Activ February 2020

Enabling mobility, independence and support

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Enabling mobility, independence and support

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A C T I V F O U N D AT I O N

Mike Dunn, Head of Technology at Activ Foundation, shares the digital transformation story of one of Australia’s leading disability support organisations

T

he technology behind the rise of Industry 4.0 is driving efficiency, interconnectedness and ever-more intelligent decision

making across every industry and market in the world. But advances in AI, data analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) technology have the power 04

to do so much more than drive profits and operational efficiency. Technology has the potential to lift up and support all members of our society. “The vision for Activ is for people of all abilities to have the same opportunities,” says Mike Dunn, Head of Technology at Activ Foundation.

Since 1951, Activ has been supporting people living with disability in WA to live an independent life of their choice. Today, the organisation supports over 2,000 Western Australian individuals and their families. Dunn, a father of two and Perth native, joined Activ in March of 2017. “I actually started out as an accountant back in the day. I did a finance degree and pretty quickly worked out that it wasn’t for me, but that job really helped because it gave me the opportunity to move across to an ERP consulting firm. I started out at the service

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desk and worked my way up to a senior consulting role.” Dunn reflects that his time in ERP consulting “has held me in the best possible stead for the rest of my career, because now I’m all about building relationships, working with new people and getting them to buy into what you’re doing.” Following a stint in the mining industry, Dunn leapt at the chance to apply his skills as a people-focused technologist to a role that “contributed to improving people’s lives. My wife worked at Activ 15 years ago and loved her time here, so when w w w.a c t i v. a s n . a u

A C T I V F O U N D AT I O N

“ Everyone’s going through some sort of ‘change’, but our team’s had a double dose of it and they’ve all been fantastic” 06

— Mike Dunn Head of Technology Activ Foundation

the role came up it ticked all the boxes,” he recalls. “I’ve been here for the last three years and it’s probably been the most rewarding and challenging job I’ve ever had.”

Dunn’s entrance into the role came at a time of significant change for Activ and the entire Australian disability sector. In 2012, the agreement was made to launch the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which aims to provide around 460,000 people living with a disability under the age of 65 with funding for necessary support

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ANDREW – AN ACTIV CUSTOMER’ 07 and services. This is a landmark

have far more choice and control as to

reform, and has completely changed

where they want to spend and where

the environment in which disability

they want their services to come

service providers operate. “It’s a

from. The NDIS aims to guarantee

once-in-a-generation shift that’s

fairness, dignity and equity for people

completely changed the funding

living with a disability, which aligns

model and how the sector actually

with our strategy here at Activ.” This

functions,” says Dunn. “The philoso-

historic restructuring of the sector

phy behind it is all about giving more

has prompted non-profits like Activ to

choice and control to people living

reevaluate their approach to be more

with a disability. The thing I really love

commercially minded when it comes

about it is that it’s transferred the

to attracting and retaining custom-

power of disability support funding

ers, as people with disability and their

away from providers and put it in the

families are given more choice across

customers’ hands. Now, customers

an increasingly competitive space. w w w.a c t i v. a s n . a u

A C T I V F O U N D AT I O N

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“The biggest challenge since I joined

Activ’s digital transformation has

Activ has definitely been the fact that,

been focused on three key areas:

as there have been massive changes

adopting new technologies to drive

rolling out across the whole sector,

efficiency; implementing cybersecu-

Activ has been rolling out its own mas-

rity that doesn’t impede operations

sive technology transformation as well,”

and, most importantly, finding new

says Dunn. “Everyone, everywhere,

ways to allow its staff to spend more

has to deal with change in some way,

time with their customers.

but our team has had a double dose of

As a driver of efficiency and cus-

it, having to contend with sector-wide

tomer centricity enablement, making

change in tandem with tech transfor-

Activ’s technology more mobile was

mation. It’s a tough gig, and they’ve all

a natural step for Dunn and his teams.

been truly fantastic.”

“Our old systems were making our

staff desk-bound,” says Dunn. “We needed to enable our staff to break away from their PCs and be present with our customers whilst still recording evidence of the service they are providing. We delivered on this via a series of sweeping software and hardware measures.” Activ has increased its network coverage, and introduced mobile devices that give employees access to insight-generating data on the go, as well as handle staff rosters, clocking in and out, reporting incidents and a host of other capabilities. “We

“ We needed to enable our staff to break away from their PCs and be present with our customers” — Mike Dunn Head of Technology Activ Foundation

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E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Mike Dunn Mike is an IT leader who thrives on the people side of the role. His background in consulting during his career has enhanced the belief that relationships are critical to bringing the business along for the journey. After previous roles in differing commercial sectors, Mike’s current role as Activ Foundation’s Head of Technology has presented new challenges whilst also being his most rewarding role to date. “The challenge of driving significant technological progress and efficiencies in the NFP sector has tangible real world benefits for our customers which is extremely rewarding for an IT leadership role”. w w w.a c t i v. a s n . a u

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“ We have been extremely lucky to have found the partners that we did” — Mike Dunn Head of Technology Activ Foundation

industry knowledge to the table, which has been a massive value addition for us, and have also delivered on our key objectives of mobility, cloud integration and delivery of efficiencies across the business.”

In this time of accelerated evolution for Activ, Dunn sometimes has to stop and marvel at how far the organisation has come. “This job was a real eye opener for me, since all my previous roles had been in white collar environ-

needed to find a mobile tool that was

ments. I remember getting a taste of

easy for our staff to operate, whilst

the challenge to come when, in my

being robust enough to handle our

interview with Danielle Newport, the

evidencing and enabling better access

CEO, she asked me how I was plan-

to valuable data,” continues Dunn. “We

ning on delivering the required change

have been extremely lucky to have

initiatives of an ICT transformation

found the partners that we did. In the

when none of our 1,000 support work-

applications space, after a lengthy

ers at the time had an email address,”

selection process, we partnered with

he recalls. For Dunn the real goal of a

Lumary and EasyEmployer to deliver

technology leader is taking an environ-

a simple customer management and

ment where technology isn’t a priority

rostering app. It allows our staff to

and selling its benefits to a team of

view and accept their rosters, deliver

people. “Activ has a lot of people com-

services with all the required customer

ing to work here whose primary driver

details available, evidence what they

isn’t technology. It’s helping people

have delivered and ensure we are

with living with disabilities to achieve

funded for that service. Lumary and

greater independence. My job as

EasyEmployer have brought their

an enabler is all about getting those w w w.a c t i v. a s n . a u

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A C T I V F O U N D AT I O N

C O M PA N Y FACT S

• Activ is one of Western Australia’s largest disability providers • Activ supports more 2000 customers • Activ has over 100 sites across Western Australia • Activ has been supporting people living with disability for more than 65 years

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• Activ is the major beneficiary of the Chevron City to Surf for Activ, WA’s oldest and most loved

FEBRUARY 2020

people to come on board with what I’m proposing,” he says. “We have come on in leaps and bounds in the last three years.” From video conferencing to collaboration software, Activ’s staff are increasingly adopting, exploring and finding new use cases for the technology provided to them.

Looking forward, Dunn wants to expand the range of applications available to Activ’s team, as well as find new ways to harness the data that they’ve begun gathering and integrating into the Activ system. “This year is about applications. We’ve laid some really strong foundations, and we have a ton of data going through these systems” he says. “Now, we need to extract it, give it to our leadership team and start delivering the kind of insights that are going to drive further success. Activ will continue to play a role in ensuring that our customers have every opportunity in life, whether that be finding a meaningful job, independent living options, home ownership, greater social inclusion – the list goes on and on.”

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Activ Foundation 327 Cambridge Street Wembley WA 6014 T +08 9387 0555 www.activ.asn.au