E78 - Stephen Fernando - Overcoming the Fear of Failure, Risk Management with Data Analytics

Meet Stephen Fernando


Stephen’s Role as a Business Leader at Murray River
Council


Stephen P Fernando recently took on the role of the Director of
Corporate Services at Murray River Council, a government
administration or municipality covering 11,865 square kilometres
located in the Southern Riverina bordering Victoria, Australia.
It is a picturerous area that sees over 2 million room nights per
year (pre-COVID) by tourists coming to enjoy the river, the great
outdoors and the wineries.


Stephen’s Past Experiences in Data Science


Previously he was the CFO, at the Whitsunday Regional Council, in
Queensland, at the start of the world-famous Great Barrier Reef.
Before that he headed the business services function for Mackay
Water & Waste, where he was instrumental in driving
Australia's first fleet-wide installation of smart water meters,
one of the earliest smart cities projects in the country.


Stephen is also a freelance public speaker for 6 years, with
international experience in the public sector, public sector
business transformation & innovation, smart cities, data
analytics, and asset management. He was also the Chief Financial
Officer for the Whitsunday Regional Council and the Manager of
Business Services for the Mackay Regional Council.


Stephen has over 20 years of experience in senior managerial
roles across 3 continents in business strategy, general and
financial management, systems and processes, and marketing.


Risk management, agile, and data analytics


In this exclusive analytics podcast episode, Stephen
shares:


How Stephen started his career in local government agencies

How he and his team got people to use less water while
keeping council water rates affordable

How data analytics are used to develop smart cities that are
more liveable

How to start and prepare for a data analytics journey through
strategy, insights, and experimentation

How a data analytics journey links back to strategic and
capital decision making

How entrepreneurship and professionalism come into play in
data analytics

His approach to when and how to adopt new technology and
vendors

The negative effects that intolerance of failure have on
public institutions and risk management

How public sector organisations can establish a better
framework for experimentation

Why the agile approach doesn’t always work

What changes need to be made for government agencies to
become more agile

How to overcome the fear of investing in new technology

His most important first principle



If you a senior executive in private sectors and want to
understand how the corporate services within the government
agencies work with data and analytics, this is the episode you do
not want to miss out on.