Mr. Voutier has, for more than four decades, been involved in extensive international business, project research development and marketing. From a background in product design, he conceived, organized and managed major international events including the Peter Drucker Seminars, Women at Work International Symposium, and the International Congress of Human Relations.
Early in his career, he founded Design Audit, a design consultancy that was purchased by Litton Industries, at the time the world’s largest business conglomerate. This was followed by a period working for major clients in the airline, automotive, chemical and textile industries as a management consultant with C.H. Page & Associates.
This background in organizing International Conferences provided Mr. Voutier access to business and government figures, scientists and economists. One example was Dr Aurelio Peccei the founder of the Club of Rome, which led to advocating the work on the Limits to Growth.
During this period Mr. Voutier served on the Appeals Committee of Australian Frontier – a Think Tank working with the Director Peter Mathews to establish an Institute for the Study of Man and Society in Canberra with the financial support of the Hancock Family. He also worked with Mr. Andrew Moffat in founding the Society for the Advancement of Leadership and Training in Australia – SALTA, based on the model of Her Majesty’s government in The United Kingdom.
In the 1980s Mr. Voutier founded the BWH & IBSG groups that became among the largest importers/exporters of cycles, sporting goods and toys serving the Australian market from Taiwan, the Republic of China. During this time, he worked closely with Matsushita Corporation in Japan to expand their international trading activities. A period followed living in Taiwan and a friendship with leading businessman and entrepreneur the late Mr. James YC Tsai and his Universal Enterprises Group. The group was involved in the establishment of a technology center that Mr. Voutier spearheaded and the procurement of defense equipment including the Sea Guard Radar system.
This led to establishing trade information services in the Republic of China and Japan and he became an associate of Mr. Leonard Dunning, a founder of the highly regarded Hong Kong Trade Development Council and later Dunning & Associates. Based in Singapore Mr. Voutier handled projects for the government of Malta and a variety of private clients.
This was followed by relocation to California, USA, to head the Asiontrade Consulting Group where he assisted the Office of the California Governor, Mr. George Deukmejian, with planning and sponsorship for the Pacific Round Table. He also worked in cooperation with Mr. James Vaughn, the Director of the Office of Export Development to assist in establishing a Californian presence in the Asia Pacific, promoting its high-tech industries while establishing an international trade center at the LAX International Business Center a precinct of the Los Angeles International Airport.
From the mid-1990s to 2006, Mr. Voutier was based in San Jose, California and Washington, D.C. and became involved in Internet and global e-commerce initiatives. He established extensive contacts in Asia, Europe and the U.S.A. in fields like knowledge management for economic development.
These experiences helped prepare thought leadership for new concepts for international business and global electronic commerce, including peer review work on the emerging digital economy report commissioned by U.S. President Clinton. Returning from the US to Asia, he and his business partner Mr. James Tsai became involved in telecommunications and satellite technology, knowledge networking and database concepts, and in activities leading to the formation of the Pacific Business Forum later to become the APEC Business Council.
Mr. Voutier also led the Global Commerce Network team from its inception in 1996, establishing strategic relationships worldwide, to develop informational infrastructure systems and knowledge & transaction management center concepts. During this period he supported the first executive director of the Global Information Infrastructure Commission in the promotion of the Commission globally. He became Executive Chairman of eNotus International, and a member of the Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI), advising the World Summit on the Information Society and chairman of the Linking Africa and Linking Middle East project initiatives.
In 2005, he was a speaker and advocate with knowledge management guru Professor Karl-Erik Sveiby in the formation of Knowledge Management Africa. He has remained involved with initiatives of the OECD the UNDP and the International Chamber of Commerce assisting many developing countries.
Since 2015 Mr. Voutier has been engaged in G20 activities advocating Trust as the core issue for business and government. This began as a participant in the B20 under the Turkish Presidency and has continued to the 2023 Presidency of India.
Prior to the Pandemic, he was involved as a member of the B20 Future of Work Task Force and the Digitization Task Force through the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Italian and Indonesian Presidencies. With the Global Partnership Forum, he has been active in bringing B20 Business Leadership attention to the United Nations General Assembly.
Mr. Voutier is a member of the Action Council on African Economic Integration under the leadership of Sunil Bharti Mittal during the 2023 Indian G20 when Indian Prime Minister Modi announced the inclusion of the African Union in the G20.
His interests are centered on AI and data assessment tools that Cities and Business Enterprises can use to understand the Future of Work and Education issues. This focus has seen his time spent on relationships with City associations such as the Global Parliament of Mayors, the OECD Champion Mayors and more recently the Rockefeller Foundations Resilient Cities Network and other city bodies.
Articles / Publications / Speeches
Mr. Voutier has written many articles on trade and trade information systems and economics and has been quoted in influential publications including the world’s bestselling “MegaTrends 2000” Earlier in his career he published a newsletter called Innovation, this publication received significant attention from the government and industry.
Various items published online relating to the G20 and international organizations are also listed separately and are available from eNotus International Inc, these include articles on Knowledge Management. In 2023 he co-authored chapter one of “Advanced Research and Real-World Applications of Industry 5.0”.
Mr. Voutier has given speeches and presentations at the Keidanren and the Kobe Chamber of Commerce in Japan, business associations in Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia. Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, France, the UK, South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, as well as at the World Bank, the ICC, OECD, and Knowledge Management Africa.
