Government Innovation Showcase South Australia 2026
Partner logo

Government Innovation Showcase South Australia 2026

10 Jun 2026 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

2025 was proudly supported by

Proudly supported logo

Overview

Held as part of Government Innovation Week South Australia, the 2025 Government Innovation Showcase brought together over 400 senior government executives focused on building smarter, fairer, and more accessible public services.

Live polling during the event revealed three standout insights shaping the future of public sector innovation:

  • Process transformation, workforce upskilling, and becoming more data-driven are the top priorities over the next 12–24 months.
  • Budget constraints and talent shortages are the biggest barriers to building a culture of continuous innovation.
  • The most pressing challenges facing government are economic pressures, workforce retention, and the accelerating pace of technological change.

To meet these challenges, leaders consistently emphasised the need for collaboration not only across agencies but also with industry partners. Engaging with the private sector is seen as essential to accelerating innovation, closing capability gaps, and delivering meaningful transformation at scale.

As we look ahead, the 2026 Showcase will build on this momentum with new ideas, deeper insights, and actionable strategies.

Sign up or Log in to Public Sector Network to register for this event

Who will be there?

Share your case studies and collaborate with peers to ethically guide AI, integrate citizen feedback into policy, and lead cross-agency efforts for streamlined, inclusive government services.

  • Guide ethical AI implementation within government for increased transparency and accountability.Integrate citizen feedback effectively into policy-making through digital platforms.
  • Lead cross-agency collaborations to boost public service delivery efficiency.
  • Promote resilient digital infrastructure that supports continuous innovation in public services.
  • Adopt data analytics for smarter procurement decisions and cost-efficient government operations.
  • Strategically bridge the digital divide to ensure equitable access to government services.

Discover best practices for implementing predictive analytics, ensuring data security, and the leading AI projects that drive efficiency and optimise service delivery.

  • Identify when and where to deploy AI: exploring potential areas where AI practices can drive both operational efficiencies and innovations.
  • Achieve ROI on AI investments: explore how to scale secure AI deployment and generative AI tools into everyday activity
  • Navigate privacy, regulation & ethics to maintain public trust and adopt responsible and ethical AI practices
  • Drive responsible, transparent and explainable AI workflows, today and for the future
  • Accelerate trusted data delivery, continuous monitoring and improvements to harness the full capability of your data and drive AI accuracy and impact
  • Advance the development and adoption of AI to maximise efficiencies in service delivery and CX

Explore ways to improve digital service accessibility, enhance user-centered design, and engage citizens through inclusive and interactive platforms.

  • Improve digital customer service platforms for a seamless user experience.
  • Utilise mobile government services to reach underserved communities.
  • Measure customer satisfaction and use feedback to drive service improvements.
  • Promote digital inclusivity and accessibility in government services.
  • Integrate user-centric design into public service platforms.
  • Enhance citizen engagement through interactive and transparent digital solutions.

Define your strategy for modernisation to achieve agility, resilience and innovation.

  • Modernise legacy ICT infrastructure to support innovation agility and meet the needs of continued digital advancement
  • Deliver scaled technology change transformation and unlock ICT as an enabler of change
  • Build a flexible and adaptive ICT infrastructure to sustain agility and innovation
  • Implement resilient network, cloud computing, and data centre strategies to strengthen government operations, ensuring scalability and reliability
  • Unlock the potential of hybrid IT and Cloud and navigate complexities of its roll-out to drive further efficiencies and enhanced service capabilities
  • Create the foundation to deploy more advanced AI technologies and information management uplift
Actionable insights

Tracks at a glance

Digital Services, CX, and AI Innovation

Digital Services, CX, and AI Innovation

For executives in Digital Services, Customer Experience, and Service Design. Explore how to deliver intuitive, inclusive and citizen-centred services through human-centred design, digital tools, responsible AI and automation

This track explores how digital services, customer experience, and artificial intelligence are reshaping the way government engages with Aotearoan. As citizen expectations continue to rise, public sector organisations must evolve to provide intuitive, responsive, and inclusive digital experiences. Sessions will highlight leading-edge approaches to designing and delivering human-centred services—enabled by AI, automation, and behavioural insights. Key topics include digital inclusion, ethical AI in service delivery, omni-channel engagement strategies, and the role of emerging technologies in lifting public trust. Case studies from across government will demonstrate how data-informed design and real-time feedback loops are being used to personalise services, reduce friction, and deliver value at scale.

Technology, Data, and AI Integration

Technology, Data, and AI Integration

For leaders in Technology, Data, ICT, Architecture and Transformation. Learn how to modernise systems, embed AI, and leverage data to drive smarter, faster and more resilient government operations

This track delves into the integration of technology, data, and AI across the Aotearoan public sector, with a focus on interoperability, data governance, and sustainable digital infrastructure. As digital maturity grows across departments, the ability to align technologies with strategic priorities—while ensuring privacy, transparency, and accountability—is critical. Sessions will explore how effective technology integration is enabling seamless services, improving decision-making and operational efficiency. We will also explore frameworks for secure data sharing, ethical AI deployment, and inter-agency collaboration, offering a blueprint for scalable, future-ready systems. A key focus will be on building the digital backbone that supports AI adoption: from data warehousing and analytics to machine learning pipelines and integration with legacy systems. This track will also spotlight practical initiatives around whole-of-government platforms, AI governance, and digital twin technologies.

AI-Enhanced Productivity

AI-Enhanced Productivity

For COOs, CFOs, HR, Workforce, Operations and functional leaders. Discover how AI can streamline processes, augment decision-making, and unlock workforce capacity while driving both public sector and economic productivity.

The AI Enhanced Productivity track will explore how AI is transforming the way the Victorian public sector works—enabling faster decision-making, automating routine tasks, and unlocking new levels of operational efficiency. As workforce expectations shift and resourcing pressures increase, government agencies are turning to AI tools to improve outcomes without compromising quality or accountability. This track will feature real-world examples of how AI is being embedded into workflows—from intelligent document processing and chatbots to predictive analytics and workforce optimisation. Sessions will examine how to identify high-impact use cases, measure productivity gains, and manage change across both technical and non-technical teams. Sessions will also tackle the ethical and human implications of AI augmentation, ensuring that productivity doesn’t come at the expense of transparency or employee wellbeing. Attendees will gain insights into AI-enabled tools that streamline internal processes, free up staff for higher-value tasks, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

What your peers had to say

I appreciated hearing real stories from local agencies. It was nice attending a conference where you are not being sold to constantly. I liked the mix of departments and agencies and viewpoints. It was great being able to connect with others from around SA.

Event was very helpful to understand how different branches of SA govt progressing on data and AI goals. Food, hospitality and venue was perfect.

Phenomenal arrangement of speakers and knowledge base.

Vendors, boost your presence

Becoming a partner at the Government Innovation Showcase South Australia offers unique opportunities to connect with decision-makers, showcase innovative solutions, and align with transformative public sector goals. As a partner, you’ll have access to influential government leaders, providing a valuable platform to demonstrate your expertise and contribute to critical conversations on public sector modernisation.

With a focus on the state’s specific needs, partnership enables you to collaborate directly with key players, co-develop solutions for the state’s challenges, and reinforce your commitment to advancing government services in impactful ways.

South Australian Leaders Prioritise Transformation, Talent and Data – But Budget and Capability Gaps Remain

GIW SA Innovation Showcase Key Take-Aways

As part of the 2025 event, delegates participated in live polling to share their priorities, challenges, and strategies for navigating the future of government. The results provide a valuable snapshot of where public sector leaders are focused — and where the biggest opportunities and obstacles lie.

Public sector leaders are focused on process transformation (24%), workforce upskilling (21%), and data-driven decision making (21%) as top priorities over the next 12–24 months. However, budget constraints (35%) and talent shortages (21%) remain the biggest barriers to fostering a culture of continuous innovation.

When asked about the greatest challenge facing government, the top concerns were economic pressures (38%), followed by workforce capability and retention (26%), and the pace of technological change (21%). To address the talent gap, most agencies are prioritising career development and upskilling (36%), though over a quarter (27%) acknowledge they are not yet actively addressing the issue.

Looking ahead, attendees believe the biggest lever for meeting public expectations is stronger talent attraction and retention strategies (38%), supported by cross-agency collaboration (30%) and workforce upskilling (16%).

On demand

"Dru Rai

Navigating Security Within the Emerging Technology Landscape

At the 2025 event, international keynote speaker Dru Rai shared valuable insights from his experience leading digital transformation and cybersecurity efforts across New York State. His session explored how governments can navigate the risks and opportunities of emerging technologies while building secure, future-ready public services.

Speaker:

  • Dru Rai, Chief Information Officer & Director, ITS, The State of New York

Questions?

See our FAQs or get in touch

Ready to register?

Registration is free for government