ACS Panel Session: Ethics in Tech & Beyond - The conversation continues....

Commissioner for Equal Opportunity (South Australia)

I am an experienced organisational and community leader with a keen interest in a wide range of local, national and global issues – particularly those involving equal opportunity and human rights. I am a skilled communicator, educator, leadership developer, team-builder, networker and influencer – and I am frequently invited to speak at a diversity of public and private events and in the media.

I commenced my 5-year term as the Commissioner for Equal Opportunity in South Australia at the end of May 2016. Prior to this appointment, I served as Chief Executive Officer of the Leaders Institute of SA – the renowned leadership development organisation I established and grew over 13 years. I’m currently also the chairperson of the Australian Council of Human Rights Authorities and I serve on the advisory boards of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA - SA &NT) and Play By The Rules. I’m an Ambassador for Time for Kids inc.

I hold an adjunct position as Associate Professor at the University of SA (in the Business School). I have also served as a member of the 3-person SA Remuneration Tribunal (which sets remuneration for the judiciary, Members of Parliament, statutory officers and elected local government officials in SA). I chaired the SA Government's Voices of Women Board for 3 years (until mid-2014). I have also served, with the Vice Chancellors of all SA Universities, on the Higher Education Council, and on the SA Premier's Round Table on Sustainability.

I hold a PhD in psychology from the University of Adelaide, for which I received a University Medal for Doctoral Research Excellence. I also received a University Medal for my undergraduate/Honours performance at the University of Adelaide. Throughout my career I have been honoured to receive some other prestigious awards. These include a Telstra Business Woman of the Year (SA Finalist) award and an Australian Leadership Award. 

Chris specialises in collaborative partnerships to unlock the public value and organisational value from data. He actively supports innovative research, evaluation of policy, government funded programs, seeking to use data analysis to enabling greater insight and accountability from organisations and government resources. Chris has over 40 years Information Management and Technology experience working collaboratively and innovatively across the Private, Public and Non-for-profit (Welfare and University) sectors. Current role since 2009 as the Associate Director of SA NT DataLink, a nationally leading collaborative data sharing partnership across the University Research and Government sectors, as the authorised facility for South Australia and the Northern Territory to safely share de-identified data for unit record level analysis and approved use. Chris has professional qualifications in information security, and deep experience in data governance and privacy protection protocols.

Manager Outreach Programs at The Australian Institute of Machine Learning

I am the Manager of Outreach Programs for the Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML) at the University of Adelaide. I have worked extensively in Higher Education (VET and University sectors), Business Operations, Outreach, Project and Relationship Management, Organisational Development, and Staff Leadership.

At my core, I am driven and inspired every day by developing, implementing and supporting organisational and student programs to grow and enhance human capacity and skills in an increasingly technological world. My ability to form, develop and maintain mutually supportive and beneficial professional relationships is second to none, and is something that I must have in every role. I thrive in rapidly growing, innovative organisations, particularly those that aren’t afraid to embrace change and growth.

An experienced MC, presenter and panelist, I have publicly spoken across multiple forums, states and countries for several years, and am passionate about sharing my/our vision for the future of work, particularly the participation of diverse genders and cultures.

As the mother of four daughters and a passionate advocate for promoting and supporting minority groups in non-traditional roles, I am the creator and Director of the award-winning SWIFT (Strong Women in Future Technologies) Program, which is a series of school-based workshops for girls aged 9 to 13, their parents/caregivers and teachers/educators.

Steve is an award-winning technical leader specializing in Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Advanced Analytics. Steve has developed extensive computational and analytical expertise in a diverse range of application domains. He is responsible for the design, development, and evaluation of text mining systems both in commercial enterprise and research contexts. These systems involve the management and efficient analysis of extremely large datasets employing cutting-edge learning algorithms and heavy-weight distributed resource management platforms. Information extraction, multi-document summarization, conversation analysis, and question answering technologies. Specific areas of expertise and interest include Deep learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning, Data Mining, Information Extraction, Question Answering, Genomics, Consumer Recommender Systems and Personalised Filtering.

Co-founder, Artificial Intelligence Collaborative Network (AICN)