Have an enjoyable Christmas time, a chance to put your feet up and spent time with those who are important to you. We hope to see you all refreshed and re-energised in 2010.

Welcome to Government is an introduction to working in the Victorian public sector.

It explains:

- The system of government in Australia and Victoria
- The role of the Victorian Parliament, Executive and Judiciary
- Victoria’s finances and accountability mechanisms, and
- Employment in the Victorian public sector.

The books are $3 each.

For more information, contact June Wibberley at the SSA (June.Wibberley@ssa.vic.gov.au)

The Plan has four action areas:

• Creating connections between people, ideas and opportunities
• Building innovation capability
• Generating ideas and rewarding good practice
• Sharing information and data.

There are 11 initiatives in the Plan including: VPS Hub – a new web 2.0 platform that will provide the online space for collaboration across the VPS; secondments to the private and community sectors to work on innovation challenges; an innovation tool box with practical innovation resources; and innovation awards to recognise innovation achievement in the VPS.

The Plan is only the first step in making sure innovation is supported throughout the VPS. It builds on existing innovation efforts in Departments and your ideas. A team in DPC is responsible for implementing the Plan and will work closely with communities and networks such as VPSCIN, the Innovation and Improvement Community of Practice, and the Court Innovators Networks. Members of these communities will have a special opportunity to be part of the beta testing of VPS Hub in December.

Check out the Plan (link below) and for further information, email: innovationplan@dpc.vic.gov.au

Link to the plan: Innovation Action Plan

Twenty VPSCIN members will be able to attend the event on Monday 16 November 2009 from 2–5 pm at Level 16/570 Bourke Street, Melbourne (Land Victoria).

Nancy White, will deliver a Master Class on Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities.

Nancy is an international practitioner in understanding and practicing online group facilitation of distributed work, learning and community groups (presenter, writer, teacher, coach, facilitator, rapporteur). She is also a technology steward, designer and builder of online interaction spaces (events, teams, learning groups). She has done extensive work with “web 2.0” tools and approaches and community and instructional design.

Recently Nancy, Etienne Wenger, and John D. Smith released their new book Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities.   This book explores how technology has changed, what it means for communities to “be together.” It looks at the fact that digital tools are now part of most communities’ habitats. This book develops a new literacy and language to describe the practice of stewarding technology for communities.

To register for the event, simply be one of the first 20 VPSCIN members to email Helen Moreland (helen.moreland@transport.vic.gov.au).

As you will be aware, the position of Chair of the VPSCIN has transferred from Christine Nixon to me. Accordingly, custodianship of the VPSCIN has transferred from Victoria Police to the Department of Transport (DOT).

Please be advised that while the VPSCIN has moved over to DOT, Frank Connolly has elected to stay at Victoria Police.

I have asked Helen Moreland (Manager, Organisational Improvement at DOT) to temporarily look after the VPSCIN on my behalf until next steps for the network, particularly the coordinator role, can be determined.

Please keep an eye on this space for more information about these changes. I expect there to be no disruptions to the VPSCIN events schedule as a result of these changes.

I wish Frank all the best for the future and on behalf of the VPSCIN, thank him for all the good work he has done as coordinator. I am sure you will all join me in wishing him well.

If you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Helen Moreland.

Regards

Jim

Congratulations to Andrew Caulfield of Victoria Police who responded with: They are among the most common sources of deadly bacteria. This week’s question is:

In what team is harmony achieved as a result of extreme tension?

The first CIN member in with the correct answer will receive a copy of I am an Idea Factory by Ed Bernacki.

Waltzing with the Elephant! This evocative phrase is the title of the first book that I have seen that explains what IT governance is, why it matters, who is responsible and how you can pragmatically implement appropriate Technology for Information Technology governance. The book, by Mark Toomey of Infonomics is refreshingly free from jargon and is directly applicable and valuable to any organisation that uses or is impacted by information technology whether they are multi-national companies with hundreds of thousands of staff, government departments, small businesses, or community groups staffed by a few committed volunteers.  

The author successfully communicates his extensive experience in assisting companies in understanding and implementing IT governance and has provided a very usable and valuable resource for understanding and implementing effective IT governance.

The book is based on and expends on the recent ISO/IEC 38500 standard on Corporate Governance of Information Technology. The book is organised into four main sections. The first section puts IT governance into context and very clearly explains the importance of such governance and that it is the responsibility of the business. The second explains ISO/IEC 38500, the background and key drivers for the standard, and the management and control model that underpins the standard. The third section then proposes, justifies and illustrates the real life applicability of an integrated system for governance and management of IT.

The fourth, and final section, takes each major principle of ISO/IEC 38500, explains the business reasons and importance of the principle, provides realistic guidance as to how to implement it, and also how to both communicate the importance of the principles and how to monitor compliance with any organisations adoption of the principle.

A feature of the book is the extensive use of real examples from organisations of many different sizes from across the world. As well as examples, Mark presents many scenarios to shed light on important areas of IT governance and both the examples and similar scenarios are presented in a clear style with even familiar ones shown in a new and insightful manner. As well as the examples and scenarios there are numerous diagrams and models illustrating and effectively communicating the key concepts. The overall tone is clear, supportive, thoroughly pragmatic, grounded in reality. The book is available in two forms, (1) watermarked PDF, and (2) hard copy. I recommend the book to anyone who has to understand, manage, govern, and direct information technology.

Review provided by Keith Frampton, Senior Research Associate at RMIT University

To win one of three copies of Waltzing with the Elephant, use the comments function below to answer the following question: What is the principal purpose of information technology in a government department or agency?

Working with Monsters is an interesting read from Dr John Clarke, a consultant psychological profiler for the NSW police in criminal matters, and with corporations who are experiencing difficulties with an employee. The book provides many examples of “organisational psychopaths”(OP), who in holding positions of influence have betrayed trust, lost their organisation reputation and dollars and harmed the very people they had been charged with protecting.

When we think of the word psychopath we tend to think of the criminally violent variety, however the majority tend to be those who harm their victims via non-violent means. According to Clarke “an exclusive focus on violent criminals as psychopaths perpetuates a misleading belief… In reality, the non-violent psychopath can be just as devastating, and they are far more common. ” Many do not recognise OPs in the workplace for what they are until it is too late. Unfortunately this is no help to those who have come into contact with them.

Many are big on talking and are able to reach senior positions with the help of today’s uncertain and constantly changing corporate climate. They are smooth talkers, more prone to talk than action and generally fast and loose with the truth. They will normally cover up their deception with a strategy of rapidly moving from one topic to another to create confusion and give the impression of wide ranging knowledge. The OP is generally concerned with their own well being or those who are closely aligned with themselves and their advancement. They tend not to have any remorse for any damage inflicted on others because they do not have the ability to empathise with others.

Describing one case study involving a classic example of an OP, Dr Clarke says they were “Operating at a very high level in a successful company, they exuded an almost indefinable, venomous feeling of menace, camouflaged beneath a deceptively smooth , but entirely artificial veneer of sophisticated charm. What concerned me the most was the expression in the eyes rarely changed, it remained devoid of the quality that makes us fully human – emotion.”

Dr Clarke goes on the describe what constitutes a OP, their types of behaviours, how they are detected, how they conceal themselves, how they process information in manners different from others and some strategies in dealing with them.

“The need to develop our capacity to innovate in the public sector is the key to meeting challenges of the future.”

The VPSCIN invites members to attend a special session with Innovation expert Ed Bernacki who is currently touring this part of the world.

Ed has observed that while working inside a Government department that many great ideas already exist but they lack the basic processes and tools to regularly harness and use these ideas. this has lead to the development of the Idea Factory concept. In this half day session you will learn the basics of becoming an innovationalist, a specialist who can lead innovation by turning your workplace into an idea factory.

The programme will be based on four elements:

1. Opportunity - shaping the opportunity to innovate through leadership & direction
2. Motive - focusing on creating a climate open to innovative thinking
3. People - enhancing participants skills to innovate
4. People - engaging the full cognitive diversity of people in the organisation

This will be most useful for people looking for new ideas for developing and managing innovation programs in a service context.

When: Tuesday Sept 29, 8:30am – 12:30pm

Where: Airlie Leadership Development Centre, 260 Domian Rd Sth Yarra (take the no 8 tram from Flinders St)

lunch will be provided

To RSVP for this session (once you have fully confirmed your availability) Click Here.

Benchmarking Partnerships in conjunction with SAI Global is offering VPSCIN members the opportunity for you to join in to learn and network with ALL of the 2009 Australian Business Excellence Award winning organisations in an exciting 4 day Study Tour program, fully co-ordinated and facilitated to optimize your learning experience in this special event from 12^th-15^th October 2009

Day 1(Mon 12th)- SYDNEY with Summit Care Australia hosting in the morning and Schindler Lifts hosting the afternoon. Participants staying on, then fly to Melbourne late afternoon.

Day 2(Tues 13th ) – MELBOURNE with Computershare hosting the day. Mildura Rural City Council to present in Melbourne. Participants staying on, then fly to Adelaide late afternoon.

Day 3(Wed 14th) – ADELAIDE with Dept of Families & Communities hosting the day, ABM Electronic Engineering & Qld Dept of Main Roads- Engineering & Technology to present in Adelaide. Participants staying on, then fly to Perth late afternoon.

Day 4(Thur 15th) – PERTH with City of Melville hosting the morning and Downer EDI Works hosting the afternoon. Includes ‘action planning’ before tour close and depart to airport.

Seats will be limited so if you are interested you can review the full programme via the Benchmarking Partnerships website or contact anton@benchmarkingpartnerships.com.au