ACS NSW Branch Spotlight: 2023 Wrap Up

^Highlights

• As 2023 comes to an end, we'd like to reflect on the achievements of the NSW Branch and review some of the opportunities we've presented our members this year.

Events

This year, the NSW Branch hosted 41 events and welcomed more than 1500 attendees. We'd like to extend a warm thank you to all our speakers for sharing their expertise with our members. We'd also like to thank Joyce Long, NSW Branch events manager for ensuring our members get high-quality events available all year round. 

Some of our top events included:

NSW Branch Forums: every month we host discussions around some essential IT-related topics such as cyber security, smart cities, digital innovation, or the developments of AI. Some of our speakers this year included the Hon. Victor Dominello, Gabe Marzano, Dr. Asif Gill and Dr. Ian Oppermann. 

NSW Government Graduate Program Digital Stream sessions: ACS has been awarded the contract to deliver for the second time the Graduate Program – Digital Stream for the NSW Government. This program runs for 18 months and includes regular online and face-to-face workshops designed to upskill Graduates in a variety of areas that will augment their on-the-job learning in their workplace rotations. We're hoping all graduates who attended our events can benefit from them. 

To ensure our events are varied in format and topic, we're proud to keep presenting our attendees with varied events. Some of our most attended events this year include a webinar on Generative AI and Indigenous Data, a lecture on climate tech, and a panel discussion on tech scaleups. 

We're very proud to support and sponsor initiatives in our industry, such as the 2023 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year award, the SXSW Sydney, or the Spark Festival. 

Student Engagement & Emerging Professionals Committee: 

NSW branch launched an Emerging Professionals Group in FY23. The Group consists of representatives from Domestic and International Students as well as Graduate cohorts. It focuses on Emerging Professionals in the ICT industry. 

New graduates and early professionals often find themselves in search of professional support and career advice. Listening and learning from experts in person, offering the opportunity to ask questions in a collaborative environment, and then using this guidance to deliver a practical workshop activity with a tangible outcome was what motivated the NSW Branch and Tom Grogan to create the Emerging Professionals Committee, which hosted two hands-on events for emerging professionals to grow their brand. 

Mentoring Program:

The purpose of our Mentoring Program is to provide an opportunity for members to help members; and to connect individuals with knowledge and experience in their field with those seeking advice and guidance to develop their careers. In 2023, the NSW Branch conducted 2 intakes of the program, successfully pairing 44 pairs of mentors and mentees. The program runs for 6 months and allows the participants to grow their network, learn from their peers, and give back to their community. 

NSW branch offered two intakes for the Mentoring Program in 2023, from January to June, and another from August to December. The program includes Mentor / Mentee pairs which met regularly throughout the six-month programs. In addition, they were brought together as a larger group to engage in professional development and personality profiling to enhance the mentoring experience.

The program will be available again in 2024, please reach out to express your interest. 

Members recognitions

A Fellow is the highest grade of membership in the ACS and one of the formal ways where ACS recognises outstanding contributions to the profession. The FACS post-nominal indicates an individual has made an outstanding contribution to the development of ICT in Australia, and ACS looks to highlight the achievements of those deserving of joining our community of Fellows.

This year, ACS NSW recognised our Fellows and Honorary Life Members at a formal Fellows Dinner in the Boardroom of the Sydney Innovation Hub. 

As a wider organisation, ACS is very proud to keep working with the ICT industry to represent Australia’s technology community, across industry, government and education.