Paul James
Secretary and Government Chief Digital Officer
Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand
After several senior roles in the New Zealand public service, Paul has extensive experience in strategic policy development, leading change, and working collaboratively and effectively across government and communities. In 2018, he was appointed Secretary for Internal Affairs, Secretary for Local Government and Chief Executive for Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs. Paul also holds the role of Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO) with responsibility for digital leadership across government agencies.
The GCDO leads work to uplift the public services digital skills, and as the lead for the public services use of AI, he has issued guidance to support agencies to make more informed decisions about its benefits and risks. The GCDO supports agencies and Ministers to align with an All-of-Government investment direction and manages a portfolio of digital products and commercial services that is currently used by more than 330 public sector agencies and organisations. The GCDO is currently leading work to establish an innovative and secure digital identity ecosystem and supporting an increase in the use of data and modern digital platforms to make real-time, evidence-based decisions.
Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand
Sessions
Day 2
9:00
Opening Keynote: Building a Future-Ready Public Service through Delivering User-Centric, Innovative and Trusted Digital Government Services
In this keynote presentation, Paul will be outlining the ambitious work programme he is leading to modernise digital government services. Paul will talk about all-of-government service modernisation to accelerate the digitising of government services. He will also talk about his leadership role in key areas of Digitising Government, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Identity. Paul works with his colleagues across the public service to encourage safe uptake of emerging technologies with a recent focus being around how we can do things differently - building a ‘future-ready’ digital public service and investing in the necessary critical foundations.
Paul James, Secretary and Government Chief Digital Officer, Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand
The audience will now split between the DigiGov and CyberGov leaders summit depending on their preference of sessions.