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:
The two of you will not be able to attend any part of the the conference at the same time.
This option is only available for full-price registrations (members and non-members).
Conference programme
Our initial conference programme is now available. Please note that it is subject to change, and refer to this webpage for the most up-to-date information.
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.
Annika Naschitzki, PhD Student, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington
Annika Naschitzki is a doctoral student and Research Fellow at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, and a specialist in Customer Experience and Service Design. With over 15 years’ experience in user research, accessibility, and co-design, she has led service design initiatives across Aotearoa’s public sector. Her work includes contributions to SmartStart and Govt.nz, and involvement in the "Better Public Services – Result 10" programme, which sought to improve digital interactions between people and government. Her current research investigates the drivers and impacts of internal restructures in New Zealand’s public sector, focusing on how managerial culture, project management approaches, and staff participation shape change processes and their outcomes. Annika brings a design-led and people-centred lens to public management and reform. She shares her reflections on restructuring, public sector reform, and design in government each week in her Substack newsletter, Bowl of Fishhooks.
Rachael Hurren, Director Learning and Development, Inde Technology
Rachael Hurren is the Director of Learning and Development at Inde Technology, an employee-owned, cloud-based enterprise IT consultancy renowned for its technically led, outcome-focused approach. For the last twenty years she has worked with organisations to build cultures and development programmes that empower people to play to their strengths and excel in their careers.
Holding postgraduate qualifications in psychology and education, Rachael is passionate about helping individuals understand how their brains work, what makes them unique, and how to leverage their strengths to thrive. Over the past five years, she has applied this approach to helping individuals and organisations develop a deeper, more accurate understanding of neurodivergence.
Shivonne Londt, Senior Solution Architect, New Zealand Public Sector, AWS
With over 20 years of experience at the intersection of technology, strategy, and transformation, Shivonne Londt helps public sector organizations harness the power of cloud and AI to deliver impact at scale. As a Senior Solution Architect at Amazon Web Services, Shivonne leads initiatives across Weather and Research, designing resilient, intelligent solutions that empower innovation.
Currently pursuing a PhD in AI, her research focuses on evolutionary algorithms and neural architecture search — exploring how large language models can supercharge genetic optimization. Shivonne is passionate about bridging cutting-edge research and real-world outcomes, especially in complex, high-stakes environments.
Previously Head of Engineering at ANZ NZ, Shivonne spearheaded omni-channel integration and process automation, transforming agile delivery across large-scale teams. Shivonne’s background spans technical leadership, cloud modernization, and platform engineering, with hands-on expertise in AWS, Salesforce, and scalable digital ecosystems.
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
