Day 2 Program
We are excited to welcome 70+ experts from academia, the public sector and industry to the Digital Government Festival. We will keep updating this page as we confirm a few final speakers.
If you're ready to secure your free place at the Festival click HERE.
9:00am Keynotes
Hon. David Bartlett | 43rd Premier of Tasmania
What if Government thought more like a start-up tech company? (Link)
In this provocative keynote, David asks the question, what if Governments applied the principles of growth and customer engagement of a startup tech company? What if Government looked through the lens of the biggest platform companies in the world and applied some of their strategies? What if Government thought more like Trip Advisor and less like Lonely Planet? David will explore the benefits and pitfalls of such an approach and suggest some practical ways government can respond to consumer-driven demand for always-on, hyper-personalised services.”
Hon. David Bartlett was the 43rd Premier of Tasmania between 2008 and 2011. During his time in the Tasmanian parliament, he also held a range of other portfolios including Minister for Education and Skills, and Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology. He is now two years into his fourth career. His first career was in technology and telecommunications, having completed a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) and a Graduate Diploma of Business at the University of Tasmania. Post politics his careers have included a number of non-executive chair and director positions in technology start-ups, not for profits and research institutions. He is currently heavily involved in a sport-tech basketball start up. He makes the claim to be the only living Australian that has been a relatively junior public servant, a relatively senior public servant, a ministerial advisor, a backbencher, a Minister and a Premier. He has seen the sausage factory of public policy formation through each of these lenses and brings a unique perspective to contemporary public policy formation and service delivery.
Miguel Carrasco | Boston Consulting Group
Miguel Carrasco is a Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group. He is the global leader for BCGs Center for Digital Government and the regional leader of BCG’s technology practice in Asia-Pacific. He has extensive experience in private and public sector transformations and has led projects across a range of topics including digital product and services, customer service excellence, public sector modernisation initiatives, digital innovation, digital identity, digital economy, artificial intelligence and the future of work.
In Australia, he has worked across a range of sectors including social services, tax, employment, education, industry and defence. He has also supported digital transformation projects in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. Internationally, Miguel has worked with a range of governments, including the UK, Canada, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Denmark, the Netherlands, Singapore, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. He has also hosted a number of study tours to Estonia, the USA and New Zealand. (Link)
10:00am | Keynote
The Hon Victor Dominello MP | NSW Government
Victor Dominello is a senior Minister in the New South Wales Government and has held various portfolios over the last decade including Aboriginal Affairs, Innovation and Finance.
In 2019 he was appointed the inaugural Minister for Customer Service and in 2021 was also appointed the inaugural Minister for Digital Government.
Victor firmly believes the use of real-time data and technology are the most powerful ways to improve quality of life and reduce suffering.
Victor was a member of the original Crisis Cabinet which led the NSW response to Covid-19 and now sits on the Covid-19 and Economic Recovery Committee. His particular focus has been on delivering digital solutions such as the Service NSW QR code check-in feature and the real-time data analysis which has informed the state’s decision making.
Victor has been the driving force behind the roll out of the Digital Driver Licence, the establishment of the $2.1b Digital Restart Fund and the rapid expansion of the Service NSW app to include QR code check-ins, the voucher programs, such as Dine and Discover, Covid-19 test alert notifications and the registration of positive rapid antigen tests.
In addition to digital, technology and customer experience, Victor is also obsessed with Batman. (Link)
10:30am | Panel Discussions
Stream 1: Thinking in Systems for Digital Government Transformation.
Join our expert panel to explore a systems thinking perspective on digital government transformation. Systems thinking recognises that complexity is at the core of today's most pressing policy issues. We cannot dissect policy issues into discrete elements, each with a discrete intervention. Instead, we must acknowledge that elements of a system are interconnected and interdependent, leading to unexpected outcomes when one aspect of the system is changed without visibility of the whole system. The success or failure of digital transformation will be determined by how well we understand and prepare for the system implications of digital technologies. This panel will explore how we make sense of complex systems and incorporate systems thinking in our strategic planning. We'll also explore how we identify leverage points that play a critical role in shaping the systems we work within. (Link)
Professor Deborah Blackman | University of New South Wales.
Giles Nunis | WA Primary Health Alliance.
Carys Evans | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
Mark Bayly | Ambulance Victoria
Stream 2: Digital Accessibility: Moving Beyond Standards to Find Practical Inclusive Design Solutions.
Something unique about the public sector is they NEED to design their products and services for everyone. There has been a huge focus on accessibility in the design of digital government products - usually focusing on complying with standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. However, these guidelines only provide the basis for inclusive and accessible digital services. If we genuinely want digital government services to be accessible to everyone, we need to consider moving beyond standards to co-developing inclusive and accessible solutions alongside communities. This approach is essential when considering the intersectionality of lived experience. (Link)
Rachel Maiden | Digital.NSW
Sarah Pulis | Intopia
Dr Ronny Andrade | RMIT
Gabrielle Grist | City of Stonnington
11:30am | Panel Discussions
Stream 1: User Testing 101 for Public Sector Professionals
Are you about to decide on something with your product or service? Maybe you're going to move a button, update a form or change a process. If you haven't tested this with your end-users, you risk creating a negative user experience. If we want to create great user experiences, we need to listen to our end-users; user-testing provides us with a toolbox to listen and learn. This panel will explore the what when, why, who and how of user testing. We'll explore different approaches to user testing and when to use various methods to answer specific design questions. We'll also discuss who we should be testing with and how we consider ethics and justice in our user-testing strategy. (Link)
Lachlan Smith | Askable
Sophie Turner | Portable
Janani Venkataraman | Invoice2Go
Kate Kieran | HBF Health
Stream 2: Developing Future Digital Capability in the Public Sector
How do we build digital and data capability in the public sector to meet the opportunities and challenges of digital government today while also preparing for future innovations (e.g. Robots!). Join our expert panel to discuss the digital and data capability needs of the 21st Century public sector professional and how we build this capability in our teams and organisations. We'll also cast our eye into the future and consider what capabilities the public sector professional working in 2050 and beyond will need and what we can do today to prepare for that future. (Link)
Professor Helen Dickinson | University of New South Wales
Maria Katsonis | University of Melbourne
Matt Sawkill | Code for Australia
Julian Smith | Australian Public Service Commission
A/Prof Tom Daly | Melbourne School of Government
12:30pm Lunch
1:00pm Panel Discussions
Stream 1: Demystifying AI and ML for Public Sector Practitioners
Increasingly governments are looking towards artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to manage and make sense of large quantities of data - especially unstructured data. The outputs of these AI/ML processes are shaping policy and service provision. This discussion will cover the basics of AI and ML before diving into two case studies. The team from PP Data Analytics will showcase how AI and ML allow them to measure and track tree coverage across Melbourne. Dr Frermann from the University of Melbourne will share how AI and ML are used in natural language processing to understand media bias. We'll finish the discussion with a deep dive into some common AI/ML issues around accuracy, resourcing and trust. (Link)
Dr Lea Frermann | University of Melbourne
Felix Lipkin | PP Data Analytics
Vicky Yuan | PP Data Analytics
Colleen Chen | Melbourne School of Government
Stream 2: Humane by Design, Principles for Good Digital Identity.
As we move increasingly online, being able to prove your identity using digital channels has become more critical than ever. However, unintended design decisions can put barriers to inclusive and accessible digital identity which can have damaging, and sometimes life-changing, consequences.
Through their professional and personal experiences, ThoughtWorks Lead Security Architect, Robin Doherty, and Principal Service Designer, Katherine Alsop, will share the key principles for putting people at the centre of digital identity, supported by robust privacy and security controls. Learn how to design an identity-proofing process based on people, privacy and technology to ensure everyone can engage effectively in a more digital society. (Link)
Katherine Alsop
Robin Doherty
Presented by Thoughtworks Australia (https://www.thoughtworks.com/en-au).
2:00pm Panel Discussions
Stream 1: Digital Platforms and the Future of the Care Economy
On-Demand' platform-mediated services are becoming increasingly prevalent in the economy, from transport (e.g. Uber) to employment (e.g. Airtasker). These platforms propose benefits to workers through increased flexibility over their work schedule. For customers, it promises greater choice and competition in the market. However, there are concerns that these platforms drive down wages and limit the entitlements and protections for workers. Increasingly, this employment model is being used in the care economy - such as in disability services and aged care. This panel will explore the rise of the platform-mediated economy, its implications in the care economy, and the role government plays in shaping the role of these platforms in the economy. (Link)
A/Prof Alysia Blackman | University of Melbourne
Dr Penny Williams | Queensland University of Technology
Andrew Thies | The Brotherhood of St Laurence
Dr Deborah Warr | The Brotherhood of St Laurence
Georgia Katsikis | The Brotherhood of St Laurence
Stream 2: Capability Through Collaboration
Capability Building Through Collaboration
Code for Australia lead this panel discussion on how to build digital capability in the public sector through collaboration. The panel will cover how folks working at all levels of government can properly work with technical teams and harness the power of open and transparent collaboration. The talk will feature an in depth explanation of how Code for Australia worked together with Canterbury Bankstown City Council to design and build the multi award-winning 'Closing The Loop on Waste Dashboard' and built internal capability The talk will feature Code for Australia's Managing Director Matt Sawkill, Service Designer Madeline Druce and Digital Project Manager Barbara Lordanidis articulating how the utilisation of Human-centred Design, Agile methodologies, and knowledge transfer were integral to the success of the product, and fostered collaboration and capability building with council's staff ultimately changing their ways of working. Attendees will walk away with a greater understanding of the right ethos and methods for empowering public servants to build digital capability. (Link)
Matt Sawkill | Code for Australia
Madeline Druce | Code for Australia
Barbara Iordanidis | Code for Australia
Hosted by Code for Australia
3:00pm | Afternoon Tea Break
3:15pm | Keynotes
Hannes Astok | Estonian e-Governance Academy
As the Senior Expert on the information society, he promotes the Digital Transformation in the Public Administration. Hannes has consulted and trained with national and local governments in all continents – in Central Asia, Caucasus, South-East Europe, Middle East, East Asia, Africa, South Pacific and Caribbean.
He has been working closely with Ukraine national and local governments from 2012 for the e-government development.
From 2012 to 2013 Hannes served as the Adviser to the President of Estonia on the development of the Information Society; from 2007 to 2011 he was elected as a Member of the Estonian Parliament. 1997-2005 Hannes served as Deputy Mayor of City of Tartu, Estonian 2nd largest city.
Hannes holds the degree from Tartu University in journalism and public relations. (Link)
Dr Vanessa Teague | Australian National University
How to do Australian public-sector tech better: open, privacy-respecting solutions
Abstract: I'll take three case studies of Australian public-facing tech solutions: CovidSafe, the NSW iVote Internet voting system, the state government QR-code tracing apps. The first two were unequivocal failures; the last has been highly controversial because of secondary data use. I'll explain why transparent and open solutions that allowed for better independent scrutiny would have produced better results, and contrast Australia's approach with other democratic countries that made more open choices. I'll conclude by showing how we could do this better by re-orienting around openness, privacy, and technical merit.
Vanessa cryptographer living and working on Wurundjeri land in Southeastern Australia. Vanessa is interested in cryptographic protocols that support a free and democratic society. She works on openly-available research and open-source software for supporting democratic decision-making and empowering ordinary people to make choices about their own data. (Link)
4:15pm | Panel Discussions
Stream 1: Passing the Privacy Pub Test: How Public Sector Professionals can be Privacy Leaders
No one in government wants to be responsible for the next significant privacy breach. There is an increasing recognition by governments that though a digital initiative might align with privacy regulation, it does not necessarily pass the 'privacy pub test.' This issue raises broader questions about whether our Federal and State Privacy Acts and other relevant legislation are keeping pace with the risks posed by digital technologies and the public's expectations. We've seen in recent years the European Union and the State of California have adopted new privacy regulations that aim to provide greater protections to citizens - it would appear likely that Australia will soon move in the same direction. Our expert panel will discuss how current and future privacy regulations will shape the digital transformation of government and how public sector leaders can practise at the forefront of privacy regulations and expectations. (Link)
Professor Megan Richardson | University of Melbourne
Dr Vanessa Teague | Australian National University
Eyal Genende | Deloitte Digital
Alec Christie | Clyde & Co.
James Wong | Melbourne School of Government
Stream 2: Who are the 1 in 4? Australia's digital divide
We live in an increasingly digital world - but what does this mean for the 1 in 4 Australians who are digitally excluded? The digital divide between those with and without digital skills is growing, further disadvantageing our most vulnerable. Join us to hear how digital exclusion impacts people's access to critical government services as well as telehealth, employment opportunities, education and keeping in touch with family and friends.
Join Cass Strakosch, Head of Engagement & Learning, and Linda Berrigan, Director of Brand & Storytelling, from the Good Things Foundation Australia team as we explore the 1 in 4, and the opportunities we have to address the divide as we move to a digital economy. (Link)
5:30pm | Keynote
Barbara Ubaldi | OECD
The OECD Digital Government Policy Framework (Link).
Barbara Ubaldi is a Senior Policy Analyst at the OECD, responsible for the organisation’s work on Digital Government, Open Government Data and Data-Driven Public Sectors since 2010. In this capacity, she has managed a number of thematic reviews on digital government and open government data, and launched the OECD’s project on data-driven public sectors. She also co-ordinates the organisation’s work on digital government indicators, and oversees the work on the use of new technologies by governments, including cloud computing, social media, mobile technologies, machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence. Prior to joining the OECD she served for over seven years as Programme Officer for E-Government and Knowledge Management at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York. She gathered extensive experience working with developing countries on digital government, ICT and knowledge management for development.
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