July 2024 address to .id people on leaving the enterprise after 27 years.

I am the Founder of .id (informed decisions).

However, this title is problematic. The title of “Founder” implies a kind of singularity - an individualistic achievement. Which in my case is untrue.

I have never done anything professionally as an individual. Frankly, I never had the requisite skills. By nature and by necessity, I am a collective operator - a collaborator, which as it turns out, is a strength.

So, where did .id (informed decisions) come from?

In the mid 1970s, during a period of the most progressive government in my lifetime, I was inspired by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s assertion - Where one lives should not determine what opportunities one has in life.

WOW! This blew my teenage mind. Firstly, that inequality of opportunity is endemic in our society. And secondly, that this is spatially manifested.

This notion lit a profound curiosity and has led me on a professional journey as a Geographer, to where .id is today.

That geography should not be destiny. But places, as represented by the communities that live there, should have access to opportunity. Opportunity to quality education, to be healthy, have access to housing, to meaningful work, and have a community life with civic participation and not experience loneliness, isolation or despair. A place where we work collectively to thrive as a community and have love in our lives.

This has been my professional purpose. It is important in whatever you do, to be engaged in something bigger than yourself.

I am grateful to the people that were mad enough, courageous enough, or at least interested enough to join .id in our pursuits.

To achieve what .id has so successfully, inventively and uniquely, is a testament to .id people. I won’t name individuals for there are too many past and present who have been and are brilliant in their contribution. But I ask each of you to reflect on the role you have played, are playing and will play in the .id project.

After over 25 years .id has evolved through distinctly different eras each of a duration of about 5 years. These changes are an inevitable and necessary ingredient for progress and growth of a creative enterprise.

.id has never been in in a better place in its current iteration.

This enterprise is a diverse and productive garden. We are removing a couple of large trees, with the departure of the CEO and the Founder, allowing light and oxygen into the garden. You will see new levels of growth in .id people, your personal and professional development, your collaborative skills and importantly, new explicit leadership.

I am excited for you all to experience the growth energy that is coming.

.id has a sustainable ownership structure as long as you keep growing your influence and your revenue with that. I urge you to never lose the growth mindset. I also urge you to keep looking at the purpose bigger than yourself, bigger than .id. Use this as your fuel and you will be continue to be successful.

Growth and purpose within a commercial environment make important creative tensions that will drive progress. Always look up and out at the social, economic and demographic environment. Never lose connection with community and your clients. And most importantly, have fun doing this. .id has so much more to contribute from a solid base.

It is a fascinating time. Emerging technologies will once again change the spatial economy, which along with climate change, will significantly impact the settlement patterns of our cities and regions.

The global population will cease growing in the lifetimes of the next generation, resulting in the most profound economic and social challenges facing humanity this century - population decline and ageing.

Migration nations like Australia will be positioned to be the most successful to deal with these challenges.

How do we excel as a migration nation? We will need new ways of delivering health, housing and education to communities.

We will all benefit from understanding and incorporating Indigenous stories of place to improve our knowledge and enrich decision making.

How do we address the carbon challenge and the burgeoning energy transition? How do we influence not only the public sector to make informed decisions for the collective good, but also business? A new attitude towards the collective good will increasingly emerge from the private sector.

You can also take .id’s ideas across the globe. The methods .id has developed to transform data to knowledge and understanding about place, to forecast likely futures and desirable scenarios for place, is second to none. .id has developed unique and valuable national economic, liveability, and demographic data assets, which are the nation’s assets.

.id’s new ‘Views’ product is, in my opinion, groundbreaking and can effectively lead the future of this enterprise into new markets.

So go forth young people.

I love people and derive my life energy from yarning and laughing, as I know many of you do too. I need to be frank and acknowledge that working collectively for a bigger purpose than the self, can be challenging.

Be respectful, honest and truthful with each other and with your clients. Be creative and implement bold and meaningful ideas. Be humble, listen to each other and seek to question your assumptions. Do this together, think big and you will thrive.

Finally, this title of Founder, while in my case is somewhat misleading as I previously explained, is something that one can never be “former”, so I’m stuck with it.

But sincerely, I embrace the title and derive profound professional satisfaction from being the Founder of .id (informed decisions)….

And for that, I thank you all.

Ivan Motley
July 2024.