Technical departments in Australia and New Zealand utilities have historically been considered the domain of male white engineers and the leadership of these departments have also usually followed this trend. While some utility companies have made big efforts to adjust their hiring and management strategies to be more inclusive of women, young people, and minority groups, others still take the tradition response.
It’s become recognised by researchers and experts in the field, that organisations which are more inclusive of wider society, get better results in business. This has led to many of the larger utility companies creating Diversity and Inclusion Programs to ensure a fairer representation in technical department. This is especially relevant to the new digital teams being set up across utilities to tap new opportunities in a competitive marketplace.
Australian Utility Week, a large expo dedicated to the digital transformation of the water and power sectors, has picked up on these changing expectations and now includes a HUB session dedicated to helping utilities better understand the advantages of implementing and delivering a strong Diversity and Inclusion Program. In fact many utility leaders have been drawn to this session and are keen to talk about their own experiences of shifting perceptions for both social and business benefits.
To date we have a very strong line-up of experts discussing how to implement an effective Diversity and Inclusion Program. This includes:
Tricia Sneddon, MD, Diamond Impact
George Hunt, CIO and GM, Digital Services, Sydney Water
Leeanne Chau, Program Director, ICT Transformation, Ausgrid
Angela Bee Chan, Innovation Lead Pacific, Schneider Electric
Dr Shama Naz Islam, Lecturer, School of Engineering, Deakin University
Angela Lam, CIO, Horizon Power
Kim d’Alquen, Energy and Utilities BDM Manager (ANZ), Amazon Web Services
Corinne Ong, CEO ANZ, ENGIE Services
This HUB session is on 21 November, from 3.30 to 4.30, at the MCEC, Melbourne. We welcome press coverage of what is a very important and news-worthy discussion.
Register now for your Australian Utility Week media pass to discover how the energy and water sectors are being transformed by digital solutions and innovation programs.
Event dates and location:
Exhibition: 21-22 November 2018
Location: Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Australia
Event website: http://info.clarioneventsasia.com/e/339271/2018-11-11/89lqbq/213961043
ABOUT AUSTRALIAN UTILITY WEEK
Australian Utility Week is the region’s leading digital utility expo and it’s an annual meeting place for stakeholders of all levels from the entire utility supply chain; from the thought leaders in the digital utility – CIOs, CTOs, CDOs, Heads of Analytics, AMI, CIS and Communication Networks, to engineers, energy traders and graduates. We are focused on digital transformation projects in both the water and energy sectors.
Australian Utility Week is a brand belonging to Clarion Events which operates over 200 events in 35 countries from offices in the UK, South Africa, USA, Brazil Germany, Singapore, UAE, Turkey, and the Netherlands. Clarion can trace its roots back to 1947 and takes great pride in being one of the oldest independent event organisers in the UK. The teams at Clarion create uniquely effective and stimulating environments that can serve as a platform to build businesses, enhance customer relationships and accelerate product awareness. http://info.clarioneventsasia.com/e/339271/2018-11-11/89lqbx/213961043
