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Local Government Focus Day Auckland
Registration, Coffee & Hellos
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM (30 mins)
Settle in, grab a coffee, and meet a few friendly faces before we begin.
Opening from Public Sector Network
10:00 AM - 10:05 AM (5 mins)
Welcome from the Chair and Scene Setter
10:05 AM - 10:15 AM (10 mins)
Local Government 3.0
10:15 AM - 10:35 AM (20 mins)
Beyond Modernisation: Accelerating Digital Transformation in Local Government
10:35 AM - 10:55 AM (20 mins)
- Implementing AI tools and modern digital platforms, alongside cloud migration and cybersecurity upgrades.
- Upskilling staff, embedding agile practices, and fostering a digital-first culture to support innovation.
- Driving transformation initiatives that are reshaping council operations for more efficient, responsive, and forward-thinking service delivery.
Resilience by Design: Meeting New Zealand's Rising Cyber Expectations for Critical Services
10:55 AM - 11:15 AM (20 mins)
- Increasing connectivity is expanding risk across community services
- Cyber resilience is now central to service delivery and public trust
- Securing converged IT and OT environments across critical services
- Embedding resilience into governance, risk and operational decision-making
AI, Emerging Technologies, and Digital Transformation: Opportunities and Challenges
11:15 AM - 11:45 AM (30 mins)
Panel of experts discussing real-world applications of AI, data analytics, and digital tools in council operations.
- How AI and digital tools can enhance operational efficiency, creativity, and service delivery in councils.
- The impact of technological innovation on workforce culture, engagement, and upskilling.
- Key risks and strategies for managing cybersecurity, compliance, and change during digital transformation.
Lunch: Wander, Discover, Connect
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM (60 mins)
Grab lunch, have a wander, and chat with industry partners and peers about practical ideas you can take back to work. Arguably the most important part of the day!
Interactive Roundtable Discussions
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM (60 mins)
Roundtable 1 - Booking Brilliance: Unlocking Efficiency in Community Facility Management
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM (60 mins)
As a council leader, you know that efficiency isn’t just about cutting costs, it’s about maximising impact. Facility bookings, often a surprising drain on administrative time, can pull staff away from higher-value work and community engagement. Join this strategic roundtable to explore practical solutions for streamlining booking processes, freeing up staff time, and delivering more impactful services. Walk away with actionable insights to improve your team’s efficiency and lead the way in smarter resource management.
Roundtable 2 - Strategy, Transparency and Trust in New Zealand Local Government.
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM (60 mins)
How do councils navigate change while maintaining community trust?
New Zealand local government is operating in one of the most complex environments in its history. Structural reform, fiscal constraint, infrastructure pressures and growing community expectations are reshaping how councils operate and how they lead.
At the same time, communities expect greater transparency and clearer evidence that decisions are delivering real outcomes.
This session explores the practical strategies councils are using to align strategy, governance and performance, and how they can bring their communities with them through periods of change.
Roundtable 3 Sovereign AI — Building Local AI Capability Without Losing Global Competitiveness
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM (60 mins)
Government agencies face pressure to keep data onshore while adopting cutting-edge AI. This session explores practical strategies for deploying AI infrastructure locally (on-prem, private cloud, edge) while maintaining access to frontier model capabilities. Case study: how organisations balance sovereignty requirements with innovation speed.
From Siloed Systems to Seamless Service: Reimagining Citizen Experience for Aotearoa's Councils.
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM (60 mins)
Local councils across New Zealand are under growing pressure to meet rising community expectations while doing more with less. This roundtable explores how modern digital capabilities can break down silos and enable faster, more connected and responsive public services from everyday interactions to emergency response.
One Council, One Citizen: How Salesforce and Datacom Are Making Connected Government Real
1:45 PM - 2:05 PM (20 mins)
Every council in this room has a CRM, a rates system, a consents platform, and a contact centre. So why does your resident still have to explain who they are every single time they call? The vision of a single, unified view of the citizen isn't new — but for most councils it's remained frustratingly out of reach. What's changed is the technology and the partnerships now available to make it genuinely achievable. In this fireside chat, Salesforce and Datacom share how New Zealand councils are using the Salesforce platform to connect data, teams, and services across the organisation — moving from aspirational to operational, and drawing on real delivery experience across Aotearoa.
Leading with Purpose: Driving Culture Change in a Tech-Enabled Council
2:05 PM - 2:25 PM (20 mins)
This keynote will explore how purposeful leadership, empowered teams, and thoughtful technology adoption are reshaping how councils deliver for their communities.
Key points:
- Creating a culture that embraces change, continuous improvement, and digital confidence
- Enabling the workforce through modern tools, clear priorities, and strong leadership alignment
- Strengthening organisational capability to meet rising expectations in an increasingly tech-driven environment
Leading Under Pressure: Collaboration and Shared Services in Modern Local Government
2:25 PM - 3:00 PM (35 mins)
A discussion with executive leaders on the realities of leading through financial pressure, rising expectations and reform, and how councils can collaborate to maintain performance, trust and community impact.
- Managing budget constraints, cost shifting, and resource pressures
- Balancing rising community expectations with operational realities
- Shared services models that work – practical structures for shared billing, asset management, digital platforms and compliance reporting across councils.
Closing Remarks: What We’re Taking with Us
3:00 PM - 3:05 PM (5 mins)
We’ll pull out a few highlights from the day, share what’s coming next, and point you to ways to stay connected.
Event Close
3:05 PM - 3:05 PM (0 mins)
