Speaker Spotlight Q&A: Wendy Geller, PhD - Division Director, Data Management & Analysis, Vermont Agency of Education

Wendy’s dissertation findings highlighted shifting demographics in education arenas and labor markets internationally, specific education orientations occurring across cultures, and presented thoughts on the social and spatial forces surrounding rural community viability. Since leaving academia, Dr. Geller has dedicated herself to creating the cultural, infrastructural, and operational conditions required for practicing good data science in the public sector. She lives in Montpelier, VT with her brilliant husband, Alex, their joyful son, Sylvan, and trusty companion, Sir Richard the Lionhearted Dog. Iteration, and the open expectation of failure with view to making something better, together, makes collaboration an everyday activity. It’s …

Spotlight Interview - Digital Government and CX ANZ Q1 National Insights

The number one trend we’re seeing across all the markets and industries we work in is the growing appreciation and demand for a great digital experience. This really picked up pace during COVID-19, when customer expectations accelerated at a rate that no one could have anticipated, let alone prepared for. It was already an emerging trend prior to the pandemic, but the need to move our lives online caused even historically conservative organisations to assess the experience they were offering customers and audiences online. We’re also noticing the increase in organisations’ adopting applications from a variety of vendors with a …

Speaker Spotlight Q&A: Julia Wong, IT Accessibility Compliance Officer, Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services 

For nearly 20 years, Julia Wong has been instrumental in addressing accessibility issues within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through her knowledge of general accessibility standards and compliance, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, WCAG2 standards, as well as testing and remediation of various forms of electronic mediums. She has contributed to the accessibility standards for the Commonwealth by co-authoring the original state standards and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) Secretariat Accessibility Policy. In her current role as the EOHHS Accessibility Compliance Officer, she ensures that EOHHS agencies are creating website content and developing applications that are …

#GovInnovator Q&A: Deshard Stevens, CISO, NYC Commission on Human Rights

Deshard Stevens is a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) with over 12 years of experience managing, developing, and implementing business strategies and technical solutions while leading and managing project development, cloud strategy, and information technology teams. Deshard was the recipient of the 2018 Rising Star Award from the New York City Public Sector CIO Academy. He is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified in Risk and Information System Control (CRISC), Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE), and holds a Master of Business Administration. In his free time, Deshard is an avid runner. I am currently the Chief Information …

Exclusive Q&A: VITA's COO Talks Government Automation, RPA, and Leadership

Jonathan Ozovek is the Chief Operating Officer of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency - or VITA; a convenient acronym if ever there were one, given the importance of information technology to all aspects of life today. Answer: The main lesson I learned is how quickly the world can change. There is a level of connectivity and interdependency throughout the world today that was not the case decades ago. The main lessons I have reinforced are two fold...first, never lose sight of what is important and do not take your loved ones for granted and second, have multiple backup plans (i.e. …

Designing and embedding a seamless and innovative end-to-end service

At the recent Service Design and Delivery event, we heard from the Department of Health as they dive into how to connect the real world experience to policy making. In this article we explore: In the Department of Health, one example of the way policy has always been traditionally developed is in the field of mental health. Unlike other conditions, where it is usually quite clear if there is an issue – like a broken bone for instance – mental health conditions “are complex and they can be very different from person to person.” When developing policy, it is therefore …

Embedding a seamless experience across channels to connect & engage

The Secretary of the department put out a heartfelt statement and the department worked to address all the issues that the fire caused. More than that though, “from that incident came a real understanding of the need for empathy and for owning the issue.” It was also such a “profound experience” that it became the catalyst they needed “to change the way we think as an organisation.” From the response to that incident, they realised that DELWP needed to have three principles to live by: “be available; speak and listen; take action.” From these three principles came three engagement values …

How Client Centric, Digital Public Sector Services Improve NSW Citizen Experience

Innovation is a word not often directly correlated with government services. Due primarily to challenges around size, scope, budgets, bureaucracy, general risk-aversion and public scrutiny, the public sector is often regarded as slow moving. As governments strive to balance priorities and the allocation of scarce resources, new approaches are needed. The public sector needs to be increasingly innovative and to work smarter to effectively respond to the complex challenges facing society now and into the future. In this whitepaper we explore these digital service delivery priorities and delve into why they’re crucial to the future of public sector innovation.