5 Minutes of Self Care at Your Desk

Investing in the right conversations for mental health

“We very much recognise that wellbeing is a personal responsibility, but as an organisation we also recognise that leaders have a role in creating an environment that enables healthy wellbeing.” Leonie Graham says that for them, ‘R U OK Day’ also sparked “a theme of keeping the conversation going. It wasn’t just a one-off training session or a Band-Aid solution.” It was about a continuous approach to supporting people in whatever way was necessary for them. As such, it was also very much “a two-way conversation.” “It is important to help your leaders understand that the value you’re going to …

Digital Healthcare Innovation: Trends Driving Digital Health Transformation in 2022 & Beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic is placing enormous strain on the global health care sector’s workforce, infrastructure, and supply chain, and exposing social inequities in health and care. COVID-19 is also accelerating change across the ecosystem and forcing public and private health systems to adapt and innovate in a short period. The Covid-19 pandemic has, and still is, placing enormous strain on the Australian healthcare sector. Everything from workforce to infrastructure, supply chains and access to care have had a spotlight shone on them in the last 20 months. While exerting strain and revealing how vulnerable the healthcare industry is, the pandemic …

Government Innovator Spotlight Q&A: Karen S. Howard Internal Revenue Service Director of the Office of Online Services

What advice would you give to the younger generation of women pursuing a career in technology and more broadly within public service? What is one piece of advice you wish someone had shared with you when you were beginning your career?

Integrating and Stabilising Platforms to Leverage Future Data, Analytics & AI Capabilities

We want to support the innovation and co-creation of services and experiences for students by creating distinctive, equitable, accessible, culturally attuned and user-shaped experiences across the university. Director of Planning and Information, University of Auckland The second section, as stated earlier, is about using data for the benefit of students. This realisation crystallised during the height of COVID-19, when some students continued to engage with the campus, even whilst the majority of students and staff were at home. “We wanted to understand who was on campus, who wasn’t, and who needed extra support.” Prototypes for understanding student engagement “were rapidly …

The process of developing a workforce plan

There are many ways to create a plan, or maybe more accurately, there are many elements that could be part of a plan. In case you missed it, last week we had an article on why workforce planning was so vital to a public organisation. “A gap analysis should then be conducted, which takes into account the current state and looks at where we actually want to be, or the desired state.” This is critical because it “shows what’s lacking.” And to overcome what’s lacking, “the next stage is consultation.” This is a more focused and narrow process than surveys …

Using automation tools to deliver measurable impact in the transport sector

The NZTA is “an evidence-based organisation,” and also encompasses a “Centre of Excellence for Research and Analytics.” Within that are eight teams based around data, research, evaluation, insights, analytics, business intelligence and advisory, designed to assist the agency to make better decisions. The Advanced Analytics and Modelling team is one of the eight teams, and their goal is to “take data as our input and find the most appropriate scientific methods, processes, algorithms or systems to help deliver insights, evidence and experience to enable decisions. We are a conduit between data and decisions, and the expectation is that this will …

Harnessing interoperable technologies to facilitate end-to-end automation

Harnessing interoperable technologies to facilitate end-to-end automation Most of us, especially those who work in or around the public sector, take for granted the fact that we have access to technology and the know-how to use it. Whilst computers and the internet have changed the way so many people connect, play, and work, not everyone has the same access or ability to use the technology that for many of us is so prevalent and essential. This was especially the case during New Zealand’s COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Some people, no matter what resources they have access to, will never take …