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Digital Leadership Day Western Australia
Registration and Networking
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM (30 mins)
Opening from Public Sector Network
9:00 AM - 9:10 AM (10 mins)
Welcome from Event Chair
9:10 AM - 9:20 AM (10 mins)
Keynote: Navigating the Digital Era
9:20 AM - 9:40 AM (20 mins)
From legacy to leadership: How AI could reshape citizen service delivery in Western Australia
9:40 AM - 10:00 AM (20 mins)
Western Australia has made bold strides in digital innovation, but the challenge remains: how can government agencies meet rising citizen expectations without growing their resources? In this keynote, Datacom Australia Managing Director Laura Malcolm explores how AI can help WA government agencies modernise legacy systems, meet compliance demands, and deliver smarter, faster, and more citizen-centric services. Drawing on real-world examples from across Australia, Laura will share how AI is already being used to transform service delivery, reduce costs, and empower teams - and why the opportunity for WA is both urgent and achievable.
Panel: Leading Through Complexity: Building a Future-Ready Workforce
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM (45 mins)
- As leaders, how can we cultivate a leadership style that thrives amidst the complexities of tech team dynamics?
- What leadership initiatives effectively promote diversity and drive inclusion within tech teams?
- How should leaders utilise emotional intelligence to navigate the challenges unique to tech environments?
- How can leaders champion ethical technology use within their teams and decision-making processes?
Morning Tea & Networking
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM (30 mins)
Panel: Strategic Leadership: Transforming Processes for Digital Excellence
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM (45 mins)
- How can tech leaders align digital initiatives with governmental policies while leading through bureaucratic complexities?
- As a leader, how do you instill agile thinking to reshape traditional processes within the public sector?
- What leadership strategies are key to balancing innovation with compliance as regulations evolve?
- From a leader's perspective, what are the most effective ways to manage resources to maximise impact in tech projects?
- How should leaders approach vendor relationships to cultivate fruitful partnerships that drive technological advancement?
Lunch & Networking
12:00 PM - 12:45 PM (45 mins)
Roundtable 1: AI & technology don’t transform government — people do
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM (60 mins)
As government addresses the pace of change in AI and digital technology, it’s increasingly clear: technology alone won’t deliver transformation - people will. This roundtable explores the critical role of leadership, culture, skills, change management, and strategic partnerships in unlocking the full potential of technology in the public sector.
- People Strategy is Digital Strategy: Digital transformation is not just a tech challenge—it’s a leadership and capability challenge. Consider how best to build digital fluency, confidence, and adaptability at every level, focussing on change readiness, not just system readiness.
- Trust is Your Licence to Operate: Ethical AI, robust information and data management, and inclusive experience design are non-negotiables. Unlock how to embed ethics, explainability, and accountability into digital and AI programs to ensure trust and adoption success.
- Creating synergy between people, systems & culture: Explore this powerful combination that determines whether digital ambitions deliver public impact – the difference between digital investments that simply modernise operations and those that truly transform communities.
Roundtable 2: Unlocking Real Business Value from AI in the Public Sector
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM (60 mins)
Join Joel Macfarlane, Director of Engineering at Datacom, and Jim Pollard, former CIO of the Department of Justice who brings firsthand Government experience, for an interactive roundtable focused on harnessing the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in government enterprise IT.
Drawing on deep experience in addressing both legacy modernization and evolving citizen expectations, our speakers will share practical strategies to navigate the complex journey from technology adoption to sustained business value—aligned with priorities like the WA Digital Strategy.
In an environment where legacy systems proliferate faster than ever and AI offers both cost efficiencies and entirely new capabilities, technology leaders face substantial barriers - from compliance, to integrating citizen-centric digital services and new omnichannel experiences, this session will focus on actionable solutions with participants encouraged to share challenges, success stories, and ideas to accelerate innovation across government.
Key Themes
- Modernizing Enterprise Applications:
Learn how AI can continuously modernize legacy systems, reduce technical debt, and enable flexible, up-to-date applications without traditional vendor lock-in—streamlining your technology stack and integration efforts. - Strategic AI Opportunities:
Discover how agentic AI reshaping expectations—from automating routine tasks to enabling new citizen services and operational models, such as AI-powered conversational agents and truly bidirectional omnichannel service delivery. - Overcoming Adoption Barriers:
Gain practical insights into overcoming cultural, operational, and structural challenges—addressing workforce concerns, change management, procurement, and the challenges of working with vendors seeking to “AI-wash” existing solutions.
Roundtable 3: Innovation, Trust, and Creativity in Government Settings
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM (60 mins)
- How to shift the mindset to an innovative culture
- Why failure is the road to success – and how safe-to-fail environments empower creative risk-taking
- Driving experimentation at scale and low cost while maintaining trust
- Accelerating decisions through agile prototyping with a focus on ethical and secure innovation
Visionary Leaders’ Panel: Visionary Leadership: Shaping the Technological Landscape
1:45 PM - 2:30 PM (45 mins)
- As a tech leader in the public sector, how can you ensure new technologies are integrated effectively and with foresight?
- What leadership qualities are essential for staying ahead in cybersecurity amidst a fast-evolving threat landscape?
- How do leaders leverage data analytics to transform public service delivery while maintaining trust and privacy?
- What barriers to technology adoption do leaders face, and how can strategic leadership overcome these barriers?
- How can leaders inspire innovation and manage risk in a sector known for its cautious approach to new technologies?
Closing Remarks
2:30 PM - 2:40 PM (10 mins)
