GOVIS 2025 - Creative Digital Government
Mon-Tues 1-2 September 2025, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, Wellington & online.
Register to attend
Registrations for GOVIS 2025 - Creative Digital Government are open! Register here.
Below are our registration options. Prices are in New Zealand dollars and include GST.
Registration type | Early bird price (until 18 July) | Full price (from 19 July) |
|---|---|---|
Attend in person (GOVIS members) | $700 | $800 |
Attend in person with poster (GOVIS members) * | $300 | $400 |
Attend in person (non-members) | $900 | $1000 |
Attend in person (low wage) ** | $150 | no change |
Attend online (GOVIS members) | $200 | no change |
Attend online (non-members) | $300 | no change |
Attend online (low wage) ** | $50 | no change |
A range of discounts and offers are available:
GOVIS membership. You may apply for agency-based membership on behalf of your agency ($325/year + GST) or individual-based membership for yourself ($60/year + GST) in order to take advantage of the member price. In addition to the conference discount, membership gives you preferential access to our free events and lets you stand for the GOVIS committee. Check our website here for more information on how to become a member, or here to see whether your agency is already a member.
*Poster presentations. Create a poster that celebrates a story of creativity in the public service, and we will give you a significant conference discount! Posters will be displayed throughout the duration of the conference, and there will also be a presentation session in the programme where poster presenters stand by their posters and discuss them with conference delegates (similar to an academic conference, or a high school science fair). You will have the opportunity to attend a free poster design and presentation session on Wednesday 20th August to brainstorm ideas and ask questions. Registering for the conference under this option means you are committing to develop a poster in time for the conference on 1-2 September. If you do not provide a poster for any reason, you will be invoiced post-conference for the remaining value of an in-person member registration (early bird or full price depending on the date of registration). Available to GOVIS members only, who can attend in person. Limited to 20 registrations (first in, first served).
**Low wage discount. We want this conference to remain accessible to any public servants who are currently struggling for work. This category is available to:
Anyone who was employed in the public service at some time between 2020 and 2025, who is 1) undergoing an 'expressions of interest' process, 2) serving out a notice period, or 3) has not yet started any other work (contract or permanent) - at the time when they register for the conference. Includes people currently studying.
Anyone whose primary work activity between 2020 and 2025 was on contract to the public service, who has since completed that contract (or whose contract has been ended), and has not yet started any other work (contract or permanent) - at the time when they register for the conference. Includes people currently studying.
Group offers. Purchase 3-4 registrations for your organisation, and get 10% off. Or purchase 5 or more registrations for your organisation, and get 20% off. GOVIS will proactively apply this discount to registrations in cases where an organisation's earlier registrations mean that it qualifies for one of these group offers - but note that we cannot also retrospectively apply the discount to those earlier registrations. So be sure to coordinate with your colleagues if you want to make best use of these group offers.
Ticket sharing. Getting just one ticket? You may share this with one other colleague, where the two of you can swap in and out of the conference at your convenience. Note that you will not be able to attend any part of the the conference at the same time.
Call for Presentations
The call for presentations for GOVIS 2025 - Creative Digital Government is now open! We have now extended this by two weeks, it will now close on Friday 2nd May.
If you are interested in presenting at the conference, please complete this form here to submit your idea. You may:
Complete a written proposal, or
Request to pitch your proposal to the committee over Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
Alternatively if you have a great idea for a speaker, then why not nudge them to submit a proposal?
We will consider all submissions, and even if you aren’t selected for your preferred format we may still invite you to consider presenting your topic in a different format - for example as a poster at the conference, or as a separate lunchtime event. We want to work with you to provide our community with engaging events, from a wide range of business areas.
What sort of presentations are we looking for?
GOVIS 2025 - Creative Digital Government will explore the work of passionate technology, information and data experts throughout New Zealand’s public service. This conference is an opportunity to connect, share and learn with your colleagues in creative ways that spur innovation and imagination in ways that could unlock immense value for New Zealanders.
We are looking for presentations that show how teams and agencies have systematically fostered creativity and innovation through ‘good bureaucracy’. We want to hear stories about the role that individual creativity plays getting things over the line. We want to hear about the passion you have for your mission, how you have built trust-based relationships, how you navigated any immovable constraints, how you collaborated outside of your team or organisation, how you played the strategic long game to triumph in the end, and how you persisted through adversity.
If you would specifically like to suggest an idea for a workshop (or offer to run one), would like to suggest an alternative format, or would find it easier to share your ideas directly, please contact our Conference Organiser on 027 410 6567 or email events@twelveconferences.nz.
Why present at GOVIS?
We strive to make GOVIS conferences as inclusive as possible of different topics and speakers - so we need everyone’s perspectives. Presenting is an opportunity to support your fellow public servants and develop yourself professionally:
Share your experiences and korero to help build the capability of the New Zealand government information, data and technology community
Build lasting networks with your peers
Raise the profile of your work and build your reputation as a professional
Receive a free conference registration*
Receive complimentary professional presenter training
Surprise yourself, and have a bit of fun
Presenters receive a complementary full conference registration, and may also claim a second complementary registration if they wish to have one co-presenter. Registrations for any further presenters can be purchased at a discounted rate.
About the conference
The conference will be at the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa on 1-2 September (Monday and Tuesday). Approximately 50% of the conference programme (e.g. keynote presentations) will also be available online. This year we will be exploring some additional formats for our in-person attendees, including workshops, breakout discussions (unconference-style), a poster competition (like your high school science fair!) and (if we're feeling brave) some standup or sketch comedy acts.
So, what do we mean by having a 'creative' conference, besides having some high-risk elements to our conference format?
There is a global narrative out there that the public service provides little in the way of value but is instead an expensive deadweight and encumbrance on progress. Perhaps the most colourful example of this is one recently appointed senior public official in a major democracy previously stating their wish (that certain elements are now trying to bring about) that public servants be “traumatically affected” and “not want to go to work”.
GOVIS readily accepts that the New Zealand public service contains plenty of examples of waste and intransigence (in fact, we spend an uncomfortable amount of time dissecting them). But we agree with Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche when he says that “people work hard and they are doing their best”, even while “a lot of things happen despite the system, not because people are enabled by it”. We are encouraged when he says "I want public servants to feel really good about themselves and feel valued. And I want the public sector to be a place where people want to work because they can make a difference.".
As public servants, we tend to focus a lot on knowing stuff. We spend time growing institutional knowledge, navigating technical details, and becoming respectable experts. We also tend to be deeply invested in the work that we do and care a lot about the outcomes we are aiming for. But this conference is a chance to go one further and inject some passion and creativity into the mix. This can help us to shake off the ‘deadweight’ narrative (in our own minds at least) and to demonstrate to the likes of Sir Brian and government ministers that the public service can indeed make a valuable difference.
A long time ago, Aristotle described four methods of persuasion: logos - argument from reason, evidence and logic; ethos - the speaker’s authority or credibility; pathos - appealing to the values and emotions of the audience; and kairos - the wider context, timing, or opportunity.
If you come to GOVIS 2025 - Creative Digital Government, you will learn about the latest in digital government (logos) from the information, data and technology professionals who are doing the work (ethos). But that’s not all because the full creativity and passion of the public service will also be on display (pathos) – as we respond and adapt to the ever-challenging context that we find ourselves in (kairos).
So, save the date and be sure to subscribe to our mailing list here for further updates.
Note: This conference draws inspiration from the Creative Bureaucracy Festival, which has now launched in Australia and New Zealand and aligns strongly with the GOVIS kaupapa.
Keynote announcements
We are excited to announce that the following people will be presenting at GOVIS 2025 - Creative Digital Government!
Murray Edridge, City Missioner at The Wellington City Mission
Reverend Murray Edridge has been the Wellington City Missioner since 2018. He has a commercial background as a Chartered Accountant, initially working in energy distribution and retail, media, and education.
Murray has worked with children and families throughout New Zealand for over 20 years; including 8 years as the Chief Executive of Barnardos New Zealand, 5 years as a Deputy Chief Executive in the Ministry of Social Development and being the inaugural Chief Executive of Genesis Youth Trust. Murray has had governance and leadership roles in a range of business, community, church, and sporting organisations for many years.
Key dates
Here are the key dates for the conference:
Milestone | Indicative date |
|---|---|
Call for presentations (CFP) opens | 19 March |
CFP closes | 2 May |
Early bird registration opens | 17 April |
Last day for verbal CFP submissions | 2 May |
Confirmation of presenters | 12 May |
Initial conference programme published | mid May |
Early bird registration closes | 18 July |
Presenter training | 20 August |
Conference | 1-2 September |
Sponsorship
We welcome the sponsorship of any organisation that wants to support GOVIS's goal to help public servants who work in technology, information and data to connect, share and learn.
You can access our sponsorship prospectus here.
If you have any questions, please contact our Conference Organiser on 027 410 6567 or email events@twelveconferences.nz.
GOVIS wishes to acknowledge and thank our conference sponsors for their support
