How can we help communities avoid misinformation and disinformation?

How worried should we be about pervasive data collection and its impacts on our citizens’ privacy and ways of life?

 Is cyber mischief dividing society and threatening trust in government… and even our democracy?

Our lives are becoming more entwined with, and dependent upon, digital technologies.  These technologies are presenting exciting opportunities to improve our citizens’ quality of life, but there are also risks to individuals, society, trust in government and our democracy that need to be addressed.

To better understand how prepared the South Australian Public Sector is for these challenges, Flinders University is conducting a survey.  The responses collected will be used to develop training to equip public servants with the knowledge, skills and mindsets needed to help South Australia thrive in the digital age. This is a vital piece of research that will help support our sector grow and develop, and with your input we can make a real difference in how we move forward into the future. Complete the survey here >

The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and responses are confidential.  It closes at midnight on 1 October 2021.

Once the survey is complete, you have the option to participate in a prize draw to win 1 of 3 Bunnings gift cards worth $40.

The survey is being undertaken by Flinders University and is part of a research project which investigates social cyber awareness in public sector leaders and if it improves through an education program.  Full details of the research project (including confidentiality, privacy, use of the data and contact details for the research team) can be found here. The project has been approved by Flinders University’s Human Research Ethics Committee (Project Number: 4686).

If you have questions about the survey, please contact Tammy Joachin, Lead – Executive Education, Jeff Bleich Centre (Flinders University) on 0401002719 or tammy.joachin@flinders.edu.au

The Institute of Public Administration Australia is pleased to announce that funding has been awarded to three new public administration research projects.

The grants from the Public Administration Research Trust Fund — which IPAA manages in partnership with the University of Canberra’s Centre for Change Governance —  will support research into the ethical application of artificial intelligence, the career pathways of Federal ministerial staff once they leave a minister’s office, and the capabilities associated with the implementation of social procurement.

Caroline Walsh, IPAA’s National Executive Director, said that the three research projects will deliver real-world insights for public servants and those involved in the wider public purpose sector.

“We are really pleased to be able to support these research projects into areas of public administration that are topical and important to the profession, not only now but into the future.”

Grants were awarded to:

• Associate Professor Joshua Newman (Better Governance and Policy, Faculty of Arts, Monash University) for the project ‘Supporting the Ethical Application of Artificial Intelligence in Australian Public Administration’ ($6,000)
• Dr Maria Maley (School of Politics and International Relations, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences for the project ‘Leaving the Ministerial Office: career steps following work as a ministerial adviser’ ($3,000)
• Dr Warren Staples and Dr John Howe (University of Melbourne) and Dr Diep Nguyen and Professor Stephen Teo (Edith Cowan University) for the project ‘ Understanding Capabilities in Social Procurement Implementation’ ($6,000).

Professor Darren Sinclair, Director of the Centre for Change Governance at the University, said that the partnership demonstrated the benefits of university collaboration with a member-based organisation like IPAA that promotes excellence and pride in public service across Australia.

“Public administration is undergoing a period of rapid transformation, with the advent of digitisation and big data, together with new and demanding challenges such as COVID-19, and the need to addresses integrity, diversity and inclusion.

 

It is more important than ever, therefore, for academics to provide research insights to practitioners — this can only happen with funding, which the IPAA has generously provided to three excellent projects”.

The research findings from these projects will be made available by IPAA and the University of Canberra in due course.

More information on the research fund is available from the Public Administration Research Trust Fund page on IPAA’s national website.

To see original article, visit the IPAA National website here.

Dr Alex Antic is a leader, consultant and advisor on analytics, data science and artificial intelligence, and will speak at the 2021 IPAA National Conference, Riding the Wave of Service Transformation, being held in Brisbane on 14–15 October 2021.

Alex has more then 18 years post-PhD experience and knowledge in areas that include advanced analytics, machine learning, artifical intelligence, mathematics, statistics and quantitative analysis, developed across multiple domains: Australian and State Government, Asset Management, Insurance, Academia, Banking (Investment and Retail) & Consulting.

In 2021 Alex was recognised as one of the Top 5 Analytics Leaders in Australian by the Institute of Analytics Professionals of Australia. He also holds several senior advisory roles across industry, government, start-ups and academia.

Alex has a PhD in Applied Mathematics, First Class Honours in Pure Mathematics, and a double-degree in Mathematics and Computer Science.

The 2021 IPAA National Conference will be delivered at Brisbane’s Hilton Hotel, with live stream tickets available for those unable to attend in person.

Early bird tickets are available until 31 August 2021. For tickets and more information, visit the 2021 IPAA National Conference website.

Original article from IPAA National Website.

In April 2021 IPAA SA were thrilled to be supporting the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) in the delivery of the 2021 EPA Board Summit on the topic of ‘Climate Change: Risks, Liabilities and Remedies’.

This online event was co-hosted with the EPA in collaboration with AiGroup, and was held over 2 sessions.

Growing our understanding of Climate Change and its impacts on our state is valuable and relevant to every South Australian state government department and organisation. This event presented some fascinating and insightful reports and presentations that are now accessible to the public.

Some of the key topics of discussion and presentation at this event included:

• Climate change as a financial and liability risk and opportunities for small to medium businesses - with keynote speaker Sarah Barker, Head of Climate Risk Governance, Minter Ellison
• Climate risk and what it means for businesses - with Tennant Reed, Principal National Adviser – Public Policy, Australian Industry Group
• Climate change in SA – what does the data tell us?  – with Dr Graham Green,
  Principal Advisor Climate Change Science, Department for Environment and Water

This event also included the opportunity for Q&A with the above speakers and exploration of two case studies from AGL and City of Adelaide on how they are adapting to climate change.

You can access the full event resources and recordings here.

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