(Photo: flagstaffotos.com.au)
By @Isabella
Groegor-Cechowicz, General Manager, SAP
Global Public Services
Last month, along with several other SAP colleagues, I had the opportunity to visit our public
sector customers and colleagues in Australia. Our visit was busy and multifaceted,
reflecting the importance of this market for SAP’s Public Services business and
to the company overall.
We were honoured to host the Australian-German Chamber
of Commerce and Industry’s Diversity in Technology roundtable with the German
Government Delegation and Minister of State Prof. Dr. Maria Boehmer and
including Mrs Lucy Turnbull, Honorary President of the Australian-German
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, former Lord Mayor of Sydney, and wife of
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Diversity in technology turned out
to be a focus for both countries; many best practices were exchanged and the
need to do more was acknowledged. A highlight of the event was the
participation of Australian Research Council Laureate
FellowProf. Michelle Simmons, who personifies how women are contributing to the
world’s most advanced scientific research.
I personally had the privilege of representing SAP (on
behalf of Bernd Leukert) at the intergovernmental German-Australian
Working Group hosted by Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann
in Canberra, including lively discussions with Prime Minister Turnbull, Mrs Turnbull,
Siemens Australia CEO Jeff Connolly and many other leaders in culture,
industry, government and education from both countries. The Group is intended to take a fresh look at Australian-German
trade, cultural and political ties, technology transfer, and collaboration on
the world stage. SAP and Siemens were invited to the group as technology leaders
to look at how technology can play a role in the relationship for the benefit
of both countries. And we did! There are some fascinating areas of
mutual benefit on the horizon, including Digitization, Industry 4.0, and most
importantly to me as the leader of our Public Sector business, the potential to
share Australian public sector innovation – as the best digital innovation - abroad.Australians in public service
have embarked on a digital transformation journey that is rapidly becoming a
case study for governments around the world. I am convinced it is going to play
a central role in strengthening the already very healthy Aussie-German
bilateral relationship, which is poised to improve lives far beyond these two
countries.
The German-Australian Working Group, including PM Malcolm Turnbull and
Mrs Turnbull, in Canberra, October 2015
(photo: AUSPIC)
This is one of the reasons SAP has chosen Australia as
the founding home of the SAP
Institute for Digital Government, which will help to incubate and
share technology-enabled public service delivery mechanisms further afield. The
Canberra-based Institute, which formally opened for business in conjunction
with our visit, has now produced its
first policy-shaping research output, addressing the relationship between
predictive analytics and social protection.
Our group was joined by SAP’s Chief Diversity &
Inclusion Officer, Anka
Wittenberg, to celebrate the Australian launch of SAP’s
widely-praised Autism
at Work program during the National Disability Insurance
Agency (NDIA) conference in Brisbane. This coincided with the widening rollout
of Australia’s National
Disability Insurance Scheme, considered one of the largest public benefit reforms
in Australian history and designed to give differently-abled people more choice
and control over how public money allocated to them is spent. There is an
alignment between public sector innovation and building an inclusive workforce:
with their unique public service mission, government employers have a special
interest in bringing previously marginalized populations into the fullest
possible economic participation.
With the launch of the Institute, SAP is poised
to play a special part in bringing Australia's acknowledged public sector
innovation to Germany and beyond. Many thanks to the customers, external
experts, officials, and the local SAP team who made my visit so unique and
energizing.