DIF2019 PROGRAM

Official Festival Events

Each year a series of events are scheduled in the lead up to the Festival. Kicking off in February with the open call for event partners. Minister Pakula launched DIF2019 at the annual Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) Ministerial Forum on 28 February in Melbourne to a room of tech industry leaders. Major events were announced including the AIIA National iAwards as a centrepiece of DIF, the Digital AI Summit, Pearcey Oration and The Churchill Club Tech Trends Debate. This initial program was updated in May to time with Melbourne Knowledge Week.

In 2019 a series of events called DIF Mixers were introduced in the lead up to the Festival. Held on Tuesday afternoons at the Victorian Innovation Hub in June and July the Mixers offered opportunities for over 200 people to connect and contribute. Collaborating around the Festival themes provided a framework for the DIF Hub 2019 program during the second week.

The DIF2019 Launch was held on 6 August. Key event partners delivered their “DIF Pitch”, sold the benefits of attending their event, offered special deals and even gave away a few tickets. The event was captured by the DJPR Newsroom and featured on the Victorian Connection -. “Digital Innovation Festival leads the way across Victoria”. [3]

The Official DIF2019 Opening was a sold-out event. Hosted by David Latina, Deputy Secretary, Jobs, Innovation and Business Engagement, DJPR, at the Victorian Investment Centre on Friday 23 August. Hosted jointly with the Australian Information Security Association (AISA), the event focused on cybersecurity with a compelling “‘live hack” demonstration. The event provided AISA with an opportunity for advance promotion of Australia’s largest cybersecurity event which the Association hosted in October at the MCEC. [4] Recognising the value of this form of crosspromotion, other major event hosts are looking to forge strategic partnerships with the Festival in 2020. In keeping with the broad geographical nature of the Festival, DIF closing events were held across the State on the final day including the Victorian Engineering and Graduate Tech Jobs Expo at Fed Square. [5]

[3] DIF2019 Launch 06.08.19

[4] DIF2019 Opening by David Latina 23.08.19

[5] Closing Event Student Tech Jobs Expo VEIT 06.09.19

Festival Achievements

Building on the success of previous Festivals in engaging with a broad range of people and industries, DIF2019 Alan Turing Institute also travelled with the support of continued the focus on emerging technology, future jobs, digital inclusion and industry capability.

Emerging Technology

DIF nurtures the growing recognition that innovating Committee’s were major partner of the Digital AI

with technology is critical to business and community development. DIF2019 audiences across the State were drawn to events covering cybersecurity, AI, blockchain, IoT, augmented and virtual reality.

The Digital AI Summit attracted an audience of close to 450 industry leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, policy makers, international trade delegates and more. It showcased local speakers such as Susie Sheldrick from Silverpond – which recently published a report on Australia’s AI Ecosystem; and international speakers such as Nattapat Thanesvorakul, Head of Ventures for Accelerator. [7] the UK Consul General. [6]

The Committee for Melbourne AI Taskforce was active across the Festival supporting the Victorian All-Party Parliamentary Group on AI meeting at Parliament House and the AI Briefing at Allens Legal. The Rise AI, South East Asia’s First Corporate AI

Summit presenting the State of the Nation and hosting a closing reception for business and government leaders to meet the speakers. [7]

The Emerging Innovation Summit focused on innovation for a sustainable future, technology and business innovation and creativity and design. Approximately 250 people heard from 43 speakers and 18 panelists, many from overseas.

DIF2019 saw an increasing number of private events hosted by professional services firms and blue-chip companies. This expansion into enterprise-scale tech is part of the DIF growth strategy as illustrated below.

Zendesk hosted a Jobs Roundtable with the Victorian Government attended by Minister Pakula and Treasurer Pallas to explore the challenges and opportunities in relation to attracting tech talent to Victoria. [8]

IBM hosted a private briefing on Operationalising your AI for enterprise leaders needing to increase their understanding of this important emerging technology. Swinburne and Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched their joint Data for Social Good Cloud Innovation Centre (CIC).

Roger Taylor from the UK Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation was the first to undertake the DIF International Speaker program presenting the 2019 Pearcey Oration and a keynote at the Digital AI Summit. Dr Maria Rosaria Taddeo from Oxford and the

[6] 2019 Pearcey Oration Roger Taylor 27.08.19

[7] Digital AI Summit CfM State of the Nation 27.08.19

[8] Jobs Roundtable 26.08.19

Future Jobs

The future of work continues to be a hot topic for both business and individuals and DIF fosters a positive perspective through discussion, debate and demonstrations. More than 100 industry and education representatives explored the opportunity for data analytics to benefit future growth at the first North and

West Melbourne Data Analytics Hub Breakfast Forum

at Moonee Valley Racecourse. Jointly hosted by Northlink and the Bundoora and Sunshine Victorian Government Business Offices was a special project for DIF2019. A follow up industry roundtable was hosted by DJPR Deputy Secretary David Latina to explore the opportunity for government to assist the digital transformation of local businesses in the food, manufacturing, transport and logistics industries.

The future was a common theme in the regions with DIF sponsoring the Digital Innovation and Ballarat’s Future keynote by Bernard Salt. The Benalla Future of Work Regional Summit explored the impact of the 4th meet employers to discuss job opportunities and

Industrial Revolution on energy, transport, health, Kids demonstrated they are literally and enthusiastically creating the future as they took on practical projects such as Tekids Coding and Robotics in Point Cook, Robogals at Carlton’s Kathleen Syme Library and many other after school programs held across the State. DIF2019 boasted 21 robot related events including the Victorian State RoboCup finals, attended by more than 650 Victorian students - an absolute DIF highlight and an extra bonus given RoboCup is a Victorian home-grown initiative, now fostering tech innovation amongst students nationally and internationally. [9]

Finally, over 1,000 students, graduates, and mid-career professionals attended the Victorian Engineering and Graduate Tech Jobs Expo on the closing event at Fed Square. The VEIT Expo was a great opportunity to communications, manufacturing and agriculture.

graduate programs and to learn more about the tech and engineering industry. The support provided by the Victorian Government enabled more students to attend.

Student RoboCup training the next generation of innovators

[9] RoboCup Junior Inc held at the Melbourne Showgrounds 30.08.09

Students spoke of how the competition taught them about programming robots, basic coding, the chance to make friends from competing schools and how to prepare for future studies and STEM careers. The DJPR Newsroom team captured the story and shared it via the Victorian Connection.

Digital Inclusion

DIF explicitly seeks to encourage everyone to engage with technology and prompts consideration of new opportunities to apply technology to solve problems, large and small. This year partners were encouraged to take the Festival to the people wherever they are which led to some exciting experiences in schools, tiny houses and aged care residences. Making technology accessible is vital if the whole community is to benefit from the transition to a digital economy.

The Festival brought the Big Day In Program to regional students in Wangaratta to learn about digital careers with the Australian Computer Society Foundation. [31] The link between optimism and innovation inspired audiences in Wodonga at AWISE. Elderly residents of Shepparton had the opportunity to experience the out of body joy of virtual reality experience as part of I Wish I’d Asked Goes Digital. [10]

Big challenges such as waste management and the need to transition to a circular economy were the target at this year’s MAVHACK. DIF supported Municipal Association of Victoria’s series of hackathons for the second year with teams from local government, community and tech companies collaborating on problems. [11]

Positioning Victoria as a leader in social entrepreneurship, the annual Social Innovation Summit is becoming a catalyst for one of Australia’s fastest growing impact-communities, the Social Innovation Network. Fostering a strong impact-culture across a range of sectors, technologies and communities, the summit sees digital social innovation as the key to a sustainable, ethical future. [1]

In Torquay, the #futureAUS social innovation hackathon involved a group of high school girls in discussions about startups, future of work and how innovation can solve real problems. The students then came up with solutions to deal with the persistent problem of dealing with cigarette rubbish along the Great Ocean Road. [12]

GamEd Sunraysia Tech on Country workshop delivered by Luggarah (who also hosted the Ararat GamEd workshop) was held along the banks of the Murray River at the Merbein Common. Around 52 participants from Mallee District Aboriginal Services and Mildura Flo Connect attended along with Traditional Owners and Elders. Participants explored different tech tools including digital cameras, videoing interviews. The event highlighted career options and the transferability of skills to allied industries. [39]

[10] Experiencing VR in Shepparton with Rotary

[11] MAVHACK: Supporting local innovation and problem solving

[12] #futureAUS Torquay social innovation hackathon 06.09.19

Industry Capability

Supporting Sector Growth

A key area of focus and achievement for DIF2019 was to reach out to all industries around the application of digital technology and the opportunities it presents for business innovation, productivity growth, process efficiencies and enhanced competitiveness.

Sectors engaged included advanced manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, agriculture, aged care, transport, tourism, digital health, creative industries, fashion, education, retail, financial services, food, disability services, local government, new energy, water, mining, small business and youth employment.

Representatives of these sectors were involved with DIF through both private and public events covering topics such as emerging technology, business transformation, digital skills, regional growth, improving customer experiences and more.

Managing Future Resources

DIF2019 included 28 events focused on agriculture covering such opportunities as IoT on farms, innovation in the grains industry, weed control with drones, with blockchain in the supply chain events still to come.

Melbourne Water hosted a Water Innovation Day. The Pearcey Institute facilitated a Cross Industry Digital Solutions Roundtable on Innovation in Water Management. A Smart Mining Networking Event was hosted by BHP, Southern Innovation and AustMine.

In Horsham, at the Grains Innovation Park, more than 100 secondary students heard how technology such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones) are being used by Agriculture Victoria science staff to improve crop varieties for farmers. Research scientist Sahand Assadzadeh was joined by Balmoral Community College students Ewan Weaver, Joel Rees, and Will Lyons. [14] Picture: Samantha Camarri.

The Future of Mobility Forum, hosted at the Robert Bosch Australia facility in Clayton, showcased autonomous and electric vehicle technologies and policy direction across Victoria. An audience of more than 200 heard from local and international business experts about cutting-edge technology and innovation that will transform our State and the world, while creating well-paid jobs here in Victoria. [15]

Fostering Entrepreneurship

The National iAwards Pitchfest and Gala Dinner was a centrepiece of DIF2019. Hosted by the AIIA, the iAwards is the premier awards program for Australia’s technology industry and attracted 800 participants including many from interstate and overseas. [13] Victorian entrepreneurialism was celebrated and supported through LaunchVic's YeahNah Conference - the showcase of homegrown entrepreneurs. Other events supporting entrepreneurship and tech career pathways included the Upstart Challenge in Geelong and Runway DIF Street Party in Ballarat. Whilst Pantala hosted an event exploring the Role of Large Multinational Corporations within the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Melbourne.

[13] National iAwards Pitchfest, Andrew Tulloch IDBE 29.08.19

[14] Horsham Grains Innovation Park AgVic 29.08.19

SportsTech is booming

Melbourne is the nation’s Sports capital and home to the Australian Sports Technology Association (ASTN) and more than 110 sports-tech startups. An estimated 65% of Australian sports technology businesses are based in Victoria, including sports management software, online games, VR/AR/MR, eSports, OTT, and Fantasy Sports. This emerging sector is expected to grow globally to US$93 billion by 2027 and Victoria is well placed to ride the wave.

ASTN with the support of LaunchVic established Australia Sports Tech Week as part of DIF2019, attracting international and national visitors. Highlights included Olympics Netherlands, FC Barcelona and the Boomers vs Team USA basketball games. [17]

The showcase Australia Sports Tech Conference (STC19) attracted 2,000 people with a passion for data, digital and technology in the sports, media and entertainment industry.

Minister Pakula opened DIF2019 announcing the Victorian Government continued support for this fastgrowing sector and confirmed funding of $350,000 through LaunchVic. ASTN will deliver four accelerator programs to scaling startups focused on human performance and sports technology.

The Melbourne Esports Open (MEO) 2019 was held for the second year attracting a huge audience of 17,000* fans, a 40% increase on last year. This year, MEO featured three major regional tournaments across League of Legends, Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege.

*Note that the audiences involved with this program are not included in the DIF total audience numbers. [17] Bernadet van Os, Performance Manager Technology, TeamNL, from The Netherlands presented a keynote on Innovation and Technology Olympics

“Victoria is producing an amazing array of SportsTech innovation and our companies are taking those products to market here and abroad with great success. The accelerator programs that we’re backing through LaunchVic will help further propel Melbourne and Victoria into the future.” Martin Pakula MP, Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade

[16] Sydney-based ISCA sport management students annual field trip included the Australian Sports Analytics conference

Special Projects

In 2019 funding was allocated to special projects designed to extend the reach of the Festival to new audiences, engage different partners and showcase digital opportunities across Victoria.

DIF Back to School

The DIF Back to School Program was introduced in 2019 to enable students, parents and teachers to engage in the Festival. Industry speakers volunteered their time to raise awareness of the wide range of opportunities offered by careers in technology. The program was delivered in partnership with the Department of Education Digital Learning team.

In just one example, Geelong-based entrepreneur, Leighton Wells [18] visited his local school and shared his experience on Twitter. Gary Hindle the STEM teacher who hosted Leighton shared his BTS experience at the final DIF Mixer on 19 November. [19] Gary reported that Leighton’s visit captured the attention and imagination of students at Rollins Hill Primary and encouraged them to consider how they might have a different future – creating tech, not just using it.

#BTS by numbers

70 schools registered and 60 matched with speakers that met their topics and timeframes 15 schools were ‘regional’ or ‘rural’ 45 schools were ‘CBD’ or ‘metro’ 10,000 members of school communities including students, teachers and parents* 75% of both schools and speakers rated their 11 staff from Deloitte volunteered

[18] Leighton Wells Geelong-based entrepreneur experience as between 4 and 5 out of 5

presenting to Grade 5/6 at Rollins Hill Primary School

“A few months ago, I answered the call for volunteers to go back to school for the #DIFvic, got matched to a regional school & talked to kids about careers in STEM. Today, I got to see the numbers for #DIF2019. Let's do it again next year & make Victoria the innovation state!” Gyle visited Ballarat Specialist School

[19] Gary Hindle STEM Teacher Rollins Hill Primary School accepting Certificate of Appreciation from Kathy Coultas 19.11.19

*Note that the audiences involved with this program are not included in overall DIF audience numbers.

Braindate@DIF2019

Global Tech Leaders

In partnership with the Australian Information DIF2019 offered business matching with a difference! DIF Braindates provided Festival participants with a interests. Braindates were knowledge sharing meetings Lounge at the Victorian Innovation Hub on 29 August. Dr Amanda Caples, Victoria’s Lead Scientist hosted a group Braindate posting the topic “How can AI accelerate achievement of UN Sustainable

Industry Association, the Victorian Government hosted the 5th Annual Global Tech Leaders’ Dialogue (GTLD) [22], a key initiative of DIF. The GTLD brings together technology leaders from government and industry from across the world to share challenges, discuss opportunities, examine effective policy instruments and build relationships. It positions Melbourne as the ideal location for open discussions about the impact of technology on represented economies. International awareness of the talent and vibrancy of Victoria’s digital innovation ecosystem is promoted as GTLD delegates are encouraged to participate in DIF events as speakers and audience members.

In 2019 twelve countries participated in the GTLD to discuss two topics: Technology Governance and Ethics; and The Role of Innovation Hubs. Participants included representatives from France, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UK,

[20] Instagram post of Braindate Lounge 29.08.19

new way to find and meet new people with relevant held one-on-one or in groups at the DIF Braindate USA and Australia.

Development Goals?” which proved very popular. [21]

[21] Victoria’s Lead Scientist hosts a Braindate exploring AI and the Sustainable Development Goals [22] Global Tech Leaders Dialogue 28.08.19

In addition to the GTLD delegates, DIF 2019 actively sought to attract technology experts to attend and speak at local events across the State exposing Victorian communities to thought leadership in relation to digital innovation. The experience was so positive that many of international speakers have expressed interest in returning for DIF2019.

Working with Global Victoria and the Victorian Government Trade and Investment Offices around the world, DIF 2019 was proud to host international delegations from Malaysia and Thailand, an international sports tech mission and support international agricultural technology visitors as part of Global Table.

DIF Hub 2019

The DIF Hub Program is a key feature of the Festival and designed to provide a light touch opportunity to engage with DIF themes. The DIF Hub makes technology awareness and information accessible by offering mini conferences that are both short in duration and free of charge. See Table 1 DIF Hub 2019 Program

In 2019 the DIF Hub was hosted at the Victorian Innovation Hub at the Goods Shed North as part of a new partnership with LaunchVic and Stone and Chalk. DIF Hub 2019 ran over 5 days from Monday 2 to Friday 6 September with three sessions offered per day: a morning session with tech experts sharing their latest innovations; a lunch ‘n’ learn session with industry representatives and a deep dive discussion with thought leaders every afternoon. This year one-hour DIF Hub Boardroom Sessions were introduced to allow demonstrations of software or roundtable discussions to explore an issue. The sessions allowed for deep conversations and personal connections with positive feedback suggesting the concept worked.

DIF2019 personal journeys

Connecting locally to create impact globally AI Futures was a theme across DIF2019, prompting Ruth Lewis to post a Braindate on Ethics and AI [21]. This sparked conversations with the Victorian Lead Scientist and others interested in the challenges facing society’s successful adoption of emerging technology. Through meeting the DIF team, Ruth was invited to be a panelist on the DIF Hub AI futures day Solving Global Problems: Data, AI and Future Systems session. Ruth shared the importance of foresight in preparing us for the future. Ruth then joined The Pearcey Institute roundtable, Is your industry AI ready? Given her work with IEEE standards Ruth connected with Greg Adamson, Chair, IEEE Ad Hoc Committee on IEEE Ethics Programs and is now representing Australia on this important international body.

“I hit a personal milestone today –I had my first real public speaking opportunity…about empowering and setting the future workforce up for success at the DIF Hub.” Alex Post, Girls in Tech Australia

Table 1 DIF Hub 2019 Program

Digital Economy Day 2.09.2019

• Digitising the Economy with Victorian

Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions • Intro to Crypto Currency with Crypto

Consulting Institute + Cointree + Coinstop • Cyber Security in the Digital Economy with

Cyrise + Women in Security + WiseLaw +

HackHunter • Quick Hacks - How to Hack Your Online Profile + Small Business in the Digital Economy with

Sue Ellson

AI Futures Day 3.09.2019 • Solving Global Problems: Data, AI and Future

Systems with isgood.ai + DSI4AU + IEEE • AI for Real Problems navigating dyslexia with

Dystech • Is Your Industry AI Ready? With the Pearcey

Institute

Connected World Day 4.09.2019 • Satellite Based Augmentation System with

Frontiers SI • Mixed Reality - What is there for me? With

Readify • Innovation in Water Management Cross

Industry Solutions in IoT with the Pearcey

Institute

Future of Work Day 5.09.2019 • Empowering Girls Futures with Girls in Tech,

Superstars of STEM, Empowered Girl • Women in IoT Roundtable with IoT Hub • Surviving and Thriving in the Digital Economy with We Teach Well + Weploy + Bradley

Deacon • Microcredentialing with the Latrobe Valley

Authority • Startups & Councils 'Lightning Decision Jam' with Marketing Entourage +

Entrepreneurs&Co.

Inclusion & Impact Day 6.09.2019

• Tech 4 Humans with DSI4AU • Harnessing digital innovation to create shared value with Dystech + Exaptec + Making

Authentic Friendships + Kolossus Digital

New Visual Language with Piqify

Digital Inclusion for First Nations with IE Digital