Over the past hundred years, the office has been integral to the development of modern society. It has shaped the architecture of our cities, the behaviour of our organizations and the everyday movements of millions of people. In 2020, however, the global pandemic brought our attendance in the office to an abrupt halt and triggered a complete re-evaluation of the purpose of the workplace. Philip will advance a manifesto for 'Unworking' - unlearning old habits established for an outdated office and creating new ones fit for an age of digital technology, innovation, and diverse workforces.

Drawing on the latest WORKTECH Academy Trend Reports and stories, data, and evidence from around the Academy network, WORKTECH Academy Development Director, Matthew Myerson paints a picture of the key global trends that are set to shape the next 12 months for organisations.

AI has entered the market in a big way. New applications are continuously and rapidly being introduced. How worried should we be? Will AI take away jobs? The talk provides information about the economic impact of AI, how new machine learning systems like ChatGPT work, and why they still have serious limitations.

The pandemic threw the typical office environment into stark relief. And the digital fluency / remote productivity of employees threatened its entire existence. Hybrid is the answer, but no one wants to work in a new way in the old space; they need something compelling to return to: they need a Destination, that's what we created at Airbnb, and this talk explores the elements of these spaces that can be recreated and reinterpreted to create the post-covid office all employees deserve.

We know Australia is at a pivotal point. There is a tidal wave of disruption on the way, and it’s critical we take steps now to get ahead. We need to deeply understand and respond to the significant megatrends that will shape the future world, and importantly inform what the next generation of work looks like. Our panellists take a deep dive into the key megatrends driving this powerful change and look to how we can capture the enormous opportunities that lay ahead.

We will invite all our speakers back on stage for a group discussion with the audience

At the end of 2019 the Department of Transport had a vision for a new workplace in Ringwood. With initial stakeholder engagement commenced, suddenly the world changed. We were sent home and had to work out how we would not only deliver on a 13,000 square meter workplace for the department, but what we needed to do to futureproof a workplace design through uncertain times. Rhonda Emery, Director at the Department of Transport and Planning together with Rebecca Daff, architect and Director at peckvonhartel discuss the challenges, the innovations and the lessons of a Government workplace project,

With 4 in 5 people wanting to continue to work in a hybrid model, we’ve realised the true value our workplaces provide, and it’s not somewhere for us to “go” to “work”. As organisations face the challenges of underutilised office space, fading employee loyalty and rising internal conflicts, what emerges is a lack of human connection. An ingredient essential in creating high performing teams. With a data led, evidence-based approach you can design a workplace for any future, giving you investment confidence and establishing your workplace as one of the primary drivers of ROI in your business.

Nick will lead an interaction session where he and the panellist will explore the future of the office and the challengers companies are facing whilst answering questions from the audience.

We will invite all our speakers back on stage for a group discussion with the audience

Dr. Agustin Chevez walked in isolation for 42 days from Melbourne to Sydney expecting to incubate a unique idea about workplace design. Over a million steps later, his pilgrimage delivered unique insights which he refers to as Signposts – named for their promise to point to a better place to work for both, organisations and the people who inhabit them. In his talk, Agustin will take us in a journey that revisits our assumptions about the way we use space to host the ever-evolving notion of work – an expedition leading not only to better workplaces, but a better version of ourselves.

This session explores how best to create an optimal environment for employees to do their work. How do we measure what is great? How do we successfully work across functional real estate, human resources (HR) and information technology (IT) to deliver it?

We assume hybrid work is understood but organisations still struggle to make this work. Leaders may try to enforce days in the office but this raises problems: some of your people avoid the office while others are keen to return which creates an imbalance. The challenge is how to support diverse preferences and create an environment in which people can thrive, innovate and create together, wherever they might be.

In the age of the “anywhere office”, technology will play a more vital role than ever. It is now crucial for businesses to leverage data to understand how people are using workspaces and implement technologies that will keep teams connected, organized, safe and ultimately enhance their experience and productivity.

We will invite all our speakers back on stage for a group discussion with the audience

Quay Quarter Tower (QQT), World Building of the Year 2022 by the World Architecture Festival, eschews the conventions of uniform high-rise design to craft a community-oriented vertical village within the city. Quay Quarter Tower humanizes the high rise. The 206-metre commercial tower is composed of five stacked and shifting volumes, each arranged around an atrium and all oriented to face the iconic Sydney Harbour. The atria accommodate the kinds of informal meetings that encourage knowledge sharing and commingling to activate the workspace, aligning with 3XN’s design philosophy that architectu

When your co-tenants are collaborators and competitors, the ability of your workforce to innovate is distributed. When technology is at the centre, and you are driving solutions to global challenges, what does the innovation district model have to offer and how do the public and private sectors partner to deliver on the promise?

The new 2023 Mirvac and WORKTECH Academy report will explore the ‘nexus value’ in mixed-use development when different property assets and typologies are purposefully co-assembled as part of a new value proposition.

Join Junglefy’s Suzie Barnett for a deep dive into the research that shows plants not only improve our health and wellbeing but they pay off by doubling and sometimes tripling your ROI. Suzie will show the transformative power of nature to boost biodiversity richness, improve air quality, reduce temperatures and storm water pollution. She will inspire you to consider how you can create a nature positive future that will continue to give back to its place and the community.

We will invite all our speakers back on stage for a group discussion with the audience