This week on the Business Beyond Borders podcast, I interview Joanne Cooper, tech pioneer and Founder and Managing Director of ID Exchange.

Jo is the entrepreneurial daughter of Australian IT pioneer Tom Cooper, a prominent figure during the 1980’s PC era. She cut her entrepreneurial teeth during the PC revolution, and at the tender age of 18, she founded her first company, Fox Computers.

Jo has worked with big players in the telecommunications space, including international players from Taiwan. In 2015, she founded ID Exchange, an early stage startup that strives towards social privacy innovation and digital ethics.

Tune in to my interview with Jo to find out about:

• Jo’s views on online privacy in the wake of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal
• How she found reputable international partners to build a global-scale product, including their partnership with UK company DigiMe
• How her upbringing as the daughter of a tech pioneer shaped her trajectory as an entrepreneur – including joining her father’s company at the age of 15
• Her journey as part of Stone & Chalk’s incubator program, and how she pitched her idea to them in the early stages
• How she has always sought out mentors to guide her in her career and international journey
• How the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe has influenced ID Exchange’s model, to enable consumers to opt-in or out of having their data accessed and used by companies
• Jo’s views on the environmental damage that the fintech industry has caused and her mission to address it via consumer-centric solutions
• The commodification of “data as the new oil” and the land-grab that is happening with companies trying to get access to individuals’ data
• How she researched and assessed the international competitive landscape and incorporated it into the design and development of her product
• Jo’s future plans for ID Exchange, including the open of an innovation campus in North-Western Sydney

As you’ll hear, Jo isn’t your stereotypical tech start-up founder and I found her story quite inspiring, for what it teaches about operating on one’s own terms. Jo created ID Exchange as a mature woman, which is quite unusual, and she’s forging ahead, regardless of whether she conforms to expectations or not. Jo has a big picture vision and is committed to combatting a big problem – protecting the sanctity of personal data in an increasingly digital world. This is an episode with a difference … check it out!