Victoria's tech community is bustling with a calendar full of dynamic events. From The Startup Network’s Future Horizons Festival to Cybercon’s insights, we’re showcasing our innovation and diversity like never before.As we transition through the seasons, the Digital Innovation Futures (DIF) is taking a significant leap forward. Moving beyond our traditional festival, we're now engaging our community with technology throughout the entire year.The DIF Festival, having catalyzed over 700 events and engaged 130,000 participants, has successfully achieved its mission, thanks to the countless speakers, partners, and hosts who've celebrated Victoria's tech vibrancy over the past eight years.Our journey of celebrating our ecosystem’s groundbreaking achievements continues with a renewed focus. This evolution enables us to spotlight Victoria's tech excellence and foster connections year-round. This year, we’re excited to highlight Victorians at various awards, including the TechDiversity and Infoxchange NFP Tech Awards, AIIA Victorian iAwards, and the Pause Awards.As we embark on new beginnings, DIF is ready to introduce initiatives that will integrate Victoria’s digital ecosystem with the global stage even more closely. This complements our DIF partner events program returning this year including, the Churchill Top Tech Trends Debate, Pearcey Oration, Public Libraries Victoria Showcase, Women in Emerging Tech, and Fintech Australia’s Intersekt Festival. The DIF Online Hub remains your gateway to Victoria's vibrant tech scene, offering an ever-expanding collection of events, news, and opportunities. If someone forwarded you this email, sign up and stay in the loop. Stay tuned. With every day, we’re stepping towards exciting discoveries and achievements in Victoria’s tech community.
The eighth Digital Innovation Futures (DIF) Festival wrapped up on 6 September 2023, marking an exciting two weeks dedicated to Victoria’s vibrant digital innovation scene. Over the course of a fortnight, the festival featured more than 300 events in person and online across Victoria. This included over 140 events across Melbourne and more than 40 in regional Victoria. These events were hosted at multiple venues, including the DIF Festival Hubs: Cremorne Digital Hub, Melbourne Connect and the ACS, which served as focal points for festival activity. Above: The spiral staircase and light sculpture at Melbourne Connect, a DIF2023 Festival Hub. The DIF2023 Festival kicked off with the AISA Cyber Debate. The discussion focused on AI's impact on cyber security, which is timely, as a recent AIIA survey revealed that 36% of Australian businesses have integrated AI within their practices, up from 27% last year. Above: Karen Cohen, the founder of Women in Emerging Tech, speaking at the ‘Re-imagining the Future’ conference. Down at the DIF Hub at the ACS, the team from Women in Emerging Tech held their 2-day conference, ‘Re-imagining the Future’. The conference delved into themes including AI, gaming, and the intersection of arts – both digital and physical. Intersekt, the largest fintech event in Australia returned to Melbourne as a flagship DIF Festival event, with enthusiastic participation from across the fintech ecosystem. Meanwhile, in Bendigo, the Digital Summit at The Capital celebrated innovative digital achievements in the Loddon Mallee region. Above: the panellists and presenter at The Churchill Club Top Tech Trends Debate; David Collins, Rupert Walsh, Dr Nataliya Ilyushina, Nigel Dalton, Jane Bunn and Gretchen Scott. Adding to the festival's rich lineup, the Churchill Club delivered another engaging Top Tech Trends Debate. Panellists pitched their arguments for the world-changing power of 3D printed body parts, hyper-personalised weather forecasts and the merger of biotech and AI in implantable devices. The audience voted for the implantable devices as the next big tech innovation! The domain of medtech was also in focus. The Committee for Melbourne’s MedTech: Melbourne’s Growing Sector event enlightened the audience about recent advancements in AI-driven healthcare technology and its profound implications for patient care. On the startup front, the Startup Network organised a special DIF-edition Founder Connect session as one of the festival’s key closing events. It included a provocative debate that addressed whether technology could solve all the world’s problems. The festival's curtain call was the Pearcey Oration and presentation of the Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award. This year's accolade was awarded to Didier Elzinga of Culture Amp, a tech trailblazer who is one of Australia’s biggest tech success stories; the Melbourne-based startup is now a global brand with over 6,500 customers in 40 countries. Above: the winner of the Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year award, Didier Elzinga, speaking at the Pearcey Oration. For those seeking online connection and education, this year’s festival also introduced DIF Live, which offered live-stream sessions throughout the festival on diverse topics, ranging from discovering unexplored markets, the benefits of optimism, angel investing and the importance of sleep health on workplace productivity. Missed a session? You can catch up on demand anytime at dif.vic.gov.au/ diflive To help shape the future of the festival, the DIF community is encouraged to provide feedback via our survey at DIF2023 Feedback Loop. In the meantime, you can still stay up to date with the latest digital and tech innovation events across Victoria via the DIF Online Hub, which provides a year-round window into what’s happening in Victoria’s digital innovation ecosystem.
Digital technology is a transformative force that is supercharging Victoria's economy. The 2022 Victorian ICT and Digital Technology Sector Survey showed that in the past 20 years, the uptake of digital technologies has boosted productivity and lifted the Victorian economy – with a $40 billion boost to Gross State Product (GSP) and creating more than 80,000 additional jobs. A Thriving Sector The 2022 survey showed that Victoria had around 23,000 tech businesses, with the sector generating $116 billion in annual revenue and contributing $33.7 billion to GSP in FY22. Interestingly, over half of Victoria's 271,000 tech employees work in fields outside of ICT and digital technology, highlighting the scale and importance of digital tech adoption across various industries. To see a high-level snapshot of the findings from the 2022 Victorian ICT and Digital Technology Sector Survey. [https://bit.ly/digitechfactsheet2022] Support for growth The Victorian Government is supporting a thriving digital economy, and survey results have informed the key initiatives to support the sector, such as: Digital Jobs: $64 million program to re-train 5,000 mid-career workers with job-ready digital skills. Digital Jobs for Manufacturing: $4.5 million to assist Victorian manufacturing businesses to uplift their employees' digital skills SummerTech LIVE: $3.75 million to give ICT students and recent graduates invaluable on-the-job experience and uplift the digital capabilities of Victorian businesses. Free TAFE: This initiative covers the cost of tuition fees for eligible students and priority courses, including Certificate IV in Cybersecurity and Certificate III in Information Technology. Cremorne Digital Hub: $10 million investment to drive the growth of Victoria’s tech sector and position the Cremorne precinct as a top global destination for innovation and technology. Make Your Voice Heard But what about the future? Your insights can help identify challenges and opportunities for the sector and inform Victorian Government initiatives which support the digital technology sector and digital economy. The 2023 Victorian Digital Technology Sector Survey is open until 18 October 2023; to have your say complete the survey at https://bit.ly/victechsurvey2023.
As part of the DIF2023 Festival, the Digital Summit will bring together digital leaders from Victoria and beyond to celebrate, learn and shape our digital landscape over the next decade. As the feature event of the Regional DIF2023 program, the Digital Summit is presented by Regional Development Australia Loddon Mallee, Regional Development Victoria, Public Sector Network and Delos Delta. By providing an opportunity to showcase digital and innovation advancements within the Loddon Mallee region, the Digital Summit will catalyse future initiatives and investments in digital infrastructure, skills development and capabilities. Learn from thought leaders as they explore leading digital case studies, network with 300+ peers from federal, state and local government and hear from leading solutions providers as they explore key technologies to improve citizen services. Ultimately, the Digital Summit will culminate with the presentation of a Policy Paper designed to drive policy and action for the future of digital and innovative regions. ✓ Early Bird ticket sales end Friday 4 August. Secure your tickets today! ✓ Find out more about the Digital Summit on the DIF Hub. Keynote Speaker Highlight Victor Dominello is a former senior NSW Government Minister. In July 2022, he was recognised by The Australian newspaper as one of the country’s top 100 innovators. In 2019, Victor was appointed the world’s first Customer Service Minister. His presentation, Driving National Transformation Through Policy and Reform, will explore the theme of Digital Leadership and coordinating beneficial partnerships. Other Speakers include: Lisa Chesters MP, Federal Member for Bendigo Hon. Maree Edwards MP Kathryn Arndt, CEO, Victorian Local Governance Association Carys Evans, Director, Digital Twins Victoria Leonie Burrows, Chair, Regional Development Australia Loddon Mallee Leanne Rosewall, Regional Director Loddon Mallee, Regional Development Victoria Dr Adam Mowlam, Head of the Smart City Office at the City of Greater Geelong Learn more about the Digital Summit.
The DIF2022 Festival is back to delight with debates, pitch nights and more! One of the things we’ve discovered over the last couple of years is that flexibility is crucial, and so the DIF2022 Festival offers a hybrid events program. Drawing from experience combining the benefits of remote access and in-person networking, this year’s program will offer a combination of in-venue, live-streamed and on-demand events, ensuring everyone can participate. The Festival will see the return of in-person events at DIF Hubs across the state in coworking spaces, local libraries and corporate suites. More details will be announced soon. From 24 August to 7 September, DIF2022 will showcase and celebrate Victoria’s digital and tech ecosystem, bringing together visitors from across the state and the region to share ideas, network and learn new skills. The DIF2022 Festival is the highlight of the Digital Innovation Futures annual program of events. Discover some of our feature events The DIF2022 Festival program is now live with more events being added daily. Below are just a few of this year’s feature events: The in-person Women in Emerging Tech Conference [has been so popular it is almost sold out and will now be live-streamed by Deloitte Digital so no one will miss out on the fantastic line-up. As DIF is all about the intersection of digital technologies and innovation, the inspiring Melbourne Connect precinct is the perfect venue for the Festival’s opening and closing events. The Festival Opening Debate will focus on the critical topic of cyber security, hosted by the Australian Information Security Association as part of the annual Cyber Day on 24 August. The Festival will wrap up on 7 September by looking to the future with the ever-popular Top Tech Trends Debate, hosted by The Churchill Club. ACS Victoria hosts our first DIF Hub Day at their Tech Innovation Hub Docklands. Opening morning with Bradley Deacon on Cyber Jobs and The Pearcey Foundation Roundtable will also explore the challenges of the future of work. The Emerging Innovation Summit 2022 (EIS'22) is a future-shaping event that offers the attendees a rare opportunity to learn from the world’s best innovators and thinkers with 35 speakers and 20 expert panelists. Opening on Sunday 28 August via Zoom then into the CBD for some interactive fun at Foy's Arcade hosted by ISPT. Why not spend a weekday exploring outdoor emerging innovation at Yering Station, in the Yarra Valley on Tuesday 30 August. We love a pitch night, and this year we have three! Startup Victoria is on the lookout for Inspiring Young Founders for their August Pitch Night. Silicon Beach will host two pitch nights, one virtual and one in-person. Infoxchange and Connecting Up are back with a dedicated webinar series for not-for-profits to support their digital transformation journey. The Committee for Melbourne is bringing its members together to tackle the opportunities and challenges of the digital economy. The Committee will host the Smart Cities Summit with nbn co, and an online forum with Public Libraries Victoria showcasing makerspaces from Docklands to Wodonga. Future jobs are in the spotlight with the return of the Victorian Engineering/IT Careers and Startup Jobs Expo on the closing day Wednesday 7 September via livestream. Enjoy DIF2022 in three ways Everyone is welcome and to make it easy to access, you can participate in one of three ways: 1 / Online 2/ In-person 3/ On-demand Join a DIF Live event online at set dates and times Attend an in-person event at a local DIF Hub or partner venue Engage with on-demand content on the DIF Online Event Hub anywhere, anytime It's not too late to #MaketheDIF The DIF2022 Festival has been launched but there are still opportunities to be involved by posting a session as part of the DIF On Demand program by the deadline 20 August. It’s FREE to be a DIF Event Partner! All are welcome to attend events and we encourage you to create your shortlist and register early so you can make the most of your DIF2022 experience. Interested in being part of this year's DIF2022 Festival? START HERE
By Georgina Jerums Let the networking begin! Join in the state-wide Digital Innovation Festival. The Digital innovation Festival (DIF), has officially kicked off for 2019 with events being held right across the state until 6 September. From Swan Hill, Sale and Ararat to Wodonga, Bendigo and Ballarat the DIF has something for everyone. The festival has grown rapidly since it started in 2016, when it played host to just 70 events. This year it’ll be big. Very big. More than 15,000 people are expected to attend over 400 events to hear speakers from tech companies, universities, government agencies and businesses from across Australia and around the world. Kathy Coultas, Director, Strategic Technology Partnership Team, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. Heavy hitters in the line-up include Google, which is supporting an event for regional tourism operators; Zendesk (a $2.1 billion San Francisco-headquartered publicly-listed software company with 12 global offices including one in Melbourne), hosting an innovation roundtable; and DXC Technology (an American B2B IT multinational with 130,000 employees) hosting an artificial intelligence event with Swinburne University. So, who exactly is the Festival aimed at? "Everyone," enthuses Kathy Coultas, who heads up the Victorian Government’s Strategic Technology Partnership Team, which manages the festival. "There’ll be games development workshops, YouTube creator sessions, school student conferences and career expos, water innovation days, hackathons, artificial intelligence and cyber security conferences and awards, discussions on technology ethics, and more. Each of these activities enables businesses to learn, to understand the opportunities for technology-enabled innovation, to meet others on the same journey, and to help their business grow strongly into the future." "DIF is for every business, organisation, government agency, local council, community group, educational institution and individual because technology-driven innovation is impacting us all, creating both challenges and opportunities. The aim is to help Victorians understand that digital innovation is about our state’s future and that it involves and creates opportunities for everyone. DIF’s all about collaboration; we can do so much more in partnership than we can alone." Where the Festival really comes into its own is in giving homegrown tech go-getters a platform. "DIF 2019 promises to celebrate Victoria’s technology successes, showing the creativity of our grassroots innovators as well as our global success stories." Agricultural innovation also gets a big nod in this year’s DIF program as Victorian agtech is on the rise - unlocking opportunities for regional growth, local business development and global trade. Many events will help agricultural businesses apply technology to finesse products and services. "DIF will include blockchain workshops for the dairy and viticulture industries and their supply chains, plus demonstrations of drones, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) on farms," says Kathy. At a broader level, the spinoffs are many because you never know who you’ll meet: the DIF 2019 will be a business networking event like no other. "We believe that DIF’s globally unique in ambition and approach, to catalyse awareness and engagement with technology-driven innovation across an entire economy and community," says Kathy. "Not only does the huge range of events create opportunities to learn new things and meet new people, they also encourage a positive mindset and stimulate problem-solving, promoting technology innovation to every business." Originally published by the Victorian Connection.