The Rotary Melbourne meeting was Meeting Number 5034 & 43rd of 2023/24 on Wednesday 29 May 2024 at the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV), 8 La Trobe St, Melbourne.
Last week’s joint meeting with the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) was an important day in the Club’s Calendar, highlighting the impact of Artificial Intelligence and focusing on the potential good that it will bring.
Dr Ian Ross, a fifty-year member of our Club with the classification of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, provided an interesting background brief on Rotary Melbourne’s relationship with RSV.
Back in the 1950s the Australian O and G practitioners were members of the Royal College in London because they had no home in Australia.
Rotary Club of Melbourne member, Dr Leslie Gleadell, also with the classification Obstetrics and Gynaecology, was aware of this AND the fact that Sydney was angling to be that home. He came up with an inspired strategy.
That great dame of La Trobe Street, the Royal Society of Victoria Building, like many of Melbourne’s grand buildings, was built in stages and was still incomplete. He came up with the idea that the O and G practitioners would raise the money to build the last wing and they would then lease it back for one pound per annum. The Arthur Wilson Wing was completed in 1954 and partly occupied by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists until they moved to their new home in East Melbourne in the 1970s. This part of the building now houses the Von Meuler Room.
Dr Leslie Gleadell was elected President of the Rotary Club of Melbourne for 1974-75.
Our founding President, Professor William Osborne, was elected in 1921. He served as President of the RSV in 1916-17.
This bit of shared history hardly means we have common DNA, but it is evidence of a relationship and I believe old friends are the best friends.
President Chris expressed hope that this meeting is the first of many and that we can work together in the future. There is much to be done.
What an incredible experience we had on Wednesday 28 May at the inaugural Rotary Melbourne AI Summit, held in partnership with The Royal Society of Victoria. It was an absolute honor for our club to gather together with a remarkable assembly of global thought leaders and subject matter experts from across Victoria to delve into the fascinating world of AI and its potential for the greater good.
Here are some of the highlights from the Summit:
- Lorraine Finlay Australian Human Rights Commissioner on the importance of leading these discussions and considering the ethical and societal considerations.
- Finbar Ohanlon - immersed us in the technological progress, we learnt that the ultimate key to success lies in our human potential. By cultivating advanced cognitive skills, creativity, empathy, and adaptive thinking, we can develop an upgraded "operating system" tailored to a world of AI.
- Aaron Sempf led a compelling discussion on Focusing AI's Direction and shared insights from Amazon Web Services (AWS) Center of Excellence.
- A/Professor Magdalena Simonis AM enlightened us on Directing AI for Healthcare, showcasing the immense possibilities for improving healthcare through artificial intelligence.
- Dr. Dimitrios Salampasis (PhD, F-FIN, MAICD) delved into The Ethical Fellowship between FinTech and AI, emphasizing the importance of ethical considerations in the intersection of finance and technology.
Throughout each presentation, our esteemed thought leaders emphasized the critical need for us to evolve our capabilities and mindset to thrive in an AI-driven world. While AI promises tremendous technological advancements, we were reminded that our human potential remains the ultimate key to success.
The summit empowered us to collaborate and innovate on a deeply human level, ensuring that humanity remains at the forefront of the AI revolution. We also had the opportunity to provide our community with updates on the FinTech evolution and explore the new era of financial intelligence. Topics ranged from bridging the gap between FinTech and AI to the role of AI in creating inclusive and ethical financial systems.
We are deeply grateful to our sponsors, Tomorrow X and Core DNA, whose support helped make this event impactful and successful. Sharing these transdisciplinary perspectives is crucial for advancing our understanding and application of AI, and we look forward to continuing the conversation and driving positive change in the AI landscape.
The Rotary Melbourne AI Summit underscores our commitment to innovation and community engagement. As we delve into the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), we recognize the profound impact it can have on how Rotary connects with and serves our community. By embracing AI technologies, Rotary Melbourne can enhance its outreach efforts, streamline operations, and amplify its impact on local and global initiatives. Leveraging AI-powered insights, we can better understand community needs, optimize resource allocation, and tailor our programs to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve. As stewards of positive change, we embrace the opportunities AI presents to strengthen our connections, foster collaboration, and drive sustainable progress for generations to come.
As announced by President Chris last Wednesday you can watch the video of the meeting HERE.
SPEAKER BIOS
Dr Dimitrios Salampasis,
MAICD, F-FIN, Exec.Ed(Harvard, Columbia), PhD(LUT), MEIProf(UniLux), MPA, BPA(UniPanteion)
FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech | Director, Master of FinTech
Swinburne School of Business, Law and Entrepreneurship
Visiting Professor, Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance, Bahrain
Visiting Professor, FinTech, University of Quebec at Rimouski, Canada
FinTech and Blockchain Fellow, Singapore University of Social Sciences
Visiting Professor, School of Management Fribourg, Switzerland
“award-winning global thought leader, educator, researcher, and sought-after keynote speaker, passionate about FinTech, global affairs, sustainability, and emerging technologies nexus“
Dr Dimitrios Salampasis is an award-winning global thought leader, educator, researcher, and sought-after keynote speaker, passionate about FinTech, global affairs, sustainability, and emerging technologies nexus.
Dr Salampasis is the FinTech Capability Lead, Director, Master of Financial Technologies, and Senior Lecturer of Emerging Technologies and FinTech Innovation at the Swinburne School of Business, Law, and Entrepreneurship, Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.
Dr Salampasis is a Visiting Professor of FinTech at the University of Québec at Rimouski, Canada, a Blockchain and FinTech Fellow at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, a Visiting Faculty at the School of Management in Fribourg, Switzerland, and an Academic Council Member of the Global FinTech Institute.
Dr Salampasis is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow within the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, and a member of the CPA Australia Digital Transformation Centre of Excellence.
Prior to joining academia, Dr Salampasis worked in management consulting, legal services and public sector being involved in global advisory activities on emerging market geopolitics and investing, assisting companies in developing long-term strategic focus and sustainable market business strategies.
Dr Salampasis is the recipient of the 2022 Innovation Excellence Award by the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the 2021 Blockchain Educator of the Year Award by Blockchain Australia and the 2021 Swinburne University Vice Chancellor's Engagement Award - Industry Engagement (Individual).
Dr Salampasis publishes in international peer-reviewed academic journals and books and his work is regularly presented in major international conferences and invited keynote presentations around the world. Dr Salampasis’ research interests revolve around the organizational, human, technological and ESG sides of innovation and open innovation in financial services and FinTech innovation. His areas of specialist expertise, research, teaching, industry engagement, policy and advisory work revolve around the emergence and development of FinTech-enabled business models, Blockchain for business and public sector, corporate sustainability and human rights, synthetic identity fraud and scams, quantum computing for financial services and public sector, along with the relevant global FinTech-related regulatory and policy interventions.
Dr Salampasis is regularly involved in advisory work with key private, public, and governmental stakeholders of the Australian and international FinTech and broader business ecosystem. He has a strong media presence in Australia and abroad.
Dr Salampasis is a trusted partner to C-Level Executives, CEOs and Boards of leading corporations, start-ups and government officials leading global innovation and change. Dr Salampasis has been playing an instrumental role in shaping Australia’s FinTech innovation policy and advocacy agenda by participating in working groups, providing expert strategic advice and critical policy analysis, and submitting research-grounded responses to policy consultations.
Dr Salampasis has been actively supporting Australian and international ecosystem stakeholders by identify synergistic opportunities, incubating new strategic opportunities, and curating conversations of policymaking, ESG and regulatory implications and direct impact on business models and organizational transformations.
Dr Salampasis has received international recognition for his global perspective and creative research and thought leadership approach for thinking about innovation and the evolution of the financial technologies landscape, together with, his novel practice-infused curriculum innovation in terms of designing and contextualizing a transformational, industry-relevant and career pathing learning and development experience across multiple modes of delivery.
Dr Salampasis’ talking points:
FinTech companies by leveraging sophisticated algorithms and machine learning will be able to offer personalized financial products and services tailored and customized to the unique financial behaviors, attributes and needs of individuals. Artificial intelligence will drive financial inclusivity, promote financial literacy and democratize financial services.
Artificial intelligence will be harnessed to monitor and report on ESG criteria. Machine learning and data analytics will assist organizations to better evaluate sustainability performance of investments and predict future ESG-related risks. The social benefits can be profound in terms of developing a more sustainable economic system strongly incentivizing ethical business practices and responsible FinTech innovation. Implementing AI sustainable corporate governance will ultimately incentivize higher levels of accountability and integrity.
Artificial intelligence ethical frameworks will address issues of algorithmic bias, discrimination in credit scoring, privacy concerns and ethical use of financial and alternative data. FinTech companies can mitigate the risks associated with AI-decision making by bringing transparency, fairness and accountability.
Advanced machine learning models become core to predicting financial risks and defaults with a granularity previously unattainable. Financial institutions can manage compliance and regulatory reporting enhancing accuracy while reducing false positives. The use of Natural Language Processing adds another layer of predictive power dynamically enhancing the assessment capabilities.
The new era of AI-enabled FinTech will create complex interactions between technology, regulatory policies and international relations. AI-driven FinTech leading nations/jurisdictions will be influencing global economic leadership. Cross-border data flows will raise issues on data sovereignty and privacy triggering global discussions on digital governance.
Associate Professor Dr Magdalena Simonis AM
MBBS FRACGP DRANZCOG MHHS
President, Australian Federation of Medical Women (AFMW)
Medical Women's International Association (MWIA), Scientific and Research Co-Chair
RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care
University of Melbourne, Department of General Practice Senior Honorary Research Fellow, Senior Lecturer
Victorian Primary Care Practice-Based Research Network (VicReN)
Women's Health Victoria board member
Past President of Victorian Medical Women's Society
Magdalena Simonis is a GP, government health advisor, primary care researcher with the University of Melbourne and a leading women's health expert and advocate. Magdalena holds positions on several not-for-profit organisations bridging gaps across the health sector, whilst informing their health initiatives. She is on the Expert Committee of Quality Care for the RACGP, President and National Coordinator of the Australian Federation of Medical Women, Medical Women's international Association (MWIA) Scientific and Research Subcommittee co-Chair and chair of the MWIA Mentoring group. Magdalena's interests are in community health, chronic disease prevention and the development of sustainable, equitable healthcare services.
“Leading women's health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor a Senior Honorary Research Fellow University of Melbourne Department of General Practice. Immediate Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor.”
Finbar O’Hanlon
Corporate AI Innovation and Strategy Consultant
Corporate advisor, Strategist, NED, Speaker, Facilitator specializing in Digital transformation (Ai) and Human Capability.
Aaron Sempf
Amazon Web Services
Next Gen Tech Lead
“Highly motivated and passionate about technology and innovation, specialising in distributed systems design and development.”
