DIF2021 Pearcey Institute Roundtable

Our economic and social resilience has been challenged during the past year and although many talk about a return to ‘normal’ there can only be a new way to work that comes out of this period. With this comes many challenges that we must be up for.

The recently published report from Swinburne University of Technology’s Centre for the New Workforce; National Survey Report: Peak Human Workplace, Innovation in the unprecedented era features, along with the learned and experienced opinions of a panel of speakers who are actively engaged in the transformation of the way we work. Such structural changes present opportunities for us to increase our level of collaboration, ideation and innovation but they will also present challenges for policy makers, industry, employers and families that need investment in resources, support and training to succeed.

Revisit the passionate and inspiring disscussion that was the DIF2021 Roundtable, hosted by the Pearcey Institute on 25 August 2021, facilitated by Chairman Denis Tebbut.

Questions

• How will Ideation and Innovation be managed?

• Is this an opportunity to build a more resilient economy?

• What will the post pandemic business look like?

• How do we transform the culture of what work is?

• What are the social and health considerations?

Contributors

• Dr Sean Gallagher – Director, Centre for the New Workforce at Swinburne University of Technology

• Sarah Rogers – Partner, Deloitte Consulting

• Professor Peter Brooks AM MD FRACP – Executive Director Research, Northern Health Melbourne

• Adele Seymon – Director, Deep Green R&D Solutions

• Dr Ian Oppermann – President of the Australian Computer Society

• Professor Jane Burns – Acting CEO, Well and Productive Cooperative Research Centre

Setting the Scene…

The challenges are many and impact every aspect of what we know our cities to be, the place of work and what it looks like, the social structure of work and where we conduct it daily. Can management and their workforces cope with the impending changes without education and support on how the new workplace operates?
Our Health service has been front and centre; immediately we saw changes to the expectation of what a consultation is and where it takes place, technology was critical to enabling efficient and effective changes that for a long time were resisted by the industry and its funders. Australian technology saved the day, but has this spawned an acceptance of transforming the delivery of healthcare rather than simply mechanising the process we had in place?

Australia has always had a competent technology workforce across all domains of research and development, but, constrained and frustrated by the cultural impediment to trust foreign capability in preference to investing in local commercialisation. Will the opportunity presented by the pandemic change this and help us move into a more resilient economy?

If the place of work is to change then what are the challenges of transformation that we must all face and engage in? What will the business of the future look like?

With our island isolation from the rest of the world during the pandemic we have seen the growth of our technology talent stagnate and frustrate the businesses that continue to grow worldwide. However, is this an opportunity to revitalise and grow our internal talent to meet the demands? What role do professional associations play in this challenge with closer industry and policy collaboration?

Will the new model of work be the same for everyone or is there a hybrid level of attendance and collaboration that will evolve to support the personal differences for our workers? The speed of disruption and its challenges have been difficult for many to cope with and continued change will only fuel the fire that is burning for new resources and services to put out the flames.

This event was sponsored by the Victorian Government as part of the DIF2021 Festival held from 25 August to 8 September. The DIF is an initiative of the State Government of Victoria delivered in collaboration with a network of partners and is open for everyone to get involved.