My Volunteer Experience - Govinda Gurung
Welcome Govinda!
Govinda Gurung joined our Data Analytics Team as a volunteer, whilst he studies his Masters at Flinders University beginning with the team this year on the 23 February 2023.
He attends for ~4 hours a week onsite at the Connecting Up Office around his classes, and has been a regular attendee, coming into the office every week.
Total Hours 126 Joined 23 February 2023 Last check-in 17 October 2023 (retired)
Personal Biography
Govinda Gurung is currently studying a Master of Computer Science at Flinders University, having arrived in Australia in August 2022 to seek more educational opportunities and new career experiences. Previously, he undertook a Bsc (Hons) Computer Science from the University of Wolverhampton campus in Nepal whilst working in his family's retail business. He is fascinated by data analytics and has been exploring different aspects as part of his IT studies, in particular the transforming and modelling of data to reveal new data insights.
Govinda is volunteering at Connecting Up to gain some real-world industry experience, increase his skillset and make new connections and networks across the office environment that can extend to his professional career. Utilising his studies in the Data Analytics Team, he is eager to know more about technology, and is passionate about learning new things and gaining practical experience in technology tools used, like Slack, Power BI, and Canva. He is also glad to use his skills to help the organisation to achieve its mission in connecting community service information with council decision-makers, and likewise with the people who need them.
He will finish his master's degree in 2024 and plans to work as data analyst, ideally in a company providing information technology services in Australia. He plans to continue using his skills to solve complex problems through technology. Govinda is confident that his work ethic, enthusiasm for technology and commitment to excellence will help him in his future career.
Image: Volunteer Govinda with staff (onsite and remote) at a Connecting Up Team Meeting 14 March 2023
Building Connections and Networks
Work Experience - Internal Organisation Connections & Networks
Govinda has had the opportunity to attend Connecting Up meetings with staff, interns and other volunteers to learn more about the organisation, business teams and the services and products the organisation provides for other not-for-profits. He has also attended a series of People and Culture's Lunch & Learn meetings to keep up with various activities and learn more about the projects happening across Infoxchange offices across Australia.
Image: Volunteer Govinda Gurung attending one of the online Infoxchange People and Culture Sessions
People and Culture - Organisation-wide Connections & Networks
Infoxchange runs a series of 'Lunch & Learn' sessions on a variety of topics to learn all about the organisation itself and various divisions, activities and projects across Infoxchange as well as a range of learning and educational sessions on topics of interest in the IT sector. Govinda has attended educational sessions including:
Understanding the McKinsey 7 Step Problem Solving Process and How to Apply It by Ann Wen and Melanie Cornell from McKinsey.
Other Infoxchange Lunch & Learn Topics available to Govinda have included:
CEO Induction - David Spriggs,
Client & Case management,
Strategic Partnerships & Communications - Mike Davis,
People and Culture - Kate Hickman,
Finance - Tomer Ginel,
Products & Services,
Delivery Operations & Technology by Cass Read-Hamilton, Alison Ramsay & Glenden Woodworth
Council Statistics Project - Community Services in Councils
Govinda has been working in the Data Analytics Team to create data analytics reports on community services operating in SA councils and in particular for the District Council of Robe, a regional town in South Australia. Govinda's final data analytics reports can be found >>here https://sacommunity.org/robe. Govinda then contacted the council by email and phone on the 19 September 2023 to introduce his reports and the free service that SAcommunity can provide to councils, libraries and government.
Image: Volunteer Govinda with staff (onsite and remote) at a Connecting Up Team Meeting 14 March 2023
Building Connections and Networks
Work Experience - Internal Organisation Connections & Networks
Govinda has had the opportunity to attend Connecting Up meetings with staff, interns and other volunteers to learn more about the organisation, business teams and the services and products the organisation provides for other not-for-profits. He has also attended a series of People and Culture's Lunch & Learn meetings to keep up with various activities and learn more about the projects happening across Infoxchange offices across Australia.
Image: Volunteer Govinda Gurung attending one of the online Infoxchange People and Culture Sessions
People and Culture - Organisation-wide Connections & Networks
Infoxchange runs a series of 'Lunch & Learn' sessions on a variety of topics to learn all about the organisation itself and various divisions, activities and projects across Infoxchange as well as a range of learning and educational sessions on topics of interest in the IT sector. Govinda has attended educational sessions including:
Understanding the McKinsey 7 Step Problem Solving Process and How to Apply It by Ann Wen and Melanie Cornell from McKinsey.
Other Infoxchange Lunch & Learn Topics available to Govinda have included:
CEO Induction - David Spriggs,
Client & Case management,
Strategic Partnerships & Communications - Mike Davis,
People and Culture - Kate Hickman,
Finance - Tomer Ginel,
Products & Services,
Delivery Operations & Technology by Cass Read-Hamilton, Alison Ramsay & Glenden Woodworth
Image: James Newport, Senior Developer Infoxchange and Volunteer Govinda Gurung
Mentor Informational Meeting
Volunteers and interns have the opportunity to undertake the SAcommunity mentor program, selecting and introducing themselves to a staff member working in an area of relevance to them. The program develops volunteers' understanding of the broader staff teams in Connecting Up, Adelaide and in Infoxchange offices across Australia in Melbourne, Brisbane and New Zealand, allows them to explore potential career pathways and goals, and builds their network of professional relationships. Mentees prepare 5 questions for their mentor and summarise the session with at least 5 takeaways from their informational interview.
During the meeting with James Newport, Senior Web Developer at Infoxchange, he shared his valuable experience in the field of IT and we had a good chat about the Australian IT sector. Here are the key takeways of the meeting:
Mentor Informational Meeting
Volunteers and interns have the opportunity to undertake the SAcommunity mentor program, selecting and introducing themselves to a staff member working in an area of relevance to them. The program develops volunteers' understanding of the broader staff teams in Connecting Up, Adelaide and in Infoxchange offices across Australia in Melbourne, Brisbane and New Zealand, allows them to explore potential career pathways and goals, and builds their network of professional relationships. Mentees prepare 5 questions for their mentor and summarise the session with at least 5 takeaways from their informational interview.
During the meeting with James Newport, Senior Web Developer at Infoxchange, he shared his valuable experience in the field of IT and we had a good chat about the Australian IT sector. Here are the key takeways of the meeting:
1. Firstly, we talked about my progress in web development. The best advice I received was in project management, to break down projects into smaller chunks, making it much easier to complete the whole task.
2. We discussed the recent trend of local companies outsourcing IT projects due to cost. However, James explained that many companies also prefer to keep in-house developers as there is better collaboration and control over project outcomes within the organisation and they want to maintain immediate and dedicated support.
3. James provided information on the various cloud services such as AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. We also discussed how cloud computing services skills are in more demand than ever in Australia.
4. We discussed data analysis, and databases as well as the widely used programming languages designed to interface with these databases such as NoSQL, SQL and their varying use in accessing, maintaining and manipulating data.
5. James also raised the importance of soft skills. As an international student, it is essential to develop soft skills like communication, teamworking and critical thinking.
6. Finally, I learnt about James's journey which I was really curious to know more about. His career story really helped me to understand more about the IT industry in general and what next steps are required to obtain work in the industry.
Image: Volunteer Govinda Gurung assisted by Volunteer Stathis Avramis, Data Analytics Team Lead
The Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2023 Launch and an update on Mapping the Digital Gap Report attended by Intern Jordana Izquierdo, Volunteers Camille Sze Pui Ko and Govinda Gurung on Tuesday the 18 July 2023
Work Experience - External Partners & Stakeholder Networks
SAcommunity Team members are encouraged to build new connections and create networks through participating in SAcommunity and Connecting Up partner and stakeholder activities, events and meetings as they arise to understand more about the wider organisation's projects, the work they are involved in, and how our activities impact and are impacted by other not-for-profit organisations.
Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2023 Launch
Infoxchange staff were invited in-person to the 2023 Australian Digital Inclusion Index Launch attended by staff members Pankaj Chhalotre, Head of Connecting Up and Catherine McIntyre, Community information and Volunteer Coordinator with the invitation extended to Data Analytics Team Volunteers Camille Sze Pui Ko, Govinda Gurung and Intern Jordana Izquierdo.
Hosted by Telstra, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), RMIT University and Swinburne University of Technology. The launch was to introduce the ADII, find out how Australia is tracking, gain insights for better digital inclusion programs, and view the Index’s new First Nations digital inclusion data.
Presenters included:
- Vicki Brady, CEO, Telstra
- Justine Rowe, Chief Sustainability Officer, Telstra
- Lauren Ganley, Head of First Nations Strategy and Engagement, Telstra
- Distinguished Professor Julian Thomas, Director, ADM+S, RMIT University
- Professor Anthony McCosker, Chief Investigator, ADM+S, Swinburne University of Technology
- Dr Daniel Featherstone, Senior Research Fellow, Mapping the Digital Gap project, ADM+S
- Dr Lyndon Ormond-Parker, Principal Research Fellow - Digital Inclusion and Engagement in Indigenous Communities, ADM+S
- Ross Womersley, Chief Executive Officer, South Australian Council of Social Service
Digital Inclusion Index https://www.digitalinclusionindex.org.au/
Mapping the Digital Gap https://www.admscentre.org.au/mapping-the-digital-gap/
Image: GovHack Connections Event 9 August 2023: SAcommunity Volunteers Pujan Maharjan, Camille Sze Pui Ko, Navadani Thennakoon, Frank Xiufeng Shi, Stathis Avramis, Govinda Gurung
GovHack 2023
The SAcommunity Team has attended and supported GovHack for several years providing open data set for competitors, data mentors and promotion of the event. The annual open data hackathon was held this year on the 18 - 20 August 2023 across Australia and New Zealand and SAcommunity Team members attended the pre-competition 'Connections event' to represent Connecting Up and our commitment to open data through making the SAcommunity dataset available at Data.SA the South Australian government's open data directory.
GovHack Connections Event 9 August 2023: SAcommunity Volunteers Stathis Avramis, Neil Anubhav Dattagupta, Govinda Gurung and Navodani Thennakoon
