This presentation was given to the 2016 Australian Government ICT Entry Level induction program on 15 Feb 16. It is designed to provide some guidance for staff joining the APS and working in ICT.

There's no doubt that you all see yourself like this. And so you should. Working in the APS is an honourable calling and whether you stay for a short or a long time, you'll have the opportunity to make a substantial contribution to Australia.

Of course, you aren't the first cohort of new young staff that has joined the APS. Some people may not see you exactly as you see yourselves. This isn't a problem - it's more of an opportunity for you to show just what you can do.

ICT is changing rapidly, as it always has. I expect that many of you don't remember a time without the Internet, without smartphones, and without instant communication. There was such a time, hard as it is to believe. Indeed, for some of you who might end up working in secure areas - there might be again!

Perhaps the biggest change recently has been the digital transformation, currently sweeping the APS. Our friends in the Digital Transformation Office are steering this change, in accordance with government policy, to ensure that all Australians benefit from the possibility of a much more streamlined interaction with government.

Not all of you will be dealing with the public of course. Many of you will be dealing with your colleagues, users from within the APS. Some, like me, will be old enough to be your parents. Others will be straight out of school. Your success will be measured, not by the technology you introduce, but by the manner in which you help the business utilise it.

While sometimes, the 'problem [will] exist between [the] keyboard and [the] chair", you will need to ensure that the user experience is everything it can be. When planning your work, a good user experience should be uppermost in your mind.

Remember, you are only as good as your last roll out.

Whether you are targeting users within or outside the firewall, the ubiquity of social media will be a sure method of measuring your success. Each of your agencies will have social media policies and I am sure that, even at this early stage, you will be familiar with them.

Because you have an ICT role, you will often be expected to be an expert in social media already. And you may well be already. Even if you are not, I suggest you need to develop a working knowledge of social media and its tips and traps. It's a powerful tool and, used wisely, it can help deliver services very well.

UX, as I said earlier, is vital in ensuring services are delivered well. One day, in the not to distant future, I predict you will be sitting in a room of public servants discussing how an application should look or perform. The group might be just IT specialists or it might include business reps as well. Some might be quite senior. At some stage, these people will be tempted to offer opinions about how a screen should look or behave.

This will be your first opportunity to learn to speak 'truth to power'. You'll need to carefully and respectfully remind those present that they are not 'average users' and it's unlikely the service is actually being targeted at them. Make sure you engage with UX experts, of which gives the APS has a growing number. That's how we can provide polished products.

As well as speaking truth to power, you are going to need to speak in the language power understands. If the business doesn't understand what you are explaining, it's your fault not their's.

Learn about the business of your agency and the detail of what is important. Read the annual reports, portfolio budget statements, briefings, etc. Listen to what is important, outside the field of ICT. Don't just be a technologist or you'll always just be a technologist.

While professional competence is important, being able to explain what you are doing in terms the business understands and appreciates is crucial to winning the investment needed.

Many of you will sooner or later become involved in the management of ICT. This is an important part of an ICT career and requires a solid technical and business understanding.

Increasingly, the various forms of sourcing - internal, external, cloud, etc, make the management environment complex and demanding.

Nevertheless, above management is the governance of ICT. This is about how decisions are made, more than what decisions are made. It, again, involves the business. It is about three activities - evaluating the requirements for and performance of ICT, directing what is to be done, including the investments to be made, and then monitoring the results. If the business isn't engaged in these activities, ICT will be unlikely to provide what the business needs.

As ICT leaders of the future, you are likely to be custodians of your agencies' data. As the recent project conducted across the APS has shown, good data is what makes good policy and good service delivery. Taking an interest in this work is necessary to ensure the systems that contain the data maintain its integrity. For your own work, data beats anecdotal evidence every time - make sure you can gather and utilise it effective toy and effectively.

I'm sure that your education has involved working in small teams to produce projects, etc. Teamwork is the hallmark of the public service and, if you are to be successful, playing your part in the team will be important. Sometimes, this might mean undertaking roles that aren't those you prefer. Learn to do so well. People notice these things.

Project management is another critical skill. You will regularly be asked when something can be ready by and how much it will cost. If you aren't already, become familiar with PM tools and techniques. Good PM encompasses good risk management. Understanding the risks involved in your work and engaging with them rather than avoiding them will help you to deliver on time and on budget.

Technical debt (also known as design debt or code debt) is a metaphor referring to the eventual consequences of any system design, software architecture or software development within a codebase. The debt can be thought of as work that needs to be done before a particular job can be considered complete or proper. If the debt is not repaid, then it will keep on accumulating interest, making it hard to implement changes later on. Unaddressed technical debt increases software entropy.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_debt

Unlike many of the grads in other disciplines, if and when you reach senior executive ranks, you will be advising or deciding on activities that can consume vast amounts of taxpayers' money, particularly if done incorrectly. Make you sure you account for the technical debt that arises in your work. It isn't wrong to use it - it's wrong not to pay it back.

In our profession, ICT, the pace of change is sometimes frantic. Senior executives will expect you to be across the latest developments and able to reflect competently on the ramifications they may have. You are going to need to keep learning, to keep reading, to maintain an open mind. Look for opportunities to do so. They'll exist in these programs but you will need to keep up your efforts after your grad year is over.

While I doubt your soul will be tested in the short term, you will be responsible for your own career and your own work. There isn't a lecture timetable, nor an exam each semester. It's up to you now. Enjoy the freedom this brings - and manage the responsibilities thus incurred.

Are there any questions?