Agenda
Day One | Wednesday 20th May 2026
8.00
Registration and morning refreshments
8.20
Opening Karakia
8.40
Chairperson’s opening address
Michelle Burke, Principal Advisor AI, NZ Defence Force
8.50
International virtual keynote: Lessons from Estonia’s national AI and digital transformation agenda
As the architect of Estonia’s national data and AI agenda, Ott Velsberg has helped transform one of the world’s most digitally advanced governments. In this keynote, he will share lessons, learnings, and best practices from Estonia’s journey that New Zealand can adapt and scale within its own ecosystem, from policy frameworks and ethical AI governance to cross-agency collaboration. Ott will explore the evolution of Estonia’s national AI strategy, its groundbreaking Bürokratt virtual assistant network, and how governance, consent, and accountability are shaping the next generation of trusted, citizen-centric digital infrastructure.
Ott Velsberg, Government Chief Data Officer, Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs (Estonia)
10.00
Panel: Best practice in data governance, sovereignty and inter-agency sharing for consistency and compliance
If our privacy law is enabling, why are multilateral data-sharing agreements still so rare?
How do we build governance assurance for leaders who aren’t digital experts?
Are we willing to take more risk to gain more public good?
What does system-first accountability look like in practice?
Moderator:
Michelle Burke, Principal Advisor AI, NZ Defence Force
Panellists:
Colin Lynch, Government Statistician, Chief Executive Officer, Stats NZ
Greta Gordon, Chief Data Officer, Reserve Bank of New Zealand
Ankit Gupta, Chief Executive Officer – APAC, Provoke Solutions
10:50
Engage Squared Barista Sponsor
10:55
Morning tea
11:25
Case Study: Leading with Tikanga Māori when building secure, citizen-owned digital platform
Bringing Tikanga Māori, including Māori data sovereignty, to life through secure digital design
Treating information as taonga with cultural and technical protection
Enabling meaningful data access and control to the people connected to the data
Co-designing systems with the communities you serve
Delivering equitable access, transparency, and empowerment for Māori
Ruth Russell, Chief Information Officer, Te Tumu Paeroa - Office of the Māori Trustee
11.45
Stop Making Every Broken Form Compete for a Digital Team
Why outdated forms and approval processes persist in government.
How small operational fixes get trapped in big digital backlogs - making them compete with larger transformation priorities.
Why “paperless” doesn’t mean progress - when most approvals still rely on email, spreadsheets, and chasing.
How to calculate the real time cost of outdated forms and approvals - including rework, follow-ups and duplicate entry.
How local government is solving this problem - using safe, governed workflow tools for operational teams.
Sean Wallace, Vice President Sales & Community, Flowingly
12:05
Case study: Reimaging public service with GenAI, award-winning lessons from the frontline
Why strong, visible executive leadership is essential to moving AI from novelty to enterprise capability
How AI adoption must go hand-in-hand with rethinking roles, workflows, governance, and service design
Practical examples of AI initiatives delivering real outcomes, unlocking tens of thousands of staff hours, improving response times, and generating measurable savings
Moving from curiosity and caution to capability and culture change across 300+ staff, and how clear governance, risk settings and staff empowerment create confidence to scale AI responsibly
Jarred Griffiths, Director of Strategy and Engagement, Hutt City Council
12.35
ECM360 and Hyland Software Barista Sponsor
12:40
Networking Lunch
Summit Converges After Afternoon Lunch
1.30
Panel: Making incident response a whole-of-business capability
Who truly owns an incident response, and why must accountability extend beyond the IT or security team to include business leaders and executives?
How can agencies make incident response and maintaining continuity a whole-of-business capability rather than an IT responsibility?
How can government departments coordinate effectively across agencies during interconnected disruptions?
What can digital and security leaders learn from emergency management when responding to large-scale cyber incidents?
What does real preparedness look like in the public sector today?
Moderator:
Yolanda Wilke, Domain Lead - CISO Office Inland Revenue NZ
Panellists:
Vicki Scott, Deputy Chief Executive, People Services and Delivery, Parliamentary Counsel Office
Matthew Shaw, Head of Emergency Management and Business Continuity, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Marika Hughes, Director of Strategic Crisis Management, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet New Zealand
Emma Bickerstaffe, Director, Cyber Defence Operations, National Cyber Security Centre
2.10
Workshop: Why accessible and citizen-centric design is key to digital transformation success:
How accessibility in digital design is critical to true transformation and channel shift (and how exclusion prevents it)
The real economic and social costs of inaccessible government services
Why many long-lasting digital innovations originated from accessibility design for people with disabilities
How to step into the shoes of the citizens who will use your digital services, understanding lived experiences to design with, not for, the community
Embedding accessibility and co-design principles from the start of digital programs
Practical strategies for inclusive transformation that drives trust, equity, and efficiency
Key takeaways for attendees:
A clear understanding of how inclusive design underpins digital transformation success
Practical steps to integrate accessibility and citizen input into existing workflows
Insight into what true citizen-centric digital innovation looks like, design that works for everyone, drives trust, and endures over time
Rebecca Elvy, Deputy Chief Executive, Outreach and Innovation, Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People
2.50
Afternoon Tea & Networking
3.20
International virtual keynote: Lessons from Europe in building citizen-centric, interoperable digital governments
How Denmark built national-scale interoperability through shared infrastructure and cross-agency collaboration
The role of leadership, trust, and cultural change in driving digital government maturity
Balancing innovation with regulation, how policy reform can enable experimentation rather than restrict it
Practical lessons from Denmark, Estonia, Uzbekistan and Australia for New Zealand’s digital leaders
Jonas Petersen, Chief Digital Officer, Department of the Premier and Cabinet of WA, Digital Strategic Manager, Digital Hub Denmark
4.00
Co-presentation: Building a connected digital economy by delivering trusted identity for citizens and businesses
Why government has developed a wallet-based identity model
How it builds privacy, consent, and user control into the design
What services it will enable for citizens, and what agencies can expect as it rolls out
How NZBN functions as a verified digital identity for business
Connecting Business Connect, eInvoicing, and Open Banking to enable true interoperability
Designing government services around real user journeys, not agency boundaries
James Little, Acting Director, Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Group, Department of Internal Affairs
Daryl Pettitt, Head of Digital Business Enablement, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
4.30
Chairperson’s closing address
4.40
Networking drinks and end of summit day one