Government & Civic · NSW Australia · 2003–2014
Eleven years of government-connected digital work across New South Wales.
A decade-long relationship with the Dusseldorp Skills Forum and its network of government-sponsored programs — delivering website platforms, intranet systems, national matching tools, self-assessment infrastructure, and community networks across Australia.
DSF Website
2003–2014
Full CMS redevelopment with multi-tier authentication, editorial workflow, and search infrastructure.
DSF Xchange
2004–2012
Custom intranet — project management, meeting notes, milestones, image library, financials. 8 years live.
Learning Choices
2004–2012
National platform matching young Australians to learning pathways and programs.
OSAT
2006–2012
National self-assessment tool for youth programs. Four report cards, benchmarking, online forum.
Youth Mentoring
2006–2014
DEEWR-funded national network. Mentor matching, program profiles, member management, newsletter.
Webonautics arrived in Australia in 2002 — Suma and Lathesh completing their Masters in Interactive Multimedia in Sydney. The studio was already operating as Creative Fusion Studio, building digital work for international clients through marketplace platforms.
The Australian chapter began with a single introduction. Luke Byrne connected us to two people — Jamie Harbison and Max Ciardi — each of whom became a separate thread of work and relationships. Jamie led to Michelle Meares at Mercury Rising Media, and through her to the Dusseldorp Skills Forum. Max led to his brother Tony Ciardi, and from there to the broader network that eventually connected us back to India's entertainment industry.
What followed on the DSF side was eleven years of continuous work — five platforms, dozens of individual projects, and a relationship with one of Australia's most respected not-for-profit education and skills organisations.
One introduction. Two connections. Eleven years of government-connected digital infrastructure on one side, and the thread that eventually led back to India's entertainment industry on the other. The work compounded because the relationships were genuine.
Mercury Rising Media
Principal Partner · Michelle Meares · NSW
Mercury Rising Media, led by Michelle Meares, was our primary partner throughout the Australian chapter. Michelle brought the strategic and client relationships; Webonautics delivered the digital infrastructure. Suma handled all UI — HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — along with scoping, documentation, and testing. Lathesh directed the technical architecture. PHP and MySQL development was executed by a trusted NDA-bound development team. Over eleven years we completed more than 32 projects together — spanning the full DSF portfolio and its extended network of government-sponsored programs. Michelle Meares is now a judge, a testament to the calibre of work and people this chapter involved.
Dusseldorp Skills Forum Website
2003 — 2014
CMS · Website · NSW
A full redevelopment of the DSF website — the primary public face of one of Australia's leading not-for-profit organisations focused on youth transitions in learning and work. The project involved building a comprehensive CMS with multi-tier authentication, editorial approval workflows, full-text search across papers, resources, and links, and a structured content management system for DSF's extensive research library.
The CMS supported three levels of authentication: administrators with full access, editors who approved and published content, and paper/report authors who could upload content pending editorial review. The platform managed DSF's papers and presentations, tools and resources, projects and activities, themed content across youth transitions, mentoring, learning alternatives, skill development, and work.
DSF Xchange — Intranet
2004 — 2012
Intranet · Knowledge Management · 8 Years Live
A custom intranet platform built for DSF's internal operations — replacing disconnected documents and email chains with a structured, searchable knowledge management system. DSF Xchange covered the full operational lifecycle of a not-for-profit: project management with sub-projects, meeting notes with action tracking, milestone management, image library, admin and finance, key contacts, general forms and files, hosting agreements, financial reporting, and a web activity dashboard.
The system operated for eight years — from 2004 to 2012 — making it one of the longest-running intranet platforms built by Webonautics. It was accompanied by a full user manual written for DSF staff.
Learning Choices
2004 — 2012
National Platform · Youth Education · DSF
A national platform connecting young Australians to learning pathway options — programs, opportunities, and resources suited to their circumstances and goals. Learning Choices served as DSF's primary public-facing tool for young people navigating education and employment transitions.
The platform evolved into LC Next Generation — a university and community matchmaking system connecting student-teachers with community programs for project-based placements. LC NextGen introduced expression-of-interest workflows, program coordinator matching, noticeboard functionality, skills profiling, and structured reflection modules — a significantly more complex platform built on the Learning Choices foundation.
OSAT — Online Self Assessment Tool
2006 — 2012
National Assessment Tool · DSF · Government
A national self-assessment platform for youth and community programs — developed by DSF and practitioners who attended Learning Choices 2004. OSAT enabled programs to measure their own performance against a structured set of indicators grouped into Program Design, Organisational Health, and Measurables.
On completion, users received four distinct report cards: a Quick View Status Report, a full indicator report, a comparison against the average rating of all programs submitted, and a ranked strengths and weaknesses profile. The system was designed with full anonymity — DSF did not collect or retain individual program results. Accompanied by an OSAT Online Discussion Group for practitioner knowledge exchange.
Youth Mentoring Network
2006 — 2014
National Network · DEEWR Funded · Federal Government
A government-sponsored national platform for the Youth Mentoring Network — funded by DEEWR (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations). The platform managed the full lifecycle of mentoring programs across Australia: program registration and approval, mentor and mentee profiles, member management, newsletter delivery, and program-of-the-month features.
The admin panel covered program profiles with category management, member approval workflows, links management, newsletter management via an integrated email system, and downloadable program and member reports. A comprehensive admin manual was produced for network coordinators.
The Australian chapter began with Luke Byrne — an early Sydney contact who introduced us to two people who would each open a distinct thread of work.
Luke introduced us to Jamie Harbison, who led directly to Michelle Meares at Mercury Rising Media — and through her, to the Dusseldorp Skills Forum and eleven years of government-connected work. Jamie was also doing work for his father Peter Harbison's Centre for Aviation — centreforaviation.com (CAPA) — and Webonautics provided consultation and project work for CAPA as well.
Luke also introduced us to Max Ciardi, who led to his brother Tony Ciardi — for whom we completed a couple of projects. The Ciardi connection was part of the broader Sydney network from which we eventually approached Raj Suri, opening the thread that led to the Indian entertainment work.
Two connections from one introduction. One became the DSF chapter. The other became the Indian entertainment chapter. The Australian years were the foundation for everything that followed.
Luke Byrne introduced us to two people. One led to DSF and eleven years of government-connected work. The other opened the path to India's entertainment industry. Most of what Webonautics became traces back to that single introduction in Sydney.