Dr David Silvera

About

20+ years at the intersection of technology and real-world adoption

David Silvera is the founder and principal advisor of Ketran and one of Australia's most experienced researchers in health and assistive technology adoption. Over more than 20 years, he has worked at every stage of the technology lifecycle — co-designing with users, building evidence frameworks, evaluating prototypes, and deploying systems at national scale across health, disability, aged care, and government.

Throughout his career, David has built an extensive track record of cross-disciplinary collaboration — working at the intersection of industry and startups, government agencies, and academia to translate research into practice. This breadth of perspective informs how Ketran approaches complex technology adoption challenges: with an understanding of what each stakeholder needs, and what it takes to bring them into alignment.

Until recently, David spent over 10 years at CSIRO's Australian e-Health Research Centre, most recently as Principal Research Scientist, where he led strategic research direction for digital health and assistive technology — overseeing national programs, securing research investment, and translating complex R&D into deployed, community-ready solutions. His applied work at CSIRO includes CALD Assist (embedded in NSW Health and Western Health, used by more than one million people), the NDIA AI-Enabled Assistive Technology Framework, the Smarter Safer Home platform, and the MAX Robotics Platform deployed in South Australian schools. He remains an Adjunct Associate Professor at UNSW's Centre for Future Health Systems, and serves on the NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee (Assistive Technology & Capital Sub-committee), contributing to national policy on the safe and equitable adoption of assistive technologies.

Across his career he has led technology deployments across aged care, disability, schools, and government — with CALD Assist recognised with seven national awards — and supported startups from early concept through to commercial launch.

Ketran was founded to make this expertise available directly, to organisations navigating the hardest part of emerging technology: getting it trusted and genuinely used.

Credentials

Qualifications & roles