MAVHACK 2019
MAV Technology is seeking expressions of interest from rural and regional councils to host MAVHACK on 29-30 August or 2-3 September 2019, as a feature event of the Victorian Government’s Digital Innovation Festival. MAVHACK is an exciting, inspiring and colourful event that brings together subject matter experts and service users from councils, business, government, academia and the community to work over two days to find new approaches to address specific community pain points. Two councils/regions will be selected to host MAVHACK 2019, to explore two of the sector priorities identified in the MAV Strategic Plan 2019-21.
In partnership with the DIF and other event sponsors, MAV Technology will provide:
- Professional session facilitators and UX designers
- Video team to record the event (view: MAVHACK 2017 MAVHACK 2018)
- Event coordination
- MAVHACK t-shirts, posters, promotional materials and survival packs
- Presentation templates
- Ignition workshops
- Presentation showcase day
Presentation day will showcase the outcomes from both regional MAVHACKs will be held in Melbourne on 6 September. Chaired by David Bartlett (former Premier of Tasmania), the event will be attended by MAV executives and Board members, Council and State Government representatives, event partner organisations and other VIPs.
Hosting councils will be required to provide:
- A comfortable space and catering for 20-25 participants during the two-day event
- A lead contact to help coordinate your region’s team members
- Communications support to engage your council and community
- A few enthusiastic team members who want to change the world!
Previous MAVHACK events have helped to introduce design thinking practices across council business; facilitated collaboration between councils, State Government departments and agencies, universities and the private sector; and have raised community awareness of enduring council pain points. MAVHACK solutions for improving permit application processes for Disability Parking, Planning and Small Business have since been further developed by relevant lead agencies, in collaboration with councils.
If you are interested in securing one of the two MAVHACK hosting opportunities, please email Lisa Bennetto with your proposed (regional) location, lead contact and the two sector priority issues you are most interested in exploring by Thursday 4th July.
MAVHACK 2018
MAVHACK 2018 was held on 3-5 September 2018, in Geelong (at Federal Mills Park Innovation hub) and Morwell (at Gippsland Tech School) as part of the statewide Digital Innovation Festival. The community pain points addressed in MAVHACK 2018 were:
Transport:
How might we use technology to optimise road infrastructure, reduce maintenance costs and improve citizen experience?
Jobs and business creation:
How might we use technology to create economic opportunities for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal citizens who want to live and work locally?
The “jobs & business creation” theme included exploration of key economic opportunity topics for each region, as well as social procurement barriers and opportunities.
The presentation event happened simultaneously at both regional locations, with a video link connecting audiences at Geelong and Morwell. It was attended by MAV Technology members and senior representatives from the MAV, Victorian Councils, VicRoads, the Victorian Government.
Solutions for how local government can support the establishment of Aboriginal businesses and employment opportunities in regional locations included the “Go2” mentoring app. A plan for further discovery and development of the app has since been delivered and funding alternatives for implementation are now being explored.
Presentations
Team Geelong Presentation Decks
Team Morwell Presentation Decks
MAVHACK 2017
MAVHACK1 was held in September last year. It was highly successful in introducing a broader council audience to the benefits of design thinking, customer focus and multi-stakeholder collaboration. See the event videos and presentation decks above.
Since the event, MAVHACK teams have been working towards a proof of concept for each of the MAVHACK solutions:
- Disabled Parking Permits – Proof of concept
VicRoads has built upon the work done at MAVHACK and engaged Ansible (one of the MAVHACK facilitators), to develop a strategic roadmap for a new state-wide system for managing disabled parking permit applications and compliance, by the end of this year.
On Thursday May 24, VicRoads convened a post-MAVHACK Disability Parking Permit update at Abbotsford Convent. We thank everyone who participated on the day for the continued lively, frank and insightful discussion on the topic. VicRoads captured a lot of feedback and queries to consider and use in the next phase of the project’s development.
A summary of the discussion and a high-level view of the of deliverables for Phase 1 of the Disability Parking Permit project is available here on the MAV Tech website.
VicRoads is keen to continue the conversation with council stakeholders throughout this process, and would like to hear from anyone interested in future workshops or surveys that couldn’t register on the day. Please email Loraine.Kiely@roads.vic.gov.au if you would like to register to be contacted for any future participation opportunities.
We will communicate the timeline of the project to councils to engage and inform them of the progress of this MAVHACK initiative.
- “Jocelyn” Planning Permits – Proof of concept
The “Jocelyn” MAVHACK solution was to develop a chat bot with Artificial Intelligence to streamline the planning permit application process. MAV Technology, the City of Wyndham, the City of Ballarat, the City of Casey and Cardinia Shire Council decided that the minimum viable product for Jocelyn was to develop a POC for shed permit applications in the participating council areas.
The Jocelyn POC scope and business requirements has been developed by participating councils and MAV Tech in collaboration with Land Use Victoria (DELWP), Ansible, Digital Reign and Telstra.
Funding options for delivering the POC are now being explored, including direct investment by the participating councils, investment by the MAV, and investment of resources and/or funds by various Victorian Government departments.
We expect to make funding and/or partnership announcements to progress this POC in the next few weeks.
- “Pop Drop” Waste Management – Proof of concept
Thirty-two councils responded to a survey distributed by the MAV in December. Information collected included the cost of collecting illegally dumped rubbish, the three most commonly dumped items, current recycling initiatives and current and past collection mechanisms.
The MAV received advice from more than 40 councils that they are interested in either participating in or being kept informed of any collaborative activities aimed at addressing this issue.
This is the least developed POC, but also probably the easiest to implement. We have collected data on the most problematic hard rubbish items in several regions. We have also collected council contacts who are interested in pursuing this concept in their council area. Next steps are to identify councils with similar hard rubbish problems to solve and then explore whether a recycler for said items can be identified and engaged in the POC.
Work on this concept will commence when the two POCs above are better established.