‘Connecting the Digital Dots’ Symposium

Connecting the (Digital) Dots

On the 12th of April, 2018 the project hosted a symposium titled Connecting the (Digital) Dots, at RMIT University. The purpose of the symposium was to disseminate and reflect on the key findings from the project. An expert panel (see Resources panel on the right for details) provided insight into how the project relates to the broader work being done at their institution and across the sector.

Standout themes from industry

  • data analysis, sense making, customer experience/engagement
  • artificial intelligence, machine learning
For digital work practices, translators and sense makers are needed who have business acumen, critical and joined up thinking, and can look ahead.

 

The following quotes from industry represent a synopsis of the key themes discussed at the symposium: work futures, institutional strategy, and learning futures.

“it’s not about just can I code. It’s about I can understand the technical architecture that consists of 500 systems and be able to think around that and think around the business implications of that…”

– Design participant, roundtable 2

“there seems to be a real lack of connectivity between the business requirement and IT solution…you need to have those people in-between that…can make that connection”

– Business participant, roundtable 4

“it’s about knowing which data to look at or even thinking that you should be looking at data…people who are very technically savvy with Facebook, does that necessarily mean they’re getting a higher level of engagement through using Facebook? Is it actually changing behaviour?”

– Communication participant, roundtable 5

“it’s not actually here’s the tools they need, here’s the mindset that they need, here’s the culture they need, it’s actually about bringing a progressive thought process that says what’s coming next, so not what’s there”

– Engineering participant, roundtable 5

Resources

An audio recording of the symposium is available and you can listen to it by clicking the Soundcloud window below. Slides aren’t necessary for understanding the presentation. If there are aspects of the project that you’d like to know more about, consult the relevant page on this site.

Speakers:

Start – 19:00, 32:13 – 40:05, 47:02 – 49:24, 52:05 – 54:27
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR FIONA PETERSON
Project Lead

19:00 – 32:13
PROFESSOR LOUISE MCWHINNIE
Dean, Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation
UTS

40:05 – 47:02
DAVID DENNIS
Senior Solutions Architect
QUT

49:24 – 52:05
PROFESSOR PETER FRAY
Professor of Journalism Practice
UTS

54:27 – End
PROFESSOR RUTH BRIDGSTOCK
Dean (Academic), Division of Education, Arts & Social Sciences
UniSA