The ALIA Information Online virtual conference saw over 2,700 delegates come together to engage in a thought-provoking wide range of topics to appeal to a multi-sector focus. Continue your educational journey with this four-part series as we hear from a wide variety of knowledgeable professionals and keynote speakers. The In-depth series will delve deeper into specific industry trending topics to stimulate thought and guide industry professionals and leaders through personal and industry growth.
ALIA and the conference committee have put together these half-day fully virtual events ranging over three months to giving individuals the choice to engage in topics specific to their interests or industry. This series gives individuals the option to register for each of the conferences depending on what topics most interest your educational growth.
Professor Marek Kowalkiewicz
Professor Marek Kowalkiewicz is an academic and industry leader with extensive experience in conducting research, co-innovating with industry and university partners, and delivering innovative products to the market. Currently, as Chair in Digital Economy and founding director of Centre for the Digital Economy, he leads QUT’s research agenda to inform and influence a robust digital economy in Australia. He joined QUT from Silicon Valley, where he led innovation teams of one of the largest enterprise software vendors in the world. Before Silicon Valley, Marek worked in Singapore, Australia and China. He is a member of the State Library Board of Queensland.
Marek manages a contemporary research portfolio and converts industry driven opportunities into research outcomes of global relevance. He is an invited government expert, university lecturer and project lead, as well as an inventor and author. Marek is recognised as a top quality manager and excellent public speaker and has an interest in working with stakeholders in developing innovative ideas, ground-breaking business applications and high-impact new technologies.
Dr Cathy Foley AO PSM
Dr Cathy Foley AO PSM commenced as Australia’s ninth Chief Scientist in January 2021 after an extensive career at Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO.
Dr Foley is an internationally recognised physicist with major research achievements in superconductors and sensors which lead to the development of the LANDTEM™ sensor system to locate valuable deposits of minerals deep underground, resulting in discoveries and delineation of minerals worth more than $6 billion.
Dr Foley’s scientific excellence and influential leadership have been recognised with numerous awards and fellowships, including election to the Australian Academy of Science in 2020, along with an Order of Australia for service to research science and to the advancement of women in physics. She is also a Fellow of Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering (2008) and an honorary Fellow of Australian Institute of Physics (2019).
Dr Foley is an inspiration to women in STEM across the globe and is committed to tackling gender equality and diversity in the science sector to embrace the full human potential of all.
Craig Middleton, Senior Curator Digital Innovation & Strategy at the National Museum of Australia
Craig Middleton is Senior Curator, Digital Innovation & Strategy at the National Museum of Australia. In this role he is responsible for creative and content development of digital innovation projects within the Public Engagement Division. He is a widely published author and his book, Queering The Museum, co-authored with Dr Nikki Sullivan was published by Routledge in November 2019. Craig Tweets at @_museumguy
Dr. Sarah Barns, Director, Esem Projects & QUT Industry Fellow
Sarah is an internationally-recognised researcher, strategic designer and creative director, with a two-decade career forging new programming and investment frameworks to support citizen-focused digital culture and creativity. She is co-founder of experiential arts and media practice Esem Projects, founder of storybox.co and author of Platform Urbanism, published by Palgrave in 2020.
A former digital strategist for the ABC's Innovation division, smart cities adviser at Data61, and futures forecaster for the federal government, in 2012 Sarah established Esem Projects as a creative practice centred around people, place and technology. She launched STORYBOX in 2020 to spark new place partnerships around outdoor media for civic good, promoting collaborative creativity and storytelling in public precincts. Sarah is also a writer, digital storyteller, and QUT Industry Fellow, working across the mediums of immersive sound and creative non-fiction, and is well-respected internationally for her research and strategic design work on urban data politics and platform urbanism. See sarahbarns.me
Brett Tompkins, Creative Producer for Gibson Group
Brett is a creative producer for Gibson Group, a creative design and screen production studio specialising in the GLAM, tourism and television broadcast industries.
Brett began his career in live theatre and dance, before graduating to prime-time television where he created and directed popular factual programmes in the UK and New Zealand.
For the past 15 years he has been exclusively involved in the creation and delivery of digital and traditional exhibition experiences across a broad range of subjects for national and regional museums, archives, and libraries in New Zealand, Australia and the USA.
Jo-Anne Hine, Teacher in Residence, Coordinator Schools Engagement State Library of Queensland
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Jo-Anne Hine is currently the Teacher in Residence and Coordinator of Schools Engagement at State Library of Queensland. She has worked extensively as a Visual Art and Media teacher, most recently at Cannon Hill Anglican College in Brisbane. She is an experienced Visual Art curriculum writer and has held the position as the QCAA Principal Education Officer for Visual Art. Jo has held multiple positions in the executive of the Queensland Art Teachers Association; advocating for The Arts in all their forms. She is a co-author of Creative Inquiry, Queensland’s Visual Art textbook, published by Cambridge University Press. Jo has enjoyed a steep and exciting learning journey into the Library world since taking up this position in 2021.
Anna Raunik, Executive Director, Content and Client Services
Matt Greenhall, Deputy Executive Director Research Libraries UK
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Matt is the Deputy Executive Director of Research Libraries UK. He is the Executive lead for the Digital Shift, Digital Scholarship, and Copyright and Licensing strands of RLUK’s strategy. In this role he works closely with members of RLUK’s networks and working groups and has authored research reports and academic articles exploring the digital shift in research library collections, services, spaces, and audience interactions. He leads on several of RLUK’s strategic relationships and is a passionate advocate for cross-sector collaboration across the GLAM sector, research community, and between wider communities of practice.
Before coming to RLUK, he worked for six years at The National Archives (UK) in several leadership roles, concluding as Head of Academic Engagement, a role responsible for leading the organisation’s relationships with its academic and
scholarly audiences. Prior to this, Matt worked within Durham University’s Archives and Special Collections where he led elements of the university’s widening participation and youth engagement programmes. It was at the University of Durham where he completed a BA Hons and an M.Res in history, and a PhD in early-modern British economic history.
Justin Kelly, Business Analyst, Collections at State Library of Victoria
Justin Kelly, 2019 SLV Digital Fellow and currently the Business Analyst, Collections at State Library of Victoria, is passionate about library digital collections, accessibility, open-source technology, and emerging role AI can play in libraries. He has a long career in libraries and higher education, specialising in business analytics, web development, data engineering and library systems.
Lee Mathers, General ManagerTalkVia
With a background in law (and a mother who still can't understand why he never became a lawyer), Lee has worked in and built startups for over 15 years. Addicted to the teachings of Seth Godin and consequently having a keen interest in exploring life and business from as many different angles as possible, Lee loves new tech and has a deep admiration of people who work hard to build something from nothing.
As General Manager of TalkVia, Lee is tasked with taking this Brisbane and Sunshine Coast based startup to the rest of the world, helping evangelise "interactive voice" and all of the things that digital assistants can do to make our lives easier and better.
Peter Gorgels, Manager Digital Products of the Rijksmuseum
Peter Gorgels is the Manager Digital Products of the Rijksmuseum, including the museum’s website, Rijksstudio and the app.
Gorgels is always looking for innovative ways to improve the interaction of the audience with the masterpieces of the Rijksmuseum.
Stuart Buchanan, Head of Digital Programming Sydney Opera House
As Head of Digital Programming for Sydney Opera House, Stuart Buchanan is responsible for leading and curating the House’s year-round digital program, delivering livestreams and recordings direct from the stage, along with new digital presentations, innovative commissions and online education initiatives. Following the success of the award-winning 2020 digital season From Our House to Yours, Stuart drove the launch of the House’s online streaming platform Stream which showcases a broad range of world-class performing and digital arts, with new works released every month.
As a senior arts professional in digital strategy and content, Stuart’s passion lies at the intersection of art, technology and media. He has worked with companies such as ABC, Art Gallery of NSW, AFTRS, Biennale of Sydney, Disney, Edinburgh Fringe, The Guardian, MONA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Mute Records, Royal Court Theatre and SBS, and co-founded the award-winning digital cultural agency The Nest.
Stuart has also worked as a broadcaster and producer, presenting radio programs and podcasts on ABC’s Double J, FBi Radio and UK station Resonance FM. His curatorial projects include the renowned New Weird Australia initiative and guest programming roles at a number of events and festivals.
Mikaela Jade, CEO and Founder of Indigital
Mikaela Jade is a Cabrogal Woman of the Dharug-speaking Nation of Sydney. Her company, Indigital, is Australia’s first Indigenous edu-tech company and has a mission to create opportunities for 400 million First Peoples in using and designing frontier technologies by teaching cutting edge digital skills through a cultural lens. The Indigital Team is more than 80 per cent female and Indigenous and works remotely from Country. In only 18 months, Indigital’s flagship program Indigital Schools has worked with 7000 students across Australia to improve their understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures through teaching spatial web technologies, including augmented and mixed reality. Mikaela is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, an Alumni of Tribal Link Foundation (NYC) and the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. Mikaela is on Microsoft Australia’s Reconciliation Action Plan Advisory Board and Advisory Board for Project Rockit, Country Needs People and the Pollination Foundation. Mikaela has a Bachelor of Science (Environmental Biology) from the University of Technology, Sydney and a Master of Applied Cybernetics (With Commendation) from the Australian National University.
Angus Cook - Director, Content Procurement, Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL); Canberra, Australia
Angus completed a Masters in Information Management at RMIT in 2015, and is a passionate believer in the role of libraries and the benefits they provide to the communities they serve. Prior to joining CAUL he was a Senior Licensing Manager for Springer Nature and before that he worked for five years managing sales and marketing at OCLC. Angus was instrumental in introducing WorldShare, a cloud based library management system, to a wide range of libraries across Australia and New Zealand. He has also worked with Thomson Reuters, supplying legal content to large law firms and court libraries.
Dr Craig E. Franklin – Director, Franklin Ecolaboratory, University of Queensland and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Experimental Biology; Queensland, Australia
Following postdoctoral research in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, Craig is currently President of Academic Board, and Professor in Biological Sciences at The University of Queensland. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Experimental Biology and Past President of the Society for Experimental Biology. He is a strong proponent of conservation physiology and studies the impact of environmental change on fish, amphibian and reptiles.
Dr Claire Moulton, Publisher, The Company of Biologists; Cambridge UK
Claire has a background in molecular and developmental biology. As Publisher at The Company of Biologists she is responsible for journal and digital content strategy. Its subscription journals were early adopters of Read & Publish agreements and were the first journals to be afforded Transformative Journal status. Another focus has been building community sites including preLights, an early-career initiative around preprint commenting. Previously, Claire worked for Elsevier, where she was responsible for the Current Opinion and Trends journals.
Dr Alicia Wise – Executive Director of CLOCKSS and scholarly communications consultant with Information Power; London UK
After a 20-year career spanning archaeological research work and high-level roles with funders, libraries, consortia and publishers worldwide, Alicia now works as consultant in scholarly communications. Her focus is on advising libraries, funders and publishers on sustainable strategies for navigating the rapidly changing information landscape, and she is passionate about the opportunities transformative agreements offer to increase access to research information. Alicia is also Executive Director of the CLOCKSS dark archive.