Technology in Government 2017

Australia’s premier government ICT showcase is coming up in August.

Over the past decade, the annual Technology in Government conference and exhibition has become the place for ICT leaders to meet and share information. A lot of that can be credited to Project Director James Delliquanti, who has also become the face of the event… particularly since he decided to grow a fantastic handlebar moustache. With the 2017 event just around the corner, we sat down with James to find out exactly what it is that has made Technology in Government such a hit.

Technology in Government Project Director James Delliquanti.

In a nutshell, what does the event offer delegates?

So often conferences are just focused on the sponsors and creating a ‘market’ for what it is they are trying to sell. We like to think we took that agenda out of the equation many moons ago. With a core advisory board, we conduct a quarterly review to ensure we have the right speakers, the right topics and the right sponsors to fit the delegates’ criteria… not the other way around. By providing a place for CIOs, CTOs, heads of IT and their staff a chance to network, problem solve and learn from others — not just with those from Australia but also from other nations that might be ahead of us on a certain learning curve — we have created a strong reason to take two days out of the office for growth and enrichment.

Who are some of the headline speakers for 2017?

We have Jeanette Hanna-Ruiz, NASA’s Chief Information Security Officer, and Rachel Neaman, the former chair of Digital Leaders in the UK. We also have Barbara Cohn, the first Chief Data Officer of New York State, and Winn Nielsen, who is Head of Projects for the Danish Tax Authority.

Our Australian line-up includes Alastair MacGibbon, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Cyber Security, and John Dardo, Chief Digital Officer at the ATO. We also have Lisa Rauter, First Assistant Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. And for the first time, we have a state and local ICT community stream, with speakers that include Peter Worthington-Eyre, Chief Data Officer, Department of Premier and Cabinet in South Australia; Damon Rees, Chief Information and Digital Officer, NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation; and Dr Rachna Gandhi, CEO of Service NSW.

And who are some of the vendors I can visit?

Being in August each year, our event is the first after the new budgets are released, so I have had quite a few regular delegates tell me that they do a bit of ‘shopping’ on the exhibition floor. We have a very nice core of diamond, platinum and gold sponsors that come back year after year, such as ServiceNow, Veeam, Leidos, ThoughtWorks and Epicon, to name just a few. But we also have a cool group of young, Australian-owned and -operated companies that want to do business with departments and agencies. I love seeing new companies emerge with something different or something that is just better.

Finally, I understand you’ve reached an important gender diversity milestone?

This is my most proud achievement in regards to the 2017 event. We were guided by a government initiative to work towards gender diversity on the C-suite speaker program. And I’m very glad to report that my production team has accomplished this, with close to 60% of the speakers being women in the ICT space.

Technology in Government, 1–2 August 2017

National Convention Centre, Canberra

techingov.com.au