Victorians were once again recognised in the annual Women in AI (WAI) awards for their achievements in emerging technology. The WAI Awards 2023 plays a crucial role in enhancing the reputation and visibility of women in AI within the Asia-Pacific region. It also offers a platform to talented women who have started their own businesses with AI-based products. Among the winners were these inspiring Victorians from across the public and private sectors. Taking out the awards in Education, Sports, Mining and Infrastructure. Congratulations to them all! 🏆 AI in Education Dr Wafa Johal A Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne and ARC DECRA Fellow, Dr Johal's research is in Human-Robot Interaction, designing and developing computational solutions to make robots useful and acceptable by end users. Dr Wafa Johal (L) and Roy Johal (R) at the Women in AI Awards, Source LinkedIn Post June 2023 "Humbled and honoured to have received the Women in AI Award in the Education category.Thanks to my collaborators and teammates. I am also grateful that my husband Roy Johal was with me for this moment - his support helps me tremendously; he pushes me and challenges me to take risks and try new things, and he helps me to learn from my failures.#grateful Education is a pillar of our society and we need to push for a positive use of AI for and by learners. In the ChatGPT era, in which AI can be used to cheat a lot of exams, I am happy that my team and I are doing research on how we could leverage AI and robotics to build interactive adaptive experience for our students." Dr Wafa Johal, University of Melbourne 🏆 AI in Sport - Alice Sweeting A Lecturer in Sports Science and Analytics, Alice also completed her PhD in 2016 which focused on tradio-frequency tracking and data mining techniques to profile the movement patterns of elite and junior-elite netball athletes. "Congratulations to all winners and finalists, including my co-finalist Elisa! Thank you to Women in AI and the sponsors for making these Awards possible. Thanks to all my colleagues, collaborators, family and students! Special thanks to Professor Di Cook, for nominating and encouraging me to step outside my comfort zone." Alice Sweeting, Victoria University 🏆 AI in Mining - Malgorzata Sikora As Data Science Lead, Malgorzata is a creative and innovative data scientist passionate about the mining industry, and aims to utilise data to help build strong, inclusive, and sustainable businesses. "I’m deeply honoured to win this prestigious award. It is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and passion I have poured into my AI journey. This recognition motivates me to push boundaries, drive innovation, and empower others to make a lasting impact in AI." Malgorzata Sikora, Newcrest Mining 🏆 AI in Infrastructure - Orla Glynn As Executive - AI, Reporting, Insights and Automation Configuration at Telstra, Orla has a wealth of experience in implementing intricate strategic roadmaps and transformation programs. Orla strives to make innovation a deliberate process. "Thrilled to be a WAI Awards winner! Culturally diverse and adaptive teams are pivotal to our success, fostering inclusivity and leveraging diverse perspectives that drive innovation and problem-solving. This recognition highlights the significance of diverse teams in advancing AI and achieving exceptional results." Orla Glynn, Telstra About the Women in AI Awards The Women in AI (WAI) is a non-profit organisation striving for inclusive AI that positively impacts society worldwide. As a community-based effort, they aim to empower, educate, and foster active collaboration through various channels such as education, research, events, and blogging. Nominations are sought from inspiring women who are working, leading, creating or demonstrating innovation in AI in the following sectors: Industry, Government, Universities, Research institutes, Startups or NGOs The WAI Award categories recognise and honour achievements based on the following AI technologies: Speech, image and video recognition Autonomous objects Natural language processing Conversational agents Prescriptive modelling Virtual and augmented creativity Smart automation Advanced simulation Data monitoring Complex analytics and predictions Robotics Machine-learning Additive manufacturing. IoT Women in AI Advisory Group Australia, Source Women in AI
Global Victoria and its trade and investment offices, with the support of the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN), are coordinating a virtual inbound delegation of international sport executives to coincide with the SportNXT conference in Melbourne. Export-ready Victorian sport and related companies are invited to apply to participate in our SportNXT inbound virtual trade mission and be connected with this international delegation. Held in conjunction with the SportNXT Conference, this virtual mission will comprise a business matching program for all participants and introductory session for international delegates. Global Victoria will facilitate an online business matching program, connecting participating Victorian companies with relevant international delegates and delivered via a dedicated virtual platform. Once a core program of meetings has been published, Victorian companies and international delegates will also be able to request and coordinate additional meetings directly via the virtual platform. To support the mission, international delegates will participate in a one-hour online introductory session showcasing Victorian sports industry capabilities. Mission details Mission dates: Tuesday 29 March to Thursday 14 April 2022Location: All regions, virtuallyApplications open: Tuesday 15 February 2022Applications close: Friday 25 February 2022 Other key dates Introductory sessions for international delegates: Tuesday 29 March 2022Business matching program for participating Victorian companies: Wednesday 30 March - Thursday 14 April 2022 SportNXT Conference: 6-7 April 2022 CENTREPIECE at Melbourne Park (optional and at participants own expense) SportNXT 2022: CREATE. SHARE. CONNECT. SportNXT is a thought leadership summit where global industry leaders meet to create, share and connect. Sport has never been more prominent and valuable nor challenged and disrupted. Sport’s ability to unite communities and cultures both locally and globally is more important than ever. The threats facing sport at every level are outweighed only by the opportunities ahead. The 2-day live conference will feature an unprecedented line-up of local and regional industry leaders live on stage, combined with the biggest global names via live video link. The third day of SportNXT is reserved for optional curated site visits to selected sports infrastructure from Melbourne’s world-class facilities. The summit takes place during the same week as the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2022 and will be held at CENTREPIECE, the new state-of-the-art conference and events facility, in the Melbourne & Olympic Parks precinct. Being the only city in the world to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix and a tennis Grand Slam, Melbourne is the perfect backdrop for a global sport business summit. Who should attend? SportNXT is expected to attract senior leaders from fields including rightsholders, media, government, academia, finance, technology, infrastructure, integrity, medicine, health and wellbeing. What's the program? Topics on the table for discussion will include: women in sport the future role and relevance of global sporting events the changing media environment the growth of eSports sport and climate change. International keynote speakers who will be appearing live via video include president of World Athletics and IOC member Lord Sebastian Coe, US women’s soccer captain Megan Rapinoe and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The global leaders will be joined in person by a range of prominent Australian figures. Find out more information on the summit and register to attend SportNXT. Melbourne to be home of New World-Class Sports Tech Hub The Victorian Government is backing the state’s growing sports technology sector with a $4 million investment to establish the Australian Sports Innovation Centre for Excellence in Cremorne. The centre will support the creation of up to 2,000 tech jobs in four years by fast-tracking commercialisation of new products, and attracting national and international partnership opportunities for Victoria’s growing sports technology sector. The centre will be led by the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN), the nation’s lead industry body for sports tech and innovation, and will be connected to the state’s flagship Digital Hub in Cremorne. Victoria is already home to more than 65 per cent of Australia’s sportstech companies with operations like Prahran-headquartered Catapult Sports, a wearable technologies company with contracts across major leagues including the AFL, NRL, EPL, NHL and the Bundesliga, leading the way. More than 7,500 people are currently employed in Victoria’s sports technology sector in companies developing products in areas like media, artificial intelligence, entertainment, stadiums, major events, wearables and e-sports. Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) provides leadership in the commercialisation, development, and promotion of Australian-inspired sports technologies. Established in 2012, ASTN is a world-leading pioneer with over 500 organisations in its national network of Australian sportstech businesses. This material was originally published by Global Victoria. To find out more about Victoria's capabilities and the digital technologies sector here. PLEASE NOTE: Global Victoria is responsible for the virtual trade mission.All enquiries should be directed to Global Victoria's Troy Toohey by email.
A taste of DIF2019 & your chance to shine The Digital Innovation Festival early release DIF2019 Program is now live on the DIFvic Online Event Hub so check it out! To get you interested we've featured some of the highlights of this year's festival below. We're also seeking people to share their stories as part of the DIF Hub program. There's still time to make your DIF so get in touch with the team or join us at the next DIF Mixeron 2 July. DIF Hub 2019 is back from Mon 2 - Fri 6 Sep Expressions of interest are sought from interested parties for creative and innovative presentations as part of the Digital Innovation Festival showcase – the DIF Hub. You can get a taste from our wrap video on DIFtv.Right now we’re calling for 15 event hosts to lead a 90min session of dozens of speakers who want to share their expertise in emerging tech, future jobs and digital inclusion. Thanks to LaunchVic #DIFhub19 will be hosted at the iconic Victorian Innovation Hub, Goods Shed North in Docklands for the 2nd week of DIF.If you’re interested in host a session or present as a speaker please register your interest via the online form. More information is available on our blog but the key date to note are: Thursday 27 June - First round EOI Tuesday 2 July - Draft program @ DIF Mixer Friday 26 July - Second round EOI Tuesday 6 August - Final program launch @ DIF Mixer Save the Date for these Featured Events ASTN presentsAustralia Sports Analytics & Technology Conference Fri 23 Aug - RMIT CapitolThe Australia Sports Analytics & Technology Conference returns as a part of the Australia Sports Technology Week and DIF2019. With over 1,100 attendees in 2018, the Conference is the premier forum for industry professionals and executives interested in the role of data, digital and technology in the Australian and global sports, media and entertainment industry. IiRNet presents Emerging Innovation Summit Mon 26 Aug - Wed 28 AugRMIT Capitol TheatreEIS'19 is a future-shaping event that offers the attendees a rare opportunity to learn with the world’s best innovators and thinkers in rapidly changing world. EIS’19 will bring together an eclectic group of industry, community, and educational leaders and equip them with the knowledge and strategies to be at the forefront of Industry 4.0. Benalla Rural City Council presents Future Work Regional SummitFri 23 Aug - Benalla Is the future of work already here? What should we be doing to prepare and prosper for the 4th Industrial Revolution? Join us for a stimulating sneak peak at the predicted industries and skills required in the future through a regional lens. We'll discuss the opportunities, innovations and big picture thinking needed to flourish in the 3rd Renaissance. Don't miss the Future Work Regional Summit in beautiful Benalla - gateway to NE Victoria. ANE presentsDigital AI Summit2019 Tue 27 Aug - MCECBack for the 2nd year the annual Digital AI Summit explores the theme of the current state of Artificial Intelligence and its potential business applications today and in the future. Key areas of Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing and General AI, the Summit will give attendees a better understanding of what tasks AI can perform today and how AI can be implemented into every organisation. Food + Wine Victoria presents Global Table Tue 3 - Fri 6 SepMelbourne Showgrounds Global Table Australia is a dynamic new business event that connects global industry leaders, innovators, corporates and governments who are committed to transforming the food industry through innovation, investment and trade.Join us to connect, collaborate and transform the food system towards a more sustainable future. A three-day event delivered in partnership with Seeds&Chips. Be.Bendigo presents Bendigo Invention + Innovation Festival Mon 2 - Sun 8 Sep - Bendigo BIIF is all about accelerating regional growth and prosperity by helping regional businesses better understand, embrace and capitalise on innovation. Bendigo's DIF is a week-long series of events that promote the value of innovation for startups, SMEs, larger corporations, government, education and the community as a whole. We drive the conversation around regional innovation and the week kicks off with a one day symposium. Other highlights: Be.Bendigo Invention + Innovation AwardsFestival of Failure and more... Book your DIF Mixer tix now Will we see you at the next DIF Mixer? 2 July @ Goods Shed Nth from 4.30 - 6pm As we lead up to the festival our monthly DIF Mixer events are a great way to find out more about the festival, meet event partners and explore opportunities. There is still time to be part of this year's festival so if you have been thinking about running an event, got a great story you want to share, or maybe you just want to volunteer - come along! Remember to make sure you've registered your interest so we can invite you to the mixer and the DIFvic Slack Channel. Thanks to those who came along to our first DIF Mixer on 4 June. DIF Chief Wrangler, Kelly Hutchinson ran a co-curation workshop where everyone enthusiastically shared their ideas. Special shout out to our DIF Champions Phil Ore from Entrepreneurs & Co. and Taylor Tran from Coworking.fyi who are cooking up some fantastic events for this year's festival, not just in Melbourne but across the state! Already an event partner? Thanks for being involved in DIF2019. To help get you on board we created the DIFvic Slack channel collabspace to help you connect to others participating in the festival. It's also how we can share partner updates, branding and all the inside tips for making your event a success. If you've not received your invitation please join us and collaborate! Join DIFvic Slack collabspace