Education Across
the Nation, February - April 2014
EdXN is the Australian Computer Society’s
Education
Across the Nation program.
Having been a presenter in 2009, I’m delighted to be returning to
EdXN in the first quarter of 2014, with an extended program on Digital
Leadership and Governance of IT.
The primary element of this EdXN program is a
briefing for ACS members and guests on the very
topical issues in Digital Leadership and Digital Transformation.
The briefing will run for an hour, followed by time for
questions, and is complemented by opportunities for networking.
For those seeking a deeper insight to the
issues and how to deal with them, the EdXN briefing is supported by an
upgraded two day class on Digital Leadership and
Governance of ICT using ISO 38500.
Based on the established and proven Infonomics ISO 38500
Foundation class, this upgraded event adds new perspective focused on
what is happening today, and will happen for some time to come, as
organisations and whole economies undergo digital transformation.
Both the briefing and the upgraded class draw
on Digital Leadership Manifesto – my new book scheduled for release at
the end of January 2014.
Logistics of travel in Australia dictate that
in some cities, the class will be presented before the briefing – but
this does not detract from the opportunity for ICT professionals and
their business leadership colleagues to gain new insight to what is
happening and how to manage the increasingly rapid digital
transformation of the world.
The program is locked in and ACS branches
around the nation will, soon after re-opening for the new year, begin
promotion and registration for their local events.
The full programme is:
City |
||
Perth (WA) |
24 – 25 February |
25 February |
Darwin (NT) |
27 – 28 February |
26 February |
Canberra (ACT) |
3 – 4 March |
TBD |
Adelaide (SA) |
5 March |
6 – 7 March |
Brisbane (Qld) |
10-11 March |
11 March |
Toowoomba (Qld) |
Refer to Brisbane |
12 March |
Hobart (Tas) |
20 - 21 March |
19 March |
Sydney (NSW) |
31 March – 1 April |
31 March |
Melbourne (Vic) |
3 – 4 April |
2 April |
Click through to the Infonomics Events pages
for a detailed description of the briefing and class.
These descriptions will also soon be available on the
ACS Events
pages, along with registration and pricing details.
I must emphasise that these events are not
just for ICT professionals.
Digital Transformation effects everybody – a fact perhaps best
exemplified by the penetration of smart phones into the general
population and by the turmoil in several sectors of the economy as some
organisations adjust, and others fail to adjust, to the new realities of
life in the digital era.
These events are entirely relevant to everybody who works in a
technology-enabled or technology-dependent organisation, and I know that
the ACS will welcome participation from people in many occupations.
Briefing: Digital
Transformation and Digital Leadership
Today’s
information technology marketplace abounds with marketing hype and
buzzwords such as big data, analytics, social media, mobility, cloud,
the Internet of things, BYOD and SaaS.
Individually, these concepts are significant, but they are all
part of a much more fundamental change that is affecting every corner of
society. We have now
clearly entering the Digital Era, in which digital information
technologies are being used to fundamentally reinvent businesses and
marketplaces.
Following
the first wave of Digital Startups, including Amazon, Google and the
social media sites, we now see established enterprises exhibiting a wide
range of responses to the arrival of the Digital Era.
Some fail to recognise, or even deny the changes and become
examples of Digital Failure, including once dominant brands like Kodak,
HMV and Borders. At the
other end of the spectrum we see companies like Burberry and
Commonwealth Bank, which have understood the opportunities and have
reinvented themselves, undergoing major Digital Transformation.
Digital
Transformation does not happen by accident.
Emerging research shows that Digital Transformation requires
strong, persistent and highly focused Digital Leadership at the highest
levels of the organisation.
It also shows that Digital Leadership doesn’t require a great deal of
knowledge about how the enabling technology works.
Rather, Digital Leadership requires understanding of what
organisations can achieve through intelligent use of information
technology, and of the changes taking place in the broader marketplace,
enabled by how others are using new and established forms of information
technology.
Effective
Digital Leaders use IT to redefine not just their own business, but the
markets and competitive landscapes in which they operate – and this is
so for government as much as for the private and not-for-profit sectors.
They see and harness the potential in IT to do business
differently and to create new businesses from scratch.
Rapid emergence of the digitally transformed market drives new
questions. What are the essential
skills and capabilities of a Digital Leader?
How can Digital Leaders operate effectively?
How can organisations put themselves on the front foot and be
Digital Winners, rather than Digital Disasters?
In this
new EdXN Programme, Mark Toomey explains the scope of Digital
Transformation and builds a comprehensive picture of Digital Leadership
as an essential capability of business leaders.
He connects Digital Transformation to the ISO 38500 standard for
governance of IT, showing how the standard can help organisations
navigate their transition to the digital era and how it guides the
activities and behaviour of Digital Leaders.
Decisions regarding the effective, efficient and acceptable use of ICT
are no longer confined to the ICT leadership.
As ICT resources and capability move closer to commodity status,
organisations in government and industry need digital leadership
capabilities and a compact, responsive and effective approach to
ensuring that all executives and managers in business and ICT roles make
appropriate decisions about the use and supply of ICT.
At the same time, consultants who help organisations plan and
build new capability, ICT suppliers and entrepreneurs seeking to
participate in the emerging digital economy need to understand what ISO
38500 says, and how to use it.
Your new insight will help you:
On completion you will be able to:
Class Structure:
The two day class is made up of 24 modules,
designed to focus discussion on the many important aspects of how
organizations should govern their use of ICT. During selected modules,
participants will complete an individual self-assessment of their
organization’s own governance of ICT. The
self-assessment provides an initial basis for planning any work that may
be necessary to form a comprehensive view of, and perhaps to improve
governance of ICT in their organization.