We were delighted to get together with many of our like-minded customers for Collaborate 2019, our seven-city customer roadshow tour. It was a great opportunity to update customers on how we are accelerating progress, driving information governance with Office 365 and investigating the concept of open governance and the importance of transparency in the public sector.

Collaborate is the most significant customer marketing activity that Objective undertakes every year and I had the pleasure of being the overall project manager: planning the logistics, managing communications, leading our internal stakeholders (and there are many!) and influencing content creation across the regions. It’s a proud moment seeing these events come to life!

Extending information governance to Office 365
We know organisations want to inject better collaboration and efficiency with their information management, and people want to be able to leverage the latest in modern tools to make their jobs easier. But with new tools comes the risk of creating information silos that disrupt effective governance of information.

It was a timely message shared by our Chief Technology Officer, Jon Palin, on how Objective is delivering an Office 365 solution to empower users with tools that help them manage information seamlessly to make better decisions when managing information. It’s all about working smarter with the tools at hand. Quite simply, governance needs to be easy, integrated and in line with compliance requirements, so users don’t need to think about it.

The open government challenge
Collaborate was also an opportunity to share our passion for building a culture of openness, to help organisations balance privacy and security obligations with information access and transparency. Despite much written about the benefits of openness, we know finding the right balance is still a challenge for many organisations.

Our Industry Solutions Director, Sonya Sherman, shared her perspectives on “open governance,” the drivers for openness and the challenges organisations face dealing with complex rules, in the context of growing public scrutiny about the way information is used and protected. It was interesting to hear about the open gov research project, which explores how organisations manage and respond to requests for information.

Balancing privacy and transparency in the digital age
With openness being such an important topic right now, we were very fortunate to secure several guest speakers to provide their industry insights around the theme of Smarter Governance: Balancing Privacy and Transparency in the Digital Age.

At Collaborate Brisbane, the QLD Privacy Commissioner, Philip Green, provided insightful comments on trust and transparency in the digital age, addressing what smarter working means for information management, privacy and data security.

Elizabeth Tydd, NSW Information Commissioner, attended our Sydney event and discussed the role of transparency and openness in the digital age, and the importance of governments being accountable for decisions that are increasingly influenced by algorithms.

We were also pleased to welcome Catherine Fletcher, WA Information Commissioner, to Collaborate Perth. An advocate for freedom of information in Western Australia, Catherine spoke about information access being a right, not a privilege.

Transforming processes
Finally, it wouldn’t be Collaborate without hearing from our customers who are thinking outside the square, innovating and implementing real-world solutions that are transforming the way they work.

One of the highlights was the presentation by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment who shared how they are transforming processes around budget estimates and preparing for parliamentary sittings with Objective Keystone. Budget estimates are an important activity that track expenditure and key performance areas, which is vital to ensuring government accountability.

The implementation of Objective Keystone is supporting real-time collaboration, enhanced version control and the re-use of approved content, enabling the Department to efficiently collate these complex documents and maintain control over formatting, with robust information governance.

Thanks to all our customers who shared their success stories and the many innovative and exiting ways that they are driving change and transforming the way they work.

Sources

Managing Ministerial Processes in Objective Keystone. Presentation by Alice Phu, Department of Planning Industry and Environment at the Collaborate conference hosted by Objective Corporation, 2019 (Sydney and Adelaide)