Interview: Sharon Don, Oracle

In our annual Leaders in Technology series, we ask the experts what the year ahead holds. Today we talk autonomous tech with Oracle’s Sharon Don.

Which technologies do you think will be game changers in 2020?

I believe the primary game changer will be how government agencies execute on innovation.

Agencies today are thinking more about how to balance automation with human factors. This includes looking for easier ways to identify individuals. Here, a digital identity enabled by blockchain verification across multiple devices and channels will be a game changer.

It’s my view that autonomous case management-as-a-service will continue to gain importance as the nuanced context of complex security policies requiring more granular security and identity policies becomes a greater focus. Citizen transactions will become more transparent via full service history logs — supported by automated live agents using natural voice conversations — and auto-routed to human experts.

Which innovations or disruptions are your customers most concerned about in the year ahead?

The greatest disruption will be meeting citizens’ expectations in the digital age. Government agencies tell us that to transform quickly, they must deliver instantaneous, individualised service and advice to their employees and citizens. The service must be 100% accurate and explain the interaction in a way that is easily understood. Wide engagement, human-centred design and innovation-led approaches are needed to meet expectations and deliver value to citizens and employees. The information and communications technology (ICT) innovations most conducive to supporting such visions are artificial intelligence (AI)-driven interactions and automated case management.

Autonomous, connected, operational data, enabled by AI and machine learning, will drive operational and program efficiencies with real-time reporting via visual balanced scorecards.

What will be the biggest growth opportunities for your company in 2020?

Oracle’s second generation cloud is integrated across applications, platforms, our autonomous database and infrastructure and does the heavy lifting so that our customers don’t have to. 

Autonomous is the defining technology of the second generation cloud and marks a new generation in tech. Last year Oracle delivered its AI and machine learning-enabled autonomous database with self-driving, self-securing and self-repairing core attributes. We continue to be a market leader, connecting data and AI with more applications, features and functions than other enterprise resource planning, human capital management and customer experience platforms. As we continue to innovate, we’re most excited about what Oracle Cloud is helping our public sector customers and partners accomplish.

What’s on your tech wish list for 2020?

In 2020, I see governments becoming the platform for ecosystem innovation across citizens, regulators and service providers, in order to deliver citizen-centric outcomes. I’d like to see governments make more use of technologies that make work and life more human. To me, that’s a move from ‘tech-led’ to ‘human-led, tech-enabled’ solutions based on the experiences and outcomes that individuals value most.

Connected mobile web will make it easier for citizens, employees and supply chain partners to discover relevant real-time information, allowing them to engage in more transparent and timely transactions with agencies. That means securing connected data and systems across trusted ecosystems with a source of single identity per individual and with policies managing data access — blockchain identity verification is a possibility.

Automated case management-as-a-service enabled by AI, integrated systems and connected data provides intelligent management of cases based on multilayered policies, thus providing predictive analysis with recommendations. Expert case workers are freed up to focus on more complex tasks with AI agents to support the everyday.

Oracle Experience Director APAC Sharon Don has over 20 years’ experience in ventures, technology, product, media, marketing, operations, user experience and digital change. Her expertise in tackling complex problems, visualisation and execution helped her lead projects at Telstra Enterprise and Government, Optus and Vodafone Global.

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