During April, Perth became a meeting point for scholars, analysing one of today’s most pressing questions, how technology and human expertise interact in the public sector

The panel “For Better or Worse? Human–Tech Complementarity in the Public Sector” at the IRSPM Conference 2026 chaired by Anette Hallin and Chris Ivory provided a focused space to examine these issues in depth. Contributions spanned topics such as algorithmic governance, digital accountability, and the organisational conditions that enable technology to support rather than undermine professional judgement.

The presentation, “Leadership in Human–Technology Interaction in Public Healthcare: Bridging Forces or Forcing Function?” by Chang Sheng Leong, captured the complexity of integrating digital tools into healthcare environments. The talk analysed how managerial decisions, implementation strategies and organisational cultures shape the way digital tools are experienced by healthcare professionals.

Are technologies introduced as bridging forces, supporting collaboration, learning and better care? Or do they become forcing functions, imposing rigid protocols, intensifying workloads and limiting professional autonomy?

By drawing on empirical insights from public healthcare settings, the presentation opened up a nuanced discussion on what “good” digital leadership actually looks like in practice.

Human–tech complementarity is not a technical problem alone, but a deeply organisational and political one. Designing public services where digital systems and human expertise meaningfully reinforce each other requires attention to governance structures, training, ethics and citizen expectations.

As interest in these questions grows across continents, so too does the opportunity to deepen international collaboration, compare experiences across different public sectors, and develop evidence‑based insights that can shape the next generation of public sector innovation.