Innovate Elevate: Resilience, Recognition, and Technological Revolution

Welcome to Innovate Elevate, your monthly dose of innovation, tech and career growth!

It’s been a busy month with many conferences, awards galas and innovative news, and I'm trying to get it all done before the end of the year. By the way, where did the year go?!

Here are my highlights for the month:

• Entrepreneurship Insights: Female Founders in Focus
• Career Corner: Bouncing Back from a Job Redundancy
• Inclusive Innovation: Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day
• Innovation in Action: SXSW Sydney Highlights 
• Emerging Tech Unpacked: Facial Recognition in Smart Cities
• Marketing Tip: Leveraging LinkedIn for Brand Building

Let's dive into it!

Entrepreneurship Insights: Female Founders in Focus

The Australian Federal Government launched the Future Female Entrepreneurship and Business Leadership Decadal Plan 2024-2034. The Decadal Plan is a call to action across society, urging educators, businesses, financial services, investors, and governments to unleash women’s untapped entrepreneurial potential. I am so proud to be featured as a case study for my work leading the diverse founders' program at Western Sydney University, and I also met the Governor-General in Canberra!

This initiative aims to:

• Unleash women's untapped entrepreneurial potential
• Set ten big ambitions for the next decade
• Outline recommendations for educators, businesses, and investors

Why it matters: Supporting women entrepreneurs can lead to greater economic equality and innovation.

--> Learn more about the report

Career Corner: Bouncing Back from a Job Redundancy

Job redundancy can be a challenging and disheartening experience, but it can also open doors to new opportunities. I talked about my personal story of overcoming a job redundancy and how this setback became a catalyst for positive change in my career. Here are the key takeaways from my experience:

• Embrace new opportunities: When faced with redundancy, be open to exploring different career paths, which led me to start my own business, Forestlyn
• Leverage your skills: Use your existing expertise to create new opportunities
• Turn setbacks into growth: Remember, a job redundancy doesn't define your worth or abilities. It can be an opportunity to reassess your career goals, explore new paths, and find even greater success and satisfaction in your professional life.

--> Read more about my personal experience 

Inclusive Innovation: Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day

Ada Lovelace was the first computer programmer, and we hosted a special Emerging Tech Unpacked live podcast event to celebrate the stories of other women in STEM. Panellists included Christina (CJ) Jones from Canva, who discussed AI and design, Cheryl Shannon from IBM, who explored sports data analytics, and Cassie Jenkins from InvertiGro, who discussed indoor vertical farming. We explored how technology reshapes our world, from AI-powered creativity to data-driven sports and sky-high urban gardens. These trailblazing experts shared insights, busted myths, and inspired us to think bigger.

--> Read more about this live podcast event

Innovation in Action: SXSW Sydney Highlights

SXSW Sydney is a celebration of tech, innovation, music, film and gaming, and it is the second year that Sydney has hosted it. Some of my highlights include:

• Meeting an astronaut, Katherine Bennell-Pegg
• Seeing a flying car demonstration
• Hearing from the “bad boy” of tennis, Nick Kyrgios
• Insights from Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins and meeting Cliff Obrecht
• Getting my book signed by Julian Assange’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson , who is also on a mission to help women in domestic violence situation gain their voices

--> Watch the video highlights

Emerging Tech Unpacked: Facial Recognition in Smart Cities

Facial recognition technology is becoming increasingly prevalent in our daily lives, offering convenience but also raising privacy concerns. The technology works by capturing facial images and comparing them to a database for identification.

Key points:

• Applications range from smartphone unlocking to security checkpoints
• Concerns include potential misuse, unauthorised surveillance, and algorithmic bias
• Contentious use in public spaces, such as LED streetlights, sparks debate

Food for thought: How do you feel about facial recognition in smart cities? Do the benefits outweigh the privacy concerns?

--> Learn more and contribute your comments

--> Visit our website for other emerging tech topics

Marketing Tip: Leveraging LinkedIn for Brand Building

LinkedIn is my personal favourite social media platform. I use it daily to read the latest news, connect with others, and learn from industry leaders. Here are three key strategies of how you can leverage LinkedIn to scale and build your brand:

1. Newsletters: Share your expertise, demonstrate your thought leadership and build community – just like Innovate Elevate!
2. Video Content: Video gets 1.4 times more engagement than other formats, and it is the fastest-growing format on LinkedIn, with uploads up to 34% year on year. Experiment with short-form videos for higher engagement.
3. Connections: Actively engage with your network and create meaningful interactions.

--> Watch this video to learn how

Events:

To close out the year, you will catch me at the following events:

• 14 November: Fairfield Financial Literacy Workshop
• 19 November: Innovate Western Sydney
• 26-28 November: CyberCon Melbourne
• 28 November: Stone & Chalk Melbourne End of Year Party
• 05 December: Fairfield Small Business Meetup

Thank you for reading Innovate Elevate! Please subscribe to stay updated on the latest in tech, innovation, and career growth. See you next month!

Lucy Lin :-)

👉 If this newsletter was helpful, please share it and follow Lucy Lin and Emerging Tech Unpacked for more.

🚀 I'm a speaker, MC, facilitator, brand ambassador, and podcaster. Get in touch with me if you would like to collaborate.