Kia ora koutou ITP members and supporters, I am currently flying to Tāmaki Makaurau on the first leg of my much anticipated holiday and love seeing our beautiful landscape from this view. Next week this pānui will be winging it’s way to you poolside with a suitably wonderful cocktail in hand, I am however not quite as excited about the 31C “feels like 39C” temperatures my destination is reporting today. 

The grip of election year is starting to take hold so it’s almost time to join the chorus of industries publishing their wish lists of the government post election - I would like ours to be short, clear, achievable and concise. To help with shaping this up it would be awesome if you could all fill in the 2023 edition of our “How do we feel” survey, this will support insight into whether you’re all thinking about moving offshore, or feelings on pay etc. There are other insights that will be useful to share with employers too. So please if you can spare the 5 mins that would be fabulous. 

Mckinsey have published their state of organisations in 2023 report which is survey based, it’s an excellent read with the top 10 shifts facing businesses today emerging as:

• Increasing speed, strengthening resilience
• “True hybrid” the new balance of in-person and remote work
• Making way for AI
• New rules for attraction, retention and attrition
• Closing the capability chasm
• Walking the talent tightrope
• Leadership that is self-aware and inspiring
• Making mendingful progress on diversity, equity and inclusion
• Mental Health, investing in a portfolio of interventions
• Efficiency reloaded

Nothing new or unexpected but good to see many of these issues making the top 10.

Green list consultation

Immigration NZ are reviewing the Green List which has been in use for almost a year now. I have always been impressed with how many digital tech roles we were able to get approved which reflects the critical shortage of workers we had during Covid times. 
Is this shortage still real? Are the approved roles still the ones we are struggling to find? Or are there other skills and capabilities emerging as being in short supply? Or have we got the settings right? 
Their consultation is via industry peak bodies so if you have any insight you would like to share do please email me via [email protected] 

Passing of Ian Whitten 

Another significant character in the history of digital technology in Aotearoa NZ passed away recently, Ian Whitten will be known to many of you as a leading educator, his mahi with Weka, R and CSUnplugged. I remember watching a really interesting discussion Prof Tim Bell had with Ian some years ago, Tim kindly shared a link to this obituary for Ian for those who are interested in learning more. This is a real loss for our community.

Blogs this week 

Brendan’s cartoon is inspired by one of Peter’s articles from earlier in the week - Don’t mention the metaverse - Apple finally debuts its mixed reality headset. The eye watering price tag aside it certainly sounds impressive. 
Interestingly another headline that caught my eye this week was this one - The Metaverse: not dead yet.

Peter’s editorial this week is on MBIE’s decision to ban staff from using ChatGPT, how the GCDO are allowing their staff to use the tool - and praising them for this as their staff need to understand the technology they are providing guidance on. He also reminds us that National is planning to slack IT contractors if it forms the next government - does this extend to the large consulting firms as well?

He also wrote a great insight piece on “AI no antidote to healthcare sector woes”. This statement from the global survey referenced particularly resonated with me after experiencing the hand written notes in my local hospital situation “With 41% of clinicians are not convinced they have timely access to reliable electronic patient records, and approximately one-third of patients (35%) share concerns that clinicians treating them do not have access to their relevant health data, there are barriers to overcome to support a fully flexible healthcare system.”

My weekly AI wrap is a tad shorter this time as I just haven’t had bandwidth to read as much, still a couple of really good resources worth checking out and a write up on the ITP members discussion earlier in the week on AI and our Code of Ethics. 

New Course - digital technology leadership masterclass  

Inspired by our Effective CIO course we have refactored and replaced that one with a broader focused Digital Technology Leadership Masterclass. This course is for anyone who aspires to leadership in our field, or for those who are new to leadership and looking to expand their capability. 
The format is the same, a mixture of in person and online, all taught by experienced CIO’s and facilitators and providing great connections with leaders in the industry. As we researched the market developing this updated course I noticed it is pretty rare to have a course like this entirely led by people, many have significant modules with pre-recorded content or online learning.  
The 2023 course will be run in July so you can still spend that end of Financial year training budget. 
You can read more about it here. Or register here.

Event reminders

Reminder about the IT Service Management Framework event - DevOps meetup. The next Wellington DevOps meetup group event will feature a talk from ITIL guru Mark Smalley 
Mark was the Lead Editor of ITIL 4 High Velocity IT. Also known as The IT Paradigmologist, he thinks, writes and speaks extensively about IT 'paradigms' – in other words our changing perspectives on IT. He is a Global Ambassador at the DevOps Agile Skills Association (DASA) and has contributed to loads of bodies of knowledge. 
It’s quite a coup getting Mark to speak, even virtually like this, it’s on June 14th at 4pm, open to anyone and you can register here.

Reminder about the two upcoming Fireside Chats when I return from leave
* On June 28th I will be discussing career development and growth with the ITP President and Deputy - Ants and Jamie respectively - who are both experienced managers, mentors and have great insight into career development, goal setting and pivoting in your career.
* Then on July 5th Rick Shera and I will sit down and discuss the question - Is our legislation up to the job? Rick did his masters in internet and copyright law and practices in all things information technology law wise, IP, copyright, cyber security, privacy - you name it. This will be a fun, robust and challenging discussion I promise. 

Finally

Sorry folks but no new Te Reo Māori tech terms this week, look forward to a good batch for us to all learn next time. Other things to look forward to next time will include early how do we feel survey insights, and the long awaited podcast - Bridging the Gap. 

Until then enjoy your weekend. Kia pai tō rā whakatā. Vic