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CIO100 2018: Avi Golan of Air NZ tops list

CIO100 2018: Avi Golan of Air NZ tops list

CIO New Zealand launches annual report on the most transformative and disruptive technology and digital leaders.

For Avi Golan, leadership all comes back to the Maori proverb of valuing what matters most.

‘He Tangata, He Tangata, He Tangata: The People, The People, The People.’

 “At the end of the day it’s all about creating the culture that cultivates innovation, inspiration and exploration and the only way to do it is to improve the engagement of our people,” says Golan, chief digital officer of Air New Zealand.

 “We have to provide a fun place of work, give them ‘permission to play’, create a space to innovate and liberate the team to create ideas as much as they can."

 How he applied this approach at Air New Zealand propelled him to the top rank in the CIO100, the annual report on the country’s most transformative and innovative technology and digital leaders.

Golan and his team were feted at the CIO100 launch last Tuesday in Auckland, attended by more than 130 CIOs, CEOs, CDOs and business technology leaders. The CIO100 was also launched in Wellington on Wednesday, to a crowd of more than 60 ICT leaders.

Avi Golan of Air New Zealand with CIO NZ editor Divina Paredes
Avi Golan of Air New Zealand with CIO NZ editor Divina Paredes

 

David Kennedy of Transaction Services Group and Aaron Toatelegese of Bank of New Zealand are numbers two and three, respectively, in the list.

David Kennedy of Transaction Services Group with CIO NZ Divina Paredes
David Kennedy of Transaction Services Group with CIO NZ Divina Paredes
Aaron Toatelegese (second from left)  of Bank of New Zealand is number three in the CIO100. He is joined by his team members: John Baddiley, head of technology strategy; Katarina Kolich, head of enterprise data and information services; and Gerard Graham, chief operating officer technology.
Aaron Toatelegese (second from left) of Bank of New Zealand is number three in the CIO100. He is joined by his team members: John Baddiley, head of technology strategy; Katarina Kolich, head of enterprise data and information services; and Gerard Graham, chief operating officer technology.

The CIO100 leaders were chosen by a panel of judges based on how they are delivering change across their organisations while excelling in business transformation, innovation and leadership (Read on for 100 stories on digital transformation).

ICT for the greater good

The event also recognised the best ICT-enabled programme which helped solve a community or social issue.

The 2018 winner is the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, represented by CIO Ralph Chivers, for the 111 Emergency Caller Location Information service.

The service automatically provides emergency services with the probable location of a caller when they dial 111 from a mobile phone. The service helps improve public safety by decreasing the time taken to accept and verify the location of 111 mobile callers and by reducing the average dispatch time for emergency events from mobile phones.

Ralph Chivers of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment at the CIO100 event in Wellington
Ralph Chivers of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment at the CIO100 event in Wellington

One of the judges said the service stood out because of the “elegance of the solution, great project delivery and sheer scale of the impact of what has been done”.

Two organisations received highly commended award:

The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners for its Quality Assurance to Quality Improvement (QA2QI , a fully digital online assessment that allows the GP practices to fully complete self-assessment against the hundreds of criteria required for Cornerstone. The latter is a complex and in-depth independently assessed multiyear programme that requires GP practices to manage significant risk, legal and safety issues identified by the industry and the college.

Spark New Zealand received the highly commended award for Spark Jump, an affordable, prepaid broadband solution that promotes equitable educational outcomes for New Zealand children. It provides a free modem and wireless broadband at a heavily subsidised rate for eligible families with school-aged children who cannot afford broadband at home.

Paul Touhey of Spark New Zealand at the CIO100 event in Wellington
Paul Touhey of Spark New Zealand at the CIO100 event in Wellington


The other finalists in this category were the CCS Disability Action and Young Innovator Awards.

The CIO100 events featured speakers from Gartner (Michele Caminos in Auckland and Neil Osmond in Wellington), Jen Cherrington-Mowat of Genesis Energy in Auckland and Gary Baird of Inland Revenue in Wellington, and interactive panel discussions. 

Michele Caminos of Gartner: “If your enterprise was looking to fill your job today, will they hire you?”
Michele Caminos of Gartner: “If your enterprise was looking to fill your job today, will they hire you?”
Neil Osmond of Gartner: There's a wall between initiating and scaling digital business: Culture.”
Neil Osmond of Gartner: There's a wall between initiating and scaling digital business: Culture.”
Jen Cherrington-Mowat of Genesis Energy: “Digital is a way of doing things - it is not a not a thing itself...Business strategy reigns supreme, digital second.”
Jen Cherrington-Mowat of Genesis Energy: “Digital is a way of doing things - it is not a not a thing itself...Business strategy reigns supreme, digital second.”
Gary Baird of Inland Revenue: “Transformation is far more than an upgrade of technology.”
Gary Baird of Inland Revenue: “Transformation is far more than an upgrade of technology.”

 

In Auckland, the panellists were Timothy Kasbe, chief information officer and chief digital officer at The Warehouse Group; Matti Seikkula, CIO at e-Spatial; Melissa Firth, chief digital officer of the The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Dr Claire Barber, chief digital officer, Spark NZ and Andreas Spanner, chief architect at Red Hat.

The interactive panel discussion in Auckland
The interactive panel discussion in Auckland
At the #CIO100 event in Auckland
At the #CIO100 event in Auckland
The interactive panel discussion in Auckland
The interactive panel discussion in Auckland

 

In Wellington, the panellists were Matti Seikkula, CIO at e-Spatial: Lukasz Zawilski, CIO at NZQA; Carmen Casagranda, CIO at Cigna; Ralph Chivers, CIO of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment;   Nic Olivier, head of enterprise cloud services, products and technology, Bank of New Zealand;  and Andreas Spanner, chief architect at Red Hat.

At the interactive panel discussion in Wellington
At the interactive panel discussion in Wellington
At the CIO100 event in Wellington
At the CIO100 event in Wellington

Join the CIO New Zealand group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

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Tags strategyAir New Zealandgovernment CIOBank of New ZealandCIGNARalph ChiversMinistry of BusinessInnovation and EmploymentwellingtonCarmen CasagrandaMatti SeikkulaTransaction Services GroupAvi GolanCIO100 2018

More about Air New ZealandAssuranceBank of New ZealandCCSClaireCornerstoneGartnerGenesis EnergyInland RevenueOlivierRed HatSpark

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