At the Forefront of Digital Transformation for Decades
From the earliest days of the Internet, to current times working in AI and augmented service delivery.
Marie is a global award-winning digital authority and advocate for the humanitarian application of AI. She has been at the forefront of digital transformation for decades, and can talk from deep experience about the grit and hard reality of implementation covering the three levels of government in Australia, internationally and across sectors.
She has led and delivered significant technology, innovation and digital services transformation programs across revenue, business, health and human services, payments, identity, immigration visa operations and disability services.
The diversity of roles covers large scale service delivery operations; global business and technology strategy; Chief Information Officer; Chief Technology Architect; Technology Authority; board director; and advisor. Marie’s expertise includes the human interface in and geopolitics of complex servicing systems.
Across the decades, from the late 1990’s leading the e-business project at the State Revenue Office of Victoria which was recognised as one of the world’s first successful e-business projects; to being awarded a US Government 0-1 Visa for Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement to take up her global egovernment role with Microsoft. In 2014, Marie’s advocacy and expertise in identity was influential in the Australian Financial Systems Inquiry recommending the need for a federated digital identity framework as a critical element for the future robustness of Australia’s financial systems. In 2020, the CIO podcast proclaimed: “One of the most important and ambitious AI projects ever undertaken in Australia- if not the world - was the creation of “Nadia”. And in 2022, Marie was acknowledged with the ACT Mental Health Carer Award. See more at the bottom of this page and in the “About the Author” section in the book, “Nadia: Politics | Bigotry | Artificial Intelligence”.
In addition to the hard edge implementation experience, Marie is an author, writer, commentator and international speaker on artificial intelligence, digital transformation, digital health, cyber, technology, ethics and the human experience.
Marie is the co-creator of Nadia, the first AI digital human for service delivery and the creator of the AI powered digital human cardiac coach.
This world leading work sparked an appetite for AI powered digital humans in service delivery that has launched a new multi-billion dollar global industry.
-
Nadia
Marie conceived and led the global co-design and co-creation effort with people with disability to deliver "Nadia" the first AI powered digital human for service delivery, which has attracted worldwide interest. “Nadia” was an omni-channel and metaverse concept to be accessible in virtual environments. The “Nadia” project has been described as one of the most ambitious and creative AI projects globally.
-
Digital Human Cardiac Coach
Marie Johnson and Allan Johnson together expanded their AI research and development over 16 years to create the AI powered “Digital Human Cardiac Coach/Health Coach” model, a humanitarian initiative with the mission focussed on overcoming the impacts of health illiteracy which significantly impact under-served and disadvantaged populations. The “Digital Human Cardiac Coach/Health Coach” model is an omni-channel and metaverse concept. goes here
Marie’s Humanitarian Philosophy
Marie’s philosophy is to deeply understand the human experience as the first principle of design. There can be no other starting point.
Marie believes that digital innovation through universal co-design amplifies all human potential, empowering and liberating the disadvantaged, disabled and chronically ill. Co-design, the lived experience and inclusion reveals insights not otherwise discernible. The global disability community’s mantra “Nothing About Us Without Us” is not negotiable.
Marie’s strategic framework “Co-Design for AI©” embeds Human Rights in service design.
Conversations, which are the essence of servicing, naturally take place across multiple physical-digital augmented and virtual dimensions. The science of complex servicing systems is an essential component in AI design.
Co-design is a foundational and emerging capability in the AI and digital landscape. At present across many enterprises, governments and industries, co-design is not understood and this is a critical strategic capability gap.
Where AI differs from previous technology shifts and accessibility innovations, is that it exponentially changes directions and outcomes in human endeavour.
Recognition
2005 US Government awarded Marie an O-1 Visa (Individuals with Extraordinary Ability) to take up the role Microsoft Worldwide Executive Director of Public Services and eGovernment.
2005 United Nations Public Service Award for the Business Entry Point (www.business.gov.au) which she led for 5 years.
2006-2007 “Innovative CIO of the Year – Australia”.
2009 Australian Prime Minister’s Gold Award for Excellence in Public Sector Management. These Awards are designed to highlight innovation and honour the achievements of public sector individuals and groups.
2013 One of Australia’s “100 Women of Influence”.
2018 One of the global #XMed Digital Vanguard (Exponential Medicine Singularity University), a group recognised for leading the way in new developments or ideas.
2019 Faculty, Exponential Medicine, Singularity University.
2019 Awarded the “Exceptional Woman of Excellence" at the Women Economic Forum (WEF) in Perth. WEF is the largest gathering of women entrepreneurs & leaders worldwide.
2022 Received the ACT Mental Health Carer Award.
Board and Advisory Roles
2021 Patron of the Tech Girls Movement Foundation (who gave me the “Mentoria” avatar shown here…)
Australian National University (ANU) Cyber Institute Advisory Board – Inaugural Member: May 2019 – Oct 2020.
Judge: CIO50 Awards 2021; 2020; 2016; European Digital Identity Awards (Amsterdam) 2015; iAwards 2014 - CIO of the Year Category.
Singularity University Exponential Medicine – Faculty 2019.
Singularity University Exponential Medicine Global XMed Digital Vanguard. 2018.
Ambassador for the Meaningful Business 100 (MB100).
New South Wales Digital Government Advisory Panel (various committees): April 2014 - 2019.
Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) – National Board Director: November 2013 – July 2018.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Spectrum Program Board - Independent Member 4 years.
Accenture Global CIO Council - Invited Member - 4 years.
Digital Careers National Steering Committee – Co-Chair: February 2015 – March 2016.
Women in Information and Communication (WIC) - Committee Member/Vice President.
Melbourne Business School Alumni Council: Member March 2010 – Nov 2012.
Author / Writer / Contributor
Author. “Nadia: Politics | Bigotry | Artificial Intelligence”; Kenneth Jenkins Oration 2020; InnovationAus; CIO Australia; The Mandarin; Digital Humans in Health(Care); Postcards from Tomorrow; CAPAM.
Qualifications
Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD); MBA (Innovation, Technology, eCommerce) Melbourne Business School Australia; Senior Executive Fellows Program John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard; Bachelor of Arts (International Relations, Politics, Strategic Studies) Deakin University Australia
Late 1990s: Single Entry Point (or not) and ePayments. In the late 1990s, Marie led one of Australia’s first e-business projects at the State Revenue Office (SRO) of Victoria with the implementation of epayments and the investigation of the impact of credit card merchant fees which would be associated with epayments. Marie also led strategic intelligence and revenue forecasting. The e-business project was recognised as one of the world’s first successful e-business projects, and was developed into a case study for an international executive program managed by the Melbourne Business School and INSEAD (France).
1998: Information Brokers and Metaverse. In 1998 at the Melbourne Business School, Marie’s MBA Masters level research and development of an “Information Exchange” commercial model of information brokers and conversation agents - “Cyber Sector Set for Power Shift: An Electronic Revolution is About to Rock the World of Financial Services“ – predicted the shift in power to the customer which would unleash the digital disruption of the financial sector. This model described a metaverse where information and customer conversations could take place across multiple digital dimensions. This was the early days of the commercial Internet and the initiation of online programs, and the model that Marie developed was applied to government programs. Marie has also more recently applied this model to “Digital Human Health Coach” model.
2003: eBusiness Exchange and Business Entry Point. Marie applied her research to the Business Entry Point (an initiative of the three levels of government in Australia) which she led for 5 years, to reinvent the concept of the “government portal” model to a syndication model: what a notable global commentator called a “reverse portal model”. With the introduction of the Australian Business Number, with her team Marie led business authentication, business digital identity and professional digital credential initiatives. A spin-out public-private partnership called the “eBusiness Exchange”, a new national digital infrastructure also based on Marie’s Masters research and commercial model, was pursued as a Government endorsed strategy.
2005/2006: Microsoft Worldwide.“New World of Government Work”. Marie led the collaborative development of Microsoft’s global egovernment strategy – “The New World of Government Work” - launched by Bill Gates. The “NWOGW” spoke about “seamless service delivery” in an architecture underpinned by identity, authentication, and machine-to-machine communication. “Seamless service” describes an omni-channel or metaverse type servicing experience. Marie was tasked by Bill Gates to pursue with the global team, strategic questions on authentication and identity. Significantly, the “New World of Government Work” foresaw technology as a policy lever. Technology as a lever of competition was well understood and adopted by technology and digital companies. However, in governments, technology did not evolve as a policy lever - instead remaining an enterprise capability.
2007: Access Card - Identity - Biometrics - Payments. Marie was head-hunted back to Australia by the Australian Government to take up the politically sensitive and complex role of Chief Technology Architect (CTA) of the Australian Government Health and Human Services Access Card program. Whilst the Access Card program was not a national identity card program per se, it did involve significant and contentious co-design, policy, legislative, security and civil society engagement. Marie has written extensively on the lessons from Access Card especially in regards to national digital identity and national digital health programs.
2009: Service Delivery Reform and Innovation in Payments. Following Access Card, the impetus for servicing and payments reform accelerated. As CTA across the Australian Government Human Services Portfolio, Marie led the development of the service delivery reform technology business cases, which would bring together the massive service delivery operations of Centrelink, Medicare Australia, Child Support Agency. Access Card was also intended to be a payment platform, and the need for payment reform as part of Service Delivery Reform was critical. Marie initiated and led the development of a whole-of-government strategic industry examination on payment and information services delivery reform – “Better Dealings with Government: Innovation in Payments and Information Services” Sept 2009 - involving extensive consultation across government and industry. Given the scale of this payment industry examination, this involved collaboration with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). This body of work led to the RBA further examining innovation in the payments system more broadly, and the establishment of the New Payments Platform.
2010: Immigration Global Client Services Innovation. Marie was recruited to the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) to lead digital and global client services innovation programs, including futures forecasting of scenarios of international client engagement in the digital landscape. The image opposite, and link to the “2020 Futures” video, represents a future of a metaverse where websites are a past paradigm and services are seamless (as envisaged in the Microsoft “New World of Government Work” strategy a number of years earlier).The “2020 Futures” video was released at CEBIT in 2013.
As part of the Immigration Client Services Transformation Strategy, Marie initiated the concept, business case and delivery of the Visa Pricing Transformation (VPT) program, creating a differential pricing model for visas enabled by a digital visa processing platform, raising an estimated $700 million additional new revenue for the Australian Government. Marie was also responsible for the delivery of the global eMedical system (a digital operating model for managing health assessments) to over 100 countries, in partnership with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Community
Marie is an active supporter of cardiac health and cancer research as a donor, fundraiser and active participant. This included shaving her head (yep, bald) for the World’s Greatest Shave, and running the 2012 London Marathon which together with a team of 10 raised more than $100,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation. Together Marie and Allan Johnson, a heart patient, ran the 2011 Melbourne Marathon, raising funds for the Australian Heart Foundation. See Allan Johnson’s story the “AI Digital Human Cardiac Coach”.
Space: The Ultimate Frontier of Human Centred Design and Interoperability
Marie on-site at the Kennedy Space Center July 2011 for the launch of the last Space Shuttle Atlantis, on the launch pad in the background
People are interested in understanding Marie’s approach to innovation, design, risk and decision making. Marie’s life-long study of the space program has shaped her appetite for innovation and her discipline for delivery.
As a kid, Marie was inspired by the Apollo challenge and wrote to Neil Armstrong, receiving a reply, autographed photographs and Apollo 11 mission patches. These precious items are framed under protective glass in her office. Space is the ultimate frontier of human centred design and interoperability and Marie speaks on the lessons to be learned in designing servicing on earth.
In her MBA program, Marie undertook a major study of the Challenger disaster and has used this to write about the impact of politics on design, culture, risk and decision making in complex national systems.
Marie has visited the Kennedy Space Center twice, including in 2011 onsite for the launch of the last Space Shuttle Atlantis.
The vibration and roar at launch is utterly magnificent.
…understanding the human experience through space exploration provides insights for servicing and accessibility innovations on earth…