For this year’s Featured Leaders, Public Spectrum caught up with leaders whose expertise ranges from communications to cyber security to share their knowledge and highlight their work on various changes and challenges that have emerged in the public sector. 

Cyber Security 

Sam Grunhard, Deputy Group Manager of the Department of Home Affairs’ Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre, shared his knowledge on the federal government’s work on minimizing cyber risks towards critical infrastructures. 

Simon Carabetta, Project Coordinator of ES2, provided insights on the constantly evolving cyber space. In his interview, Simon explained that governments and organisations should be more proactive with their security strategy and policies. 

Data Management 

Olive Powell, Head of Geography of UK Office for National Statistics and Co-founder & Director of Women+ in Geospatial, talked about the value and potential of geospatial data. Olive stated that geospatial data has unlocked the potential to analyse and understand issues previously considered too complex to approach. 

Kristi Mansfield, co-founder and CEO of Seer Data and Analytics, revealed the importance of democratizing data and that giving communities access to their data can lead to innovative solutions that they will benefit from. 

Janice Carey, one of IAPA’s top analytics leaders for 2022, discussed how organisations can develop better data strategies. In her interview, she stated that one must clearly articulate the capability they seek to create before embarking on solution building. 

Digital Government 

Michelle Laybutt, the General Manager Sales Operations, Business Platforms at Datacom, highlighted the digital changes within the public sector and how Datacom was able to help its clients in the shift to digital. 

Fraud & Security 

Ben Lumley, Head of Government Solutions in Australia at Quantexa, explained how current fraud trends have affected government and how Quantexa supported its clients in reducing fraud risks. 

Procurement 

Tod Cooper, the Director Procurement of the Department of Corrections NZ, said that procurement officers can streamline their organisation’s procurement process by never losing sight of the needs of their customer and by empowering and rewarding continuous improvement and innovation within the team. 

Marea Getsios, the Manager Procurement & Fleet of the City of Canada Bay, shared that good communication, sharing plans and working together to provide solutions help in building good relationships between organisations and their suppliers. 

Greg Welsh, the Director and General Manager of Winya Indigenous Furniture, highlighted his experiences with establishing a company that would go on to create incredible procurement opportunities for Indigenous people. 

Communications 

Roger Christie, Founder & Managing Director of Propel and Founder of the Government Digital Leaders Network, discussed the effects of recent digital trends on government communications and how agencies have had to adapt to sudden change. 

Professional Development 

Arpan Roy, Director and Co-Founder of Arman Consultancy, shared his insights that leaders can greatly impact their organisations by ensuring that their actions benefit the workplace. 

This year, Public Spectrum’s Featured Leaders highlighted the need for growth and improvement within the sector as they faced challenges and issues unheard of in previous years. Their insights have helped to provide invaluable knowledge for those looking to progress further within the sector. 

Public Spectrum will be bringing in more leaders for our Featured Leader section next year. For a complete and updated list, check out our Featured Leader page. 

If you would like to get in touch with us for an interview opportunity, message us today. 

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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