Chief Technology Officer

Robert Vilkaitis is one of Australia's foremost horse racing information technology specialists, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Racing and Sports ('RAS') Always passionate about technology, Robert began his career as a 17 year old at SuccessAbility, developing educational software & games for the Commodore 64 and Apple II computers.

Robert knew little about thoroughbred racing when he joined SuccessAbility, but in 1986 moved to the horse racing side of the business, where he met his (now) partner at RAS, Gary Crispe. Racing provided the excitement and contemporary IT challenges Robert was seeking.

Robert developed home-based handicapping systems and assisted the design and development of the Wizard - then the largest privately circulated form guide in Australia and the original version of the Daily Form Service, which is still found in NSW TABs.

In 1999, Robert established Racing and Sports Pty Ltd with Crispe. They developed the Racing and Sports website and forged global B2B relationships. RAS has been at the cutting-edge of information technology, allowing businesses and website users' first access to the emerging technologies that we now take for granted.

Robert is responsible for vision, technology and product development. He oversees the full scope of IT operations, including internal software development, networking, backup, infrastructure, web development and security. This also includes the design, development and administration of the RAS racing and breeding databases, which encompass 100's of millions of pieces of horse racing data, form and ratings information, drawn from the major global racing centers.

It is possibly the largest racing database globally, covering 10 nations and three racing codes: Thoroughbred, Harness and Greyhounds. RAS was first to place a complete horse racing database online, allowing users free access to interrogate the form of any runner.

He says he has the best "job" imaginable, and still relishes the opportunity to uncover new evolving technologies, solve complex issues and develop applications that give ideas life.