Sebastian Robertson

It's been a real privilege contributing with an awesome group of Māori practitioners to Amazon's Māori Data Lens on their Well Architected Framework. Not only was the work interesting, but the people were choice. Renata Hakiwai, Ngapera Riley, Nikora Ngaropo, Lee Timutimu, Wade Reweti, and Eli Pohio. E kore e mutu ngā mihi. My initial thought back last year was, 'I'm no cloud architect'. But this kaupapa reminded that here and now, anything I can see or access on my phone, TV or laptop, is in the cloud: from my whanau photos, to my contacts list, trust and marae committee minutes and accounts, my Kindle versions of Ngā Moteatea, pdfs of Matariki karakia, posts on FB about whakapapa and pūrākau, my work via Office 365, and even special whānau videos on Youtube. Moreover, Amazon seemed to share our interest in making sure our stuff is secure, private and also accessible when we need it. I knew too that Amazon is a big Taniwha, and it does not think, speak or understand us. But as my Dad always said, 'the kumara aren't going to peel themselves!' In other words, if you want to make a change, roll your sleeves up and get stuck in! So, I said yes! To be fair, the work was challenging. This is a technical guide for technical stuff. Moreover, the group did not suffer from groupthink. Yet we still we managed to craft a general te ao Māori framework tailored to address the unique challenges and opportunities Māori data faces in the cloud. The end is a small step towards responsibly managing Māori data in the cloud. There is some advice about thinking, and percieving, as well as advice about the importance of relationships. Not rocket science, but definitely marae science - the 1000 cups of tea! While the road ahead is long, I am hopeful about the positive impact te ao Māori can have technology and how it is developed. This is our attempt to follow the path of Tane and grab the strong vine: Kia mau ki te aka matua, kei mau ki te aka taepa! Finally, a big mihi to Craig and Judith at Amazon for their dedication and engagement. Lets be honest, Amazon is a huge organisation and they both had to work through layers of people to pitch the whole idea, to land it, and get final approval. I know that their work with Maurea Consulting and the amazing Precious Clark clearly inspired them to deep dive in to this. Otirā Craig kōrua ko Judith, ngā mihi nui! https://lnkd.in/g72zzqvd #MaoriDataSovereignty #CloudTechnology #Collaboration

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A new free data resource providing timely, high-quality insights about regional visits was launched this week by Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)'s Tourism Research Australia.   The new mobility data, which uses de-identified and aggregated data from several million mobile phones, harnesses technology to provide insights regarding domestic travellers that traditional surveys can’t.   Mobility data is published by TRA monthly, typically within a fortnight of month's end. This complements TRA’s more comprehensive National #Visitor Survey, which will continue to be published each quarter.   The monthly #Data is a fast and reliable source of insights on domestic visitors for the #Tourism industry.   My colleague Grant Ferres outlines that we have been publishing mobility data at a national and state/territory level for several months. He says this week's inaugural release of data for all 76 tourism regions is a continuation along TRA’s path of delivering data at more granular levels of geography and on a more timely basis. We have been able to develop this data for publication thanks to additional funding from the Australian Government   TRA's mobility data model draws on data from a variety of sources, including mobile phone network and GPS data, population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and inputs from TRA’s own National Visitor Survey. All data is anonymised and aggregated, to ensure confidentiality and privacy is prioritised at every stage.   The free new data resource is published in a user friendly interactive dashboard, which allows users to choose the geographic location and month of interest. The data is presented as a comparison with the same month from the previous year, to assist with understanding changes and trends in visitation.  It will greatly assist Regional Tourism Organisations and Local Governments to understand movement by travellers (ie those who are travelling for day trips, overnight trips).   Mobility data also forms an important and major component of a new domestic ‘big data’ product called Domestic Tourism Statistics (DoTS), which will replace the current National Visitor Survey as the source of official domestic tourism statistics from early next year.     Improving data and insights is a priority of Australia’s national long-term strategy for the visitor economy, THRIVE 2030, and the new data supports Australia’s broader Data and Digital Government strategy.   View the monthly regional mobility data at https://lnkd.in/d7DSHjgU   #DomesticTravel #Travel #TourismStatistics #TravelStats #InformingDecisions #RTOs #LocalGovernment Queensland Tourism Industry Council NSW Tourism Association Tourism Industry Council SA (TiCSA) Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) Tourism Industry Council Tasmania Tourism Top End Tourism Council WA Australian Regional Tourism Ltd (ART) Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW)

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"Australia needs to scaleup up in tech or risk to be left behind." That's the title of a very interesting article by Daniel Petre on The Australian. "To truly compete with top-tier innovation hubs, Australia must overcome its geographic isolation by building strong international connections." That's one of the outcomes of latest Mind the Bridge Tech Scaleup Australia Report that has been presented this week at SXSW Sydney (with the support of ACCIONA and Crunchbase). Link for downloading the report in the notes. #startups #openinnovation #australia Serena Orizi Telmo Pérez Luaces Marco Marinucci Guillem Clemente Fernando Fajardo Gerez Serena Valente Giorgio Di Fiore Max Brigonzi Mattia Poletti

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#joinus for our largest and most expansive #smartcities #event and #program ever in #aotearoa Hear from our: #global #thought #leaders #global #taskforce #leads #regional #leads #global #team On: #smartairports #smarttourism #regional #communities #smartbuildings #smartinfrastructure #cybersecurity #digitaltwins #ai #machinelearning #blockchain #digital #transformation #digital #infrastructure #ethics #sustainability

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PwC NZ Startup Investment (Autumn 2024) report is available. Summary and link below. * Total investment in startups for 2023 was $163m, compared to $186m in 2022 (-12% year-over-year) * Total number of deals similar between 2023 (144) compared to 2022 (142) * In 2023, the number of new deals completed decreased to 40, compared to 46 in 2022, and 61 in 2021 * Average amount raised for new startups declined by 22%, from $1.6m in 2022 to $1.2m in 2023 * DeepTech (HealthTech, AgTech, CleanTech, ClimateTech, SpaceTech, Pharmaceuticals, BioTech) accounted for 38% of total capital funding in 2023 * Among the DeepTech sub-sectors, HealthTech attracted the lion’s share of the funding (45%), followed by CleanTech (23%) * Software was the second preferred sector, securing 30% of the total investment https://lnkd.in/gJPYcne9

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The Precycle NZ ReFib team visited the beehive lastnight to see the launch of the NZ Cleantech Report. We got to catch up with more like-minded startups in the growing NZ climate technology space. Over the last few months we have been surrounded by so many inspiring green entrepreneurs, which makes us so proud to be in a feild full of tall poppies. We heard the same stories that we have been hearing or experiencing around NZs growing need for support to our startups in the form of: -Affordable operational and lab space outside of universities. -Better access to funding and investment in the high-risk commercialisation stage (aka the valley of death) - Good leaders and opportunities for young entrepreneurs to develop strong leadership skills. We also heard the positive: - NZ is a leader in the climate tech space and our tech is solving world problems, and the need for these solutions is growing quickly. - NZ has historically gone against the grain, with one example of investing in geothermal while the rest of the world invested in coal, and now we are positioned as a leader in green technologies. - There is a growing community in the cleantech startup space and its full of awesome, passionate and clever entrepreneurs. Another inspiring evening! Kevin Sheehy The MacDiarmid Institute The Momentum Programme Creative HQ Peter Thompson XFrame Hot Lime Labs Geo40 Limited John Worth Marny Reakes Liquium CarbonScape Simon Watts Hon Judith Collins KC MP Emily Mason

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Fellow Climatech founders, If you haven't completed your Climate Salad 2023 Industry report submission yet get in before it closes, it helps us understand our broader ecosystem and provides some great free publicity. #climatesalad #climatech #ecosystem

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Congratulations to the South Australian Government and the participating Councils on the launch of the Local Government Net Zero Accelerate Program! It's inspiring to see local governments taking proactive steps to address climate change and work towards achieving net zero emissions by 2050. At Strategic Directions, we commend this initiative and are excited to support Councils in their journey towards lowering their carbon footprint. As an ICT consultancy, we specialise in helping organisations reduce their emissions through technology-driven solutions. Our services include: 💻 Computer Room and Data Centre Assessments to identify energy and water consumption inefficiencies. 📊 Review and audit insights to provide actionable recommendations for reducing your carbon footprint. 🔍 Analysing your production and DR environments to optimise resource utilisation and retire obsolete equipment. We understand that taking on emission reduction strategies can be challenging for small Councils while delivering core services. That's where our expertise comes in - to help you navigate this journey with ease and efficiency. If you're a Council participating in the Local Government Net Zero Accelerate Program or looking to embark on your own sustainability journey, we'd love to chat about how we can support you in achieving your goals. 🌿 Let's work together to build a greener future for Australia! 🙌 https://lnkd.in/g7enA85R #NetZero #SustainableSA #LocalGovernment #LocalBusiness #LGITSA #strategicdirections #datacentre #LGASA

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ClimaSens, an Australian Red Cross Humanitech innovation program partner, successfully piloted their solution to have an impact on local communities impacted by heat waves.​ Climasens partnered with Humanitech to pilot their climate risk analytics platform, which uses past, present, and future predictions in heat data to enable Australian Red Cross to identify and support communities to adapt to changing heat risks.​ This year, entrepreneurs from around the globe with data-driven technology solutions for community climate adaptation will similarly have the chance to pilot their project with Humanitech through the 2024 QBE AcceliCITY Resilience Challenge Humanitarian Track. ​ Applications are now open and all applicants are in with a chance to access cash prizes totaling $150,000 USD, a paid pilot, and support from a global network of practitioners and experts. ​ Find out more or enter the challenge now by visiting https://brnw.ch/21wIuh7 2022 & 2023 pilots were made possible through support from Humanitech's founding partner Telstra Foundation. ​ QBE Insurance Leading Cities #AustralianRedCross #Humanitech #QBEFoundation #QBEAcceliCITYResilienceChallenge #AcceliCITY

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Ah, the Australian government – launching another "pilot" program to test the waters of common sense. A blended payment model? What’s that, a smoothie of good intentions mixed with the bitter aftertaste of bureaucratic inefficiency? So let me get this straight, providers will be paid not just for showing up, but also for actually helping people achieve their goals. Revolutionary idea! Imagine paying people for outcomes and not just their time—how did we not think of this before? Next thing you know, they'll suggest politicians be paid based on whether they deliver on campaign promises. Oh, wait—probably not, too risky. And then there’s the $24.6 million commitment for this pilot over four years. Sounds impressive, but that's less than a speck of dust in the $50 billion projected NDIS costs by 2025-26. So, they're hoping that by tossing a few coins at 31 providers, they’ll magically figure out how to solve deeply entrenched issues like underfunded support coordination and SIL care. It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg and hoping the swelling goes down. And don't get me started on the "outcome-based payments" part. It's almost as if they’ve realized that maybe, just maybe, incentivizing quality over quantity could work. Too bad they didn’t apply this logic to other sectors, like say… education or healthcare. Maybe we wouldn’t be neck-deep in "services rendered" but barely scraping the surface on "lives improved." Oh, and the cherry on top: they’re trialing this with vulnerable people. You know, the ones who can least afford for this grand experiment to fail. Nothing screams “we care” like using people with complex, high needs as guinea pigs in a government-funded R&D project. Because when you’re dealing with human lives, it's always best to try out untested ideas with the most vulnerable first, right? But at least they’re finally responding to concerns from high-quality providers who are drowning under the current system. I’m sure the criteria for selecting providers will be as transparent and flawless as every other government selection process. It's not like any of them have ever picked winners based on politics or profit margins, right? Can’t wait to see how they measure "success" in these pilots. Is it just about participants reaching their goals, or will it include how much money the government saves by not paying for services that don't meet the mark? Because, let’s be honest, we all know who the real "participant" is in these programs. It’s not the disabled individuals, it’s the government’s bottom line. Marie J. Dr Rodney Jilek MAICD Mark Sweeney Samantha Connor Jane Scott ♿ Veronica Stephan-Miller Erin McGrath Tara Hannon Annette A. Karrie Brockovich Shirley Humphris Bob Buckley Peter Gregory Jarrod Sandell-Hay Cat Walker Uli Cartwright Katy Gagliardi Graham Taylor https://lnkd.in/gv4ttjCj

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Taking a strategic approach to addressing climate change - 2024 Climate Governance Forum by the Australian Institute of Company Directors #CGF24

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Today’s New Zealanders aren’t rich enough, motivated enough or sufficiently technologically advanced to address climate change, apparently. Or so the government’s draft Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) appears to suggest by following a strategy of building private wealth, sacrificing land to pine and waiting for further technological advances to eventually address climate change decades from now. The ERP explicitly prioritises economic growth (https://lnkd.in/grSsrRb9) and maximises the emissions reduction value of every dollar spent, relying on dealing with emissions through sinks rather than at the source. Consequently, this allows for more emissions and more sinks than previously planned. From 2022 to 2035, there will be a projected 54 million tonnes of extra emissions than previous policies would have achieved (https://lnkd.in/gdpRYhZA). Given that the emissions budget for 2035 is 49 million tonnes, this policy shift is akin to running the country for an extra year over the course of the next decade, simply to earn more income, while assuming that additional, permanent carbon sinks will mop up the pollution. Instead, the ERP could harness existing wealth advantages, demand-side opportunities and current technologies to avoid further climate change and damages, which would be far more cost effective in the long run and would enable the economy to operate as it should, as a social system for the benefit of all within planetary boundaries. What the government is not elucidating very clearly is that every tonne of emissions not mitigated at source locks-in a national commitment to finding and funding a permanent sink for those emissions, with high physical, financial and reputation risks attached to failure. The most exposed to these kinds of risks are not those positioned to build wealth from economic growth, but those exploited by economic growth: women, the marginalised, the natural world and future generations. Globally, past unmitigated emissions have locked in a reduction in GDP of at least 19% by 2050, or annual damages of $38 trillion, while mitigation is estimated to cost only $6 trillion in 2050. (https://lnkd.in/gsxHtMDy)

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Today's SMH/Age story on Indigenous carbon highlights the significant opportunities and benefits that can be generated from Australia’s carbon market for First Nation people. The article highlights these benefits include strengthening Indigenous land ownership, employment and access as well as other community education and health benefits from carbon revenue. Australia's carbon market, established in 2011, is still evolving and undergoing continual improvement including on issues of appropriate consent, benefit sharing, governance and capability building. Some of the examples cited are from the early days of the carbon market and include companies no longer active. Current practices need ongoing vigilance and review and many in the industry commit significant resources to this. CMI has worked hard to promote best practice between carbon project developers and Indigenous communities including through our world leading Carbon Industry Code of Conduct which commenced in 2018. Code signatories include around two thirds of land based projects and they are expected to track engagement, respect free prior and informed consent requirements and to work with recognised native title consent holders. In recent reform processes, CMI has actively supported proposals to amend current conditional consent arrangements and to engage native title claimants in approval and project management. See our recent submission on these matters: https://lnkd.in/g8Aumn5n Getting Indigenous engagement right does and should require significant investment of resources and time from industry and government. These processes and the market are heavily regulated and undergoing reform after the independent review led by former Chief Scientist Professor Ian Chubb. Some reforms have already been implemented and there was over $10 million allocated in the last federal budget to assist Indigenous communities manage these processes. Other critical reforms require legislative amendments that are behind schedule . CMI works hard to ensure Indigenous voices are heard in our events and processes and best practice development and promotion. We will continue that work with our Indigenous members and partners as well as the rest of the membership and industry.

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Three big climate tech sessions on next week!

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Great to reflect on the COP29 outcomes on Australian national radio. --US power vacuum on climate action: With the US possibly withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, China only stands to gain from taking a more proactive role in global climate diplomacy. China already is the global powerhouse driving the renewable energy transition. If the US would wind back it's domestic and global climate actions, it will be left in the dust, solidifying China's dominance in the new energy economy. --Australia's COP31 bid: With the hosting country for the 2026 UN climate conference still undecided (Australia vs Türkiye), the Albanese government's campaign to host the summit will now bleed into the country's federal election in early 2025. Will voters reward an election bid that promises to turn Australia into a global climate champion. --Climate finance: The new global finance deal fell far short from developing countries' expectations. There was a severe mismatch, with developed countries holding off on proposing numbers and worried about domestic backlash of far-right voters, and developing countries left with few other options than to except a bad finance deal out of fear that future negotiations would only get worse under a Trump presidency. --COP reform: Yes the UN climate negotiations are slow and messy, but they are the only platform that provide a voice to even the smallest and most vulnerable countries, and they continue to drive the global drumbeat on climate action. Consensus-based decision making has meant we keep ending up with the lowest common denominator that all countries can accept. However, with a shift from negotiating to now implementing the Paris Agreement, there is a growing role for coalitions of the willing to drive action across sectors. You can listen to the interview on the ABC website or app: https://lnkd.in/gxaZGtDd

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