How We Think

Not only is the Commonwealth Government a big spender, but it has an almost incalculable number of suppliers and stakeholders across a diverse range of activities – from purchasing submarines and warships for the ADF, art for the National Gallery and underwriting massive infrastructure projects. The list could go on and on – considering the Federal Government awards about 70,000 contracts annually, valued at between $50 billion to $70 billion.

Back in the mists of time, 2007 to be precise, the Commonwealth Ombudsman issued an incredibly useful Fact Sheet – Ten Principles for Good Administration. The Ombudsman’s ‘Ten Commandments’ contain evergreen principles about good administration that are as useful today, if not more so. And that’s not because of the advent of AI and automated decision-making. These Ten Commandments not only underpin good decision-making, but they are also key ‘principles’ that govern any ‘rules’ that are set by humans – and especially if there is ever a ‘machine in the loop.’

AI bots are all the craze these days. So, jumping on the trend, I decided to create my own. I started with good intentions – to build a bot that would analyse event planning and provide a series of recommendations based on the Australian Government’s Good Practice Guidelines for Engaging with People with Disability (Good Practice Guidelines). The goal? To provide practical advice on engaging with people with a disability in an inclusive, respectful and appropriate way.

Robert DeNiro, who recently starred in a limited-edition Netflix series ‘Zero Day.’ DeNiro played the ageing, one-term ex-American President, recruited by the (fictional) sitting President to track down conspirators responsible for the so-called ‘Zero Day’ cyberattack that disabled every IT system in America for exactly one minute.

The Regional Mobilisation Capability and Capability Study (RMCCS) is an ongoing project Synergy is undertaking within Defence. The intent of the work is to ground-truth assumptions formulated in mobilisation planning activities by assessing the capability and capacity of select regions of Northern Australia to support sustained mobilisation demand.

Synergy was engaged by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC) to deliver a National Civil Preparedness Risk Profile and Prioritisation Assessment Methodology Model to inform a risk-based approach to National Resilience decision making and reporting.
Our team developed a National Civil Preparedness Risk Profile which extensively explored research on 20 primary risks to the civil sector from a major or concurrent national crises and related disruptions.
Fuel security was a key risk identified, and research efforts were focused on highlighting vulnerabilities, in governance, policies, infrastructure and supply chains including contingency plans for emergency fuel distribution. Existing controls to manage fuel risks were derived from open-source research that included government policies and the role of the private sector to inform recommendations for further controls where gaps were identified (e.g. stockpiling and reserves, diversification of supply sources, rationing, and the coordination with states and territories. These controls were prioritization by the data model.