lot of other tech groups seems to be where the board really wants to focus. I'm less useful in that capacity," he said.

Guy sees his skills put to better use in large-scale public information campaigns and working on growing public awareness around prevalent IT issues in Australian public policy, a strategy that he feels EFA is moving away from.

In the lead-up to the Federal Election on Saturday, Guy said that he hasn't had time to think about his next move, but the prospect of flying solo does appeal to him.

"People like Mark Newton have got a lot of work done without being [heavily] associated with other organisations ... maybe even being a lone ranger like him is something I could spend some time doing," he said.

According to Guy, the vice-chair position is still vacant. EFA has a general meeting scheduled for November and it remains unclear whether the board will decide to temporarily install someone into the role until then.

Outside of the public sphere, Guy works as a network engineer and systems architect, with certifications from Microsoft, IBM, Citrix and Cisco to his credit.