The Commonwealth Bank has opened its newest technology hub in Melbourne to aid over 400 software developers, cloud specialists, and cyber experts, as well as support the state’s growing digital workforce.
It’s second major tech centre in the last six months in Melbourne’s CBD, located on Collins Street. Partnerships with Monash University and RMIT University are part of the hub’s initiative.
There are more than 20 of Australia’s top tech firms based in Melbourne, but the city also has a thriving digital community and a well-established network of tech specialists the bank can draw on.
CBA will offer job placements to software engineering students from universities as well as cloud, data, analytics, and software engineering.
Students from Monash University and RMIT who want to finish their integrated placements working at CBA can look forward to job placements in a variety of engineering fields such as cloud, data, analytics, and software engineering.
CBA plans to expand its tech hub network in Australia, including Melbourne and Adelaide, in order to gain access to people living outside of major cities and to locate the required skills.
Brendan Hopper, CBA chief information officer for technology, says the expansion of tech roles into Melbourne underscored the bank’s more than $1 billion a year tech investment in supporting the digitisation of the Australian economy.
“The new hub is not just a place for our tech people to work, but a space where highly skilled and passionate engineers, analysts, and developers can thrive on a culture of problem-solving, networking, and collaboration.”
“Establishing a tech hub in Melbourne puts us in a great position to tap into Victoria’s digital technology industry, which is not only internationally recognised, but incredibly robust and competitive thanks to support from the government and the education sector,” Hopper says
Professor Doron Ben-Meir, deputy vice chancellor (enterprise and engagement) and senior vice president at Monash University, says the university was excited to partner with CBA.
“Our partnership will see CBA’s technology expertise embedded within our world-class curriculum, aligning strongly with our Impact 2030 strategy to provide rich experiences for our students and develop an enterprising and innovative mindset.”
“We look forward to co-creating impactful initiatives for technology professionals that accelerate their skills, capability, and knowledge development. Together, Monash University and CBA will adopt an industry-focused approach to address the technology talent challenges facing our country.” says Professor Doron Ben-Meir
According to Lawrence Cavedon, Associate Dean of the program the new partnership between CBA and RMIT University’s Data Science program is an “exciting” opportunity for students to gain real-world experience while also supporting digital transformation through future-focused technology experiences.
“RMIT is commited to working with industry to provide its students with practical training and industry-relevant curriculum. Through dedicated software engineering internships available through this CBA programme, we will ensure that CBA graduates are job-ready and employed at the University,” says Cavedon.
CBA intends to establish more tech hubs across Australia in order to exploit the technology skills in other states and territories. Coomonwealth bank is operatering a major technology centre in South Eveleigh in Sydney.
Cybersecurity Focus
Mr Hopper says data science and cybersecurity will also be emphasised in Melbourne’s hub,. Because of funding market pressures, the bank is able to recruit people who might otherwise have worked at a start-up.
“CBA is being seen by talented people across all disciplines of tech as an organisation where there’s a good balance between being empowered and innovative, but also safety in its scale, and it’s low-risk from a personal perspective,” says Hopper
CBA revealed last year that 20% of its $1.8 billion group investment spend was allocated to creating better digital experiences.
In addition to investing in new and improved digital experiences for customers, the bank is attempting to shift 95% of its workload to the public cloud, with the mass migration project scheduled to finish between 2025 and 2027.
