Simon Betton

Simon Betton

Principal Software Engineer

A principal software engineer with over 19 years of experience across backend and frontend. I design architecture that stays simple as products and teams grow, focusing on technical strategy, clear system design, and the long-term decisions that keep code maintainable.


Currently at House of Doge, responsible for the architecture and technical strategy of a greenfield React Native platform — building products for Ðogecoin to increase utility and adoption. Previously at OneTwo, building the automation platform ANZ Australia uses to process home loans. Previously at GetSetUp, DDB, and more.


Latest open-source projects —

A handful of current public repositories, from developer tooling and API services through to mobile modules and data platforms.


Recent work —

OnlyDoge Ðogecoin Block Explorer

Ðogecoin Block Explorer Platform

OnlyDoge

OnlyDoge is an open-source Ðogecoin block explorer and analytics platform for searching blocks, transactions, addresses, and live mempool activity. I built the full chain data path around Ðogecoin Core, a custom indexer, and ClickHouse-backed APIs. That backend runs on hardware at home and reaches the public web through Cloudflare Tunnel. The TanStack frontend adds market data and a tool-using AI analyst that only cites facts from that index, so people and agents can investigate Ðogecoin without a third-party blockchain API.

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KiwiCV New Zealand CV conversion service

CVs employers actually read

KiwiCV

KiwiCV is a free CV conversion platform for migrants and overseas professionals applying for work in New Zealand. It turns the documents people already have into locally relevant CVs and cover letters, using career facts the customer has checked before the AI begins rewriting. A job ad can change what the rewrite emphasises, but it is never treated as evidence. Finished documents go out as editable files or a shareable web profile.

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GetSetUp learning platform experience

Learning for older adults

GetSetUp

GetSetUp is a live and on-demand classroom for older adults. A Presentation API assembled every catalogue page, GraphQL delivered those pages as typed sections, and the Next.js learner app rendered them rather than deciding layout. Partner landings for health plans and aging programmes used the same composer, so editorial and access rules could change without a frontend release.

A Smart Green Future, Together project

A Smart Green Future, Together

Plant and Food

Plant & Food Research, a state-owned institute, leverages cutting-edge scientific methods to revolutionise agriculture and food systems globally. As the lead developer, I played a pivotal role in the technical implementation of a performant, unrestricted, future-proofed web platform based on the JAMstack philosophy.

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GeminAI Rising project

GeminAI Rising

Alberta Health Services

An online learning program and game for grades 7-9 on problem-solving, decision-making, critical thinking, self-concept, and coping skills. The goal was to give students practical tools for hard situations, including pressure around nicotine.

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Helping New Zealand Succeed project

Helping New Zealand Succeed

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise

A purpose built web platform serving as a knowledge hub, empowering exporters with strategic resources and connections. The platform aims to enhance New Zealand businesses and Maori entities, connect them with suitable partners and investors, introduce global investors to local opportunities, and elevate New Zealand's business reputation globally.

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Scam the Scammers project

Scam the Scammers

NetSafe

Re:scam used IBM Watson to classify forwarded scam emails by topic and sentiment, then retrieved an approved human-written reply rather than generating one. The bot kept scammers busy so they had less time for real victims.

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Fight for Territory project

Fight for Territory

Lion

A fan engagement campaign for the Lions Rugby Tour in New Zealand. A custom PHP platform coordinated 65 Raspberry Pis across Auckland International Airport for facial recognition and remote control over WebRTC.

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Nationwide Free Wi-Fi project

Nationwide Free Wi-Fi

McDonald's

A captive portal for nationwide in-store Wi-Fi. Guests get 30 minutes a day; signed-in members get unlimited access. It ran across the Vodafone Ruckus network.

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Unsullied project

Unsullied

Sky

In a partnership with Twitter, thousands of Unsullied Army accounts reacted to #CommandTheUnsullied. A custom dashboard and Twitter's Streaming API let the army craft replies, retweet, and follow users in real time.

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Buzzdial project

Analysing real-time audience sentiment

Buzzdial

A second-screen platform for broadcasters and brands: real-time audience interaction and sentiment during live TV. A two-person engineering team built it to take traffic spikes of hundreds of thousands of concurrent users when a show went live.

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Video Streaming Mobile Apps project

Video Streaming Mobile Apps

TVNZ

With Brightcove, I built New Zealand's first on-demand streaming apps for smartphones and tablets. Soon after launch, each app ranked #1 on its store chart.

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