Watch and share the recording of our 2021 Spark Festival event – Data-led community transformation and societal reform. Hear from Australian community changemakers. Learn how they are innovating at a local level and leveraging the power of artificial intelligence, data, and data science to literally change the world around them.

This is a fireside chat-style conversation with community leaders from across Australia – Alistair Ferguson (Maranguka – Bourke, NSW), Kylie Burgess (Burnie Works – Burnie, TAS), and Tamsin Coryn-Wyllie (Logan Together – Logan, QLD), hosted by Seer’s Kristi Mansfield.

Alistair shares the successes and challenges of work being done in Bourke to operationalise Indigenous Data Sovereignty and how this is allowing Bourke to participate in the digital economy and have a seat at the table with all levels of Government.

Kylie observes that the systems change efforts underway to transform the community of Burnie are as much anthropological as they are analytical, requiring local knowledge and a deeper understanding of local lived experience, as well as access to more data and resources.

Tamsin gives insight into the ways Logan Together are harnessing the power of emerging technologies, such as machine learning models, to improve developmental outcomes for children of Logan, one of Australia’s most ethnically diverse communities.

All speakers also share an ask of the wider community to help further the work being done.

What to expect:

If you are interested in social impact and how data and artificial intelligence can be leveraged to change the world for the better, this session will be of interest to you. In the wake of several consecutive crises, already disadvantaged communities across Australia have been severely impacted, and many other communities rendered newly vulnerable. The innovations taking place on the ground to respond to these crises impact and potentially benefit us all.

Topics covered include:

  • Innovations taking place and future vision for positive community transformation to improve lives and outcomes
  • Using data and Artificial Intelligence to shift the power back to communities
  • The importance of including community voice in decisions made from policy through to local level
  • The macro shifts occurring from Government to the local level and why data is critical now
  • Why data is the key to systems change and societal reform
  • How Government and Business are key to fulfilling the future vision

Who this session is for:

  • Community and place-based organisations or initiatives
  • Startup teams
  • SME teams
  • Large organisation teams
  • Investors: Angel
  • Investors: VC
  • Students: University
  • Educators

What you can expect to learn from leading community leaders:

  • How latest innovations are being leveraged for social impact and policymaking. Data science, machine learning, and other artificial intelligence technologies are fuelling the work being done and are key to making the future vision of societal reform a reality.
  • Why it is important that investment is made by Government and businesses into backbone and community organisations working on the ground to improve lives. This impacts not only those living in those communities but our wider, collective society and is, therefore, a shared responsibility.
  • Why local knowledge, community voice, and lived experience are so important to bring context and insight to what we can learn from these technologies and how all can be combined for impactful action and storytelling.

Every community has stories, data can help turn those stories into a powerful narrative and help effect positive change.