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Siemens Launches Digitalize 2017 to Advance Australia’s Digital Future

Announcement posted by Siemens 19 Jul 2017

  • To be held on 30 August in Sydney, the full day conference will showcase the real-world applications of digitalization in energy, infrastructure, industry and the workforce
  • Keynote address by technology thought-leader Steve Vamos, former Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Australia and Managing Director of Apple Computer Asia Pacific, will explore the behaviours that contribute to a high performing board in an era of constant change.
  • Forum will feature a number of prominent guest speakers including Kumar Parakala, Global Digital Leader, GHD, Stefan Bungart, Head of Digitalization, Siemens Power Generation Services, and others.
Siemens today announced that its annual digitalization conference, ‘Digitalize 2017’, will be held at the Sheraton on the Park, Sydney on Wednesday, 30 August 2017. The conference will discuss and debate how digitalization is revolutionising the workforce, industry and the energy and infrastructure sectors.
 
The theme of the conference comes at a critical time, following reports by the Digitisation Index for Australia concluding that despite significant strides made with technology, Australia lacks the digital maturity to compete in an increasingly connected and globalised economy. It also points to a growing gap in the economy between digitally mature firms and less digitally mature firms, with the latter running the risk of being left behind.
 
Providing the keynote address at this year’s forum is renowned technology thought-leader Steve Vamos, former Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Australia and Managing Director of Apple Computer Asia Pacific. Mr Vamos, currently in the process of writing his first book, has twice been listed by the Australian Financial Review as one of the most influential members of the Australian technology industry. At Digitalize 2017, Mr Vamos will explore the behaviours that contribute to a high performing board in an era of constant change. Mr Vamos is an advocate for Conscious Capitalism and was the founder and President of the Society for Knowledge Economics (SKE), a not for profit think-tank that aimed to encourage and promote new and better leadership and management practices.
 
Mr Vamos will be joined by a number of high-profile speakers including:
 
  • Kumar Parakala, Global Digital Leader, GHD, the recipient of SEARCC & ACS Digital Disruptors' International Professional of the Year 2016 Award and the Queensland Government Leadership Excellence Award. Mr Parakala will discuss how the efficient use of skills relating to location intelligence, virtual reality, visualisation, and data analytics can optimise processes, resolve challenges, predict future scenarios and make the right business decisions.
  • Stefan Bungart, Head of Digitalization, Siemens Power Generation Services, a passionate entrepreneur and thought leader creating a vision and strategy for the future of digital services, influencing effectively across organisations to drive strategy execution and adoption.
  • Jeff Connolly, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Australia and New Zealand, the first Australian to hold this position since 1984. Mr Connolly is a member of 11 boards including serving as Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Task Force. In addition, he is the Vice President of Australian Industry Group and the founding member of the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council and member of the Victorian Government Future Industries Ministerial Advisory Council.
  • Speaking about the forum, Mr Connolly said: “Digitalization is the key to success in ‘future-proofing’ Australia’s investments in critical infrastructures and getting the most out of the country’s resources. As the world enters into a fourth industrial revolution driven largely by the merging of automation and digitalization, organisations face a growing challenge of turning data into valuable information that can increase speed and impact of innovation. As a result, Siemens is creating a bridge between real and virtual worlds that will open doors to new opportunities, new ways to compete and for Australia to use its renowned ingenuity.
     
    “With operations in 190 countries, Siemens is ideally placed to share knowledge and insights on how companies and industries can realise the full potential of embracing digital technologies to reduce costs, improve efficiencies, increase flexibility and productivity – ultimately becoming more competitive. Digitalize 2017 is a timely reflection of how Australian companies can embrace ingenuity and intelligent technology to expand their local footprint.”
     
    This year’s conference, Digitalize 2017 – the second such event Siemens has held in Sydney, Australia – will include discussions across four key themes:
     
    Workforce
  • Attracting talent in the digital age
  • The workforce of the future
  • Disruption of education, and implications for the workforce
  • Infrastructure
  • Smart resilient cities
  • Planning and financing for infrastructure investments
  • Intelligent transport systems
  • Energy
  • Australia’s energy transformation
  • Digital services
  • Distributed energy systems
  • Industry
  • The Digital Enterprise
  • Jumping the innovation “Valley of Death”
  • Driving innovation in Food & Beverage
For registration and more details see https://www.siemensdigitalize2017.com/
Event details:
Date: Wednesday 30 August 2017
Time: 8:30am – 5:00pm, followed by networking drinks
Location: Sheraton on the Park, Sydney
Registration fees: Early Bird Registration - $150.00 (*Please note that the early bird registration expires on 31st July at midnight)
Standard Registration - $250.00

You can also join the discussion on Twitter using #digitalize2017.
* Further sessions will be confirmed later.
 
Media contact for journalists
Ms. Krupa Uthappa
p: +61 3 9721 7681
krupa.uthappa@siemens.com

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 165 years. The company is active in more than 200 countries, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the world's largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a leading supplier of efficient power generation and power transmission solutions and a pioneer in infrastructure solutions as well as automation, drive and software solutions for industry. The company is also a leading provider of medical imaging equipment – such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging systems – and a leader in laboratory diagnostics as well as clinical IT. In fiscal 2016, which ended on September 30, 2016, Siemens generated revenue of €79.6 billion and net income of €5.6 billion. At the end of September 2016, the company had around 351,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com