In Conversation with Dr Gruen video series

In this series, Australian Statistician and Head of the APS Data Professional Stream, Dr David Gruen meets with a range of distinguished guests to talk about the important role that data has played in their careers.

Join us as they discuss a range of topics including their thoughts on the future of data in the public and private sectors, and advice they have for APS data professionals aspiring to make their mark as data innovators and leaders of the future.

To find out more about up-coming events and get a first look at soon to be released videos and content, register your details.

In Conversation with Dr Gruen and Dr Lee Ward

Dr Gruen talks with Dr Lee Ward  about her career and how she started working with data and AI. She explores the human element in AI and what it means to be 'intelligently disobedient'.

In Conversation with Dr Gruen and Abi Bradshaw

Dr Gruen talks with Abi Bradshaw, Head of the Australian Cyber Security Centre at the Australian Signals Directorate, about how she has used data in her career. Abi discusses her career path, from wanting to be a music teacher to becoming a lawyer for the Navy and working on superannuation reform, earning The Conspicuous Service Cross. In her current role as Head of the Cyber Security Centre, Abi highlights the importance of data in good policymaking and explains how she sees data being used to prevent cybercrime (e.g. ransomware).

In Conversation with Dr Gruen and Hon Dr Andrew Leigh, MP

Australian Statistician, Dr David Gruen speaks with the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT – Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP. Andrew discusses his life before politics in both law and as a Professor of Economics, his love of statistics and data, books, podcasts and endurance sports.

 

In Conversation with Dr Gruen and Professor Jodie McVernon

Dr Gruen talks with Professor Jodie McVernon, Director of the Doherty Institute’s COVID-19 response modelling. Jodie discusses her career path from medical research into infectious diseases modelling, and highlights the challenges and benefits of working with large datasets in an unprecedented and rapidly evolving context. Jodie unpacks how she overcame the issue of representing scientific uncertainty or incompleteness in a way that is digestible for the public and doesn’t induce decision paralysis in policy makers.

Jodie also explains how the responses of various countries to the pandemic will differ, depending on their access to resources and current capabilities.

In Conversation with Dr Gruen and Luci Ellis

Dr Gruen talks with Luci Ellis from the Reserve Bank of Australia. Luci discusses the work of the RBA and how the RBA has responded to the evolving COVID pandemic.

In Conversation with Dr Gruen and Phil Gaetjens

Dr Gruen talks with Phil Gaetjens, Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Phil discusses the way data use has evolved through his career, the recently signed Intergovernmental Agreement on data sharing, and whether data held by private companies should be shared with the public sector. Phil also shares his thoughts on the relationship between data experts and those making decisions.

In Conversation with Dr Gruen and Alan Kohler

Alan is a renowned Australian financial journalist and business commentator. He has been the editor of The Age and columnist for a range of publications over his career, including the Australian Financial Review, the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. Alan has also worked on the ABC for over 20 years, in roles such as business editor of the 7:30 Report, host of Inside Business and finance presenter on ABC News.

In the interview we hear about the role data has played in Alan’s career to date and look at why simplicity is important when it is comes to communicating about data with large scale audiences.

In Conversation with Dr Gruen and Professor Genevieve Bell

Professor Genevieve Bell is best known as a cultural anthropologist, technologist, and futurist. She is the Director of the School of Cybernetics, Director of the 3a Institute (3Ai) and Florence Violet McKenzie Chair at the Australian National University (ANU) as well as a Vice President and Senior Fellow at the Intel Corporation.

During this conversation we hear how Genevieve’s career journey has evolved and the benefits of taking on varied roles, the importance of having a multidisciplinary approach to data, realising the opportunities offered in data by knowing how to ask the right questions, and what’s next for data and the notion of serendipitous discovery.

In Conversation with Dr Gruen and Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith 

Dr Gruen talks with Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, an astrophysics researcher, author, broadcaster and the first Australian Government Women in STEM Ambassador. Lisa discusses her study and career pathway to date, issues around gender balance in STEM and shares her advice to people considering a career in data, whether they are looking to up-skill or re-skill.

In Conversation with Dr Gruen and Anthony Goldbloom

For our first guest, we take you (virtually) to Silicon Valley where Dr Gruen chats with Anthony Goldbloom, CEO of Kaggle (now a Google company). During this conversation they discuss Anthony's early roles in the APS and his move to establish his own start-up company; growing opportunity for public and private sector collaboration on data projects; and the future of data.

Spotlight session – Immersion Learning

Two APS data professionals, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Bureau of Meteorology, recently undertook secondments under the Data Profession’s immersive learning initiative. Hear about the interesting work they undertook during their secondments, and how this has uplifted their capability now that they have returned to their home agencies.

Data Professional Technical Forums

Data Professional Technical Forum - 28 April 2022 

Computer Vision

The fifth Data Professional Technical Forum workshop, held on 28 April, featured data professionals from the Department of Home Affairs, Geoscience Australia and the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment presenting their experiences in applying computer vision techniques within their respective policy domains.

This recording includes the presentations by Norman Mueller (Geoscience Australia) and Andrew Jansen (Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment).

Data Professional Technical Forum Workshop - 24 February 2022

Data Professional Technical Forum. COVID-19 Data Analytics

The third Data Professional Technical Forum workshop, held on 28 October 2021, featured data professionals from the Department of Health and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet presenting COVID-19 data analytics use cases central to the pandemic response.

Data Professional Technical Forum Workshop - 16 July 2021

Data Professional Technical Forum Workshop - 22 April 2021 

The APS Data Professional Technical Forum provides an opportunity for Australian Public Service (APS) agencies to share experiences and emerging techniques across the data landscape.  Co-hosted by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) this inaugural seminar focusses on data governance and takes a deep dive through sharing experiences and lessons learned in the ATO, the ABS and the Department of Industry Science Energy and Resources (DISER).