Digital Publics Symposium

A diverse professional background focused on policy, strategy and process development with extensive project management experience. An experienced manager conducting consultancy in various business sectors. Emma managed multimedia operations at Federation Square including the rollout of a CMS and technical backbone, writing and implementing operational process and delivering USM08, an International conference on Urban Screens. Currently Emma advises on operational implications of urban screens, manages the studio and curates content. 

Glenn’s been at the forefront of technological convergence and marketing methodologies for decades. His previous company, Webmedia, was a successful interactive design company. Glenn consults to multinationals, government and cultural agencies. His interest in public screens began with drafting the multimedia strategy for Federation Square. Glenn has consulted on and managed the installation of non-commercial cultural screens across Australia. Glenn is working with several universities on collaborative research projects and digital placemaking strategies. 

Dr. M. Hank Haeusler Dipl.-Ing. (Fh) / PhD (SIAL/RMIT) is discipline director of Computational Design (CoDe) at Australian School of Architecture + Design at the University of New South Wales, Sydney; board member of the Media Architecture Institute, a non-profit organisation designed to complement the work of established universities and research institutions, and Lead CI of Encircle, an ARC Linkage Grant funded research group investigating responsive transport environments.

Haeusler is known as a researcher, educator, entrepreneur and designer in media architecture, digital technology, interaction design and ubiquitous computing and author of seven books listing publications such as ‘Media Facades – History, Technology, Content’ (avedition, 2009), ‘Infostructures’ (Freerange, 2010); ‘New Media Facades – A global Survey’ (avedition, 2012); ‘InterChanging’ (Spurbuch, 2014); and over 30 book chapters and conference papers. He has lectured in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia and was appointed visiting professor at Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing in 2013.

Professor Marcus Foth is the director of the QUT Design Lab, founder of the Urban Informatics Research Lab, and professor in Interactive & Visual Design, School of Design, Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology. He is also an honorary professor in the School of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University, Denmark.

Marcus’ research focuses on the relationships between people, place and technology. He leads a cross-disciplinary team that develops practical approaches to complex urban problems. He adopts human-computer interaction and design methodologies to build engagement around emerging issues facing our cities.

Marcus has authored and co-authored over 170 publications in journals, edited books, and conference proceedings. In 2017, he was made a fellow of the Australian Computer Society. In 2013, he received a Queensland Young Tall Poppy Science Award, and was inducted by the planning, design and development site Planetizen to the world’s top 25 leading thinkers and innovators in the field of urban planning and technology.

Jeremy Smith is the Arts Practice director – Community, Emerging and Experimental Arts at the Australia Council for the Arts. He has spent much of his professional career working in close connection with the arts and cultural industries since graduating from the Lighting Design course at the WA Academy of Performing Arts in 1997.

He has held a range of senior positions in the corporate, not for profit and government sectors. Jeremy’s most recent appointments include manager, Community Investment with Rio Tinto Iron Ore, and the manager, Regional Arts and Strategic Development at DADAA, an arts and health organisation in Western Australia. He has also worked extensively across festivals, youth arts, community and regional arts development projects in a range of creative and management roles.

A large portion of his work has seen the development of long term, reciprocal relationships across regional Western Australia and with marginalised communities, which has shaped his approach and values towards his own arts practice. He has frequently used digital storytelling as a vehicle to promote social inclusion, and to ‘unhide’ the stories and voices of people who others might perceive as vulnerable.

Associate Professor Martin Tomitsch is chair of Design at the University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning, and director of the Design Lab, a research group that focuses on interaction design and design innovation. He is founding member of the Austrian Network for Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D.at), the Media Architecture Institute (mediaarchitecture.org), state co-chair of the Australian Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group (CHISIG), visiting lecturer at the Vienna University of Technology's Research Group for Industrial Software (INSO), and visiting professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. His research sits across the domains of interaction design, creative technologies and cities, and explores the role of design for improving the experience and lives of people.

Michelle Tabet is an experienced urban strategist, working at the intersection of creative strategy and urban planning. Having spent her life living in and experiencing some of the world’s most vibrant cities, Tabet understands the important role innovation and strategic placemaking play in shaping successful urban environments. With extensive experience working with the design, property and urban planning sector, Tabet's interest lies in working with project leaders to set up the right strategy for large urban projects.

Exploring the productive niche between the strategic and the creative, Tabet drives the agenda for urban placemaking, activation, user experiences and strategic brief development. She recognises the strategic value of effective communication and information design and works through a variety of media to engage audience, influence decision makers and make the right messages stand out.

Her list of clients includes an impressive array of public and private sector players in the cities sector such as Lendlease, Mirvac, GPT, Arts NSW, the South Australian Department of Manufacturing, Trade, Innovation, Resources and Energy, The Arts Centre Melbourne, Christchurch City Council and Christchurch Redevelopment Authority, and many more.

Dr Liz Bradshaw is an artist and cultural researcher who has exhibited and published internationally. She has taught art and design in highly regarded universities and colleges in Australia and the UK. She has also been a lead external moderator, teacher of professional development, content writer/facilitator, for the University of the Arts London Awarding Body. Liz teaches drawing at the National Art School, Sydney and is the dLux MediaArts Education designer working across curriculum to develop art and technology focused programming and audience engagement strategies for a diverse range of audiences.

Vi Girgis holds Bachelors of Art Theory, and Arts (in History), a Master of Arts Administration, and a Diploma of Project Management. She has worked at Liverpool City Council for six years, starting at Casual Powerhouse Arts Centre, where she produced public and education programs, and curated a number of exhibitions, including works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Opera Australia’s first exhibition of props and costumes.

As the curator/producer of Anzac Commemorations for Liverpool City Council, Vi produced a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary program of events, exhibitions, publications and public works to commemorate the Anzac centenary, including the city’s first light projections. She has since produced a number of small and large-scale activation projects and events across the Liverpool CBD, working with artists, organisations, local businesses and property owners, and across council to deliver a range of art and cultural experiences.

Projects have included the first Liverpool Street Art Festival, commissioning works by leading and emerging Australian street artists, and presenting internationally-acclaimed Trolleys performance by Shaun Parker Company and Intrude installation by Amanda Parer; collaborations with Head On Photo Festival; the launch of the annual Comic Con-versation program across Sydney libraries; and commissioning temporary and permanent public artworks. Vi has also published a number of art essays and interviews, was on the board of SafARI, and was the co-curator of City of Sydney’s final Laneway art program in 2012.

Vi is currently the acting Policy and Projects officer, working on Liverpool’s first Cultural Plan, and activation programs for the newly-rejuvenated Macquarie Mall, including collaborating with Urbanscreen Productions to present content on the Mall’s screen, and advising on a range of council infrastructure, community, and economic development projects and initiatives. As a South-West Sydney resident, Vi is committed to building the cultural profile of the region. She seeks to explore and deliver best practice placemaking, cultural activation and community building which is innovative, accessible and inclusive to South-West Sydney’s diverse residents.

Joel Fredericks is an urban planner and researcher in the Design Lab, Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney. His research sits across the domains of urban planning, digital placemaking, smart cities and community engagement. In his PhD study, Joel focused on the use of digital and analogue media channels embedded into situated pop-up interventions for collaborative city making. Joel has authored and co-authored many publications in journals, edited books, and conference proceedings.

Kristefan Minski (AU) is a cross media artist, producer and researcher concentrated at the nexus of art and science. His primary passion is the way in which artistic thinking combined with technological application can influence and improve our future societies. In 2002 he produced his first significant work; dancing to architecture, a pioneering open source documentary. His passion for producing experimental art continued with a portfolio covering a broad range of mediums and disciplines such as sociology, film, theatre, dance, music, engineering, architecture, interaction design, virtual reality and robotics.

All of which have been culminated by his work at the Ars Electronica Futurelab since 2009. He is responsible for Ars Electronica’s activities in Australia including the establishment and management of bilateral partnerships with several leading universities. He also gives lectures at many other international schools and since 2015 is pursuing a PhD in creative arts at the University of Newcastle with co-supervision from Ars Electronica Futurelab. The research examines the role of collaboration in experimental art practice. It investigates the nature of transdisciplinarity and presents the way of experimental art as a new model for innovation.

Daniel is a co-founder of the Digital Placemaking Institute and founder of The Wise City; a strategic design studio focused on making digital civic engagement apps, training and capacity building for civic service design. He is a senior fellow for Digital Placemaking at Project for Public Spaces, where he started the Digital Placemaking practice in 2010.

He was a steering committee member for NYC Participatory Budgeting’s first three years, and previously helped advance sustainable urbanism with Streetsblog and Streetfilms, and rebooted the community mapping product strategy at OpenPlans.

With 20 years of digital design consulting experience from Razorfish, Funny Garbage, Scholastic, and others, his focus today is on building communities of practice around place, socially engaged arts and media. Daniel offers talks, presentations, and trainings, most recently at Columbia University GSAPP, School of Visual Arts, Parsons The New School for Design, DOX Museum for Contemporary Art Prague, Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, and the NYC Center for Architecture.

With a Colombian and Norwegian-American background this “Third Culture Kid” brings a multicultural awareness to all he works on. He lives in New York City where he co-founded two public space and public art Occupy Wall Street affinity groups and co-founded a neighborhood public space alliance in Brooklyn.

Dr. Sarah Barns is a creative producer and digital strategist whose work today responds to the opportunities and challenges for cities and communities as our physical and digital worlds collide. Director of media and design practice Esem Projects and research fellow at Western Sydney University, Sarah's work today combines knowledge and expertise in data-driven innovation and smart city strategy, with deep practical experience in the design and delivery of creative placemaking, experiential media and interpretation platforms across a number of cities in Australia and New Zealand. She is passionate about the potential for digital placemaking to provide new ways to experience and interpret the stories that connect people to places.