The Digital Summit opened last week with over 900 registrants from across industry and government.

This year we have moved to a completely virtual event in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This provides new opportunities, such as more international speakers and attendees, with more freedom to view on-demand content.

First week highlights

The first week explored the themes of Disruption and Change and Human-centred Services, which have never been more significant as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises in Australia and internationally. These pressures have forced organisations to change the way they work and rethink how they deliver services:

• The Hon Stuart Robert MP, Minister for Government Services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, spoke about how important the Digital Transformation Strategy is to the Government’s push to provide better services for Australians. In response to the challenges and opportunities of 2020, the Minister asked the DTA to refresh the Strategy. The DTA will release a discussion paper during the Digital Summit that will advance the conversation about how the Government will continue to accelerate data and digital transformation to 2025. Feedback on the consultation topics will be accepted until 31 December 2020.
• Rebecca Skinner, CEO of Services Australia spoke about her experiences in human-centred design during a time of crisis. She provided an insight into how her organisation was forced into rapid transformation and adaptation. She also shared lessons learnt from working to engage customers continuously and providing staff with the support that they need.
• Presentations by Jim Grubb, Tom Burton, Professor Beth Simone Noveck and Ernez Dhondy gave insights into how experts in Australia and around the world respond to disruptions and solve problems in a human-centred approach. They provided examples of innovations, trends, and new ways of delivering services to users.
• We awarded the ‘Outstanding digital service’ and ‘Excellence in partnerships’ categories for the Australian Government Digital Awards. Find out more about our Awards finalists.
• Workshops, case studies and on-demand content provided more opportunities for attendees to engage, learn and network with experts and colleagues alike.

Looking ahead to week 2

This week we’re exploring the themes of Leadership and People and Technology and Data.

Highlights include:

• keynotes from Peter Woolcott AO (APSC Commissioner), Randall Brugeaud (CEO, Digital Transformation Agency) and Michael Pezzullo AO (Secretary, Department of Home Affairs)
• plenaries from Stephen Scheeler (Digital CEO), Fiona Hathaway (Managing Director, Slalom), and Dr Catherine Ball (Futurist, World of Robotics and Drones/ANU). Jonathon Thorpe (DTA) is hosting an international panel on digital identity
• the final awards presentation in the Emerging Digital Talent and Digital Professional categories for the Australian Government Digital Awards
• more workshops, case studies, and on-demand sessions.

The Digital Summit is one of the largest online government conferences held this year in Australia. Single day tickets are still available from the event website.