Talking Agile Development with NSW Governor David Hurley

As key supporters of CoWS Near The Coast, the Digital Co-Working Space in Bega NSW, we were exceedingly delighted to be part of the celebrations for the recent visit of Governor of NSW David Hurley and his wife, Mrs Hurley.


As key supporters of CoWS Near The Coast, the Digital Co-Working Space in Bega NSW, we were exceedingly delighted to be part of the celebrations for the recent visit of Governor of NSW David Hurley and his wife, Mrs Hurley.

His Excellency and Mrs Hurley were warm, engaging, and friendly, and took time to speak to everyone in attendance. As representatives of NSW, there could be no better advertisement for all that is good and decent about this state – they left an indelible impression, and their visit will be remembered with great fondness for many years to come.

In conversation, His Excellency displayed knowledge and understanding across a staggering range of topics from regional innovation and the global economy, to infrastructural planning and project management.

Cheekily, we asked His Excellency about the delivery of large software and hardware systems in the military – an area he had first-hand experience of during his years as head of defence. His response was fascinating – in his own words, he professed a strong preference towards, what in effect amounts to ‘Agile Methodology’, for project delivery. He lamented those past occasions when large systems were deployed in the field without ever having benefitted from extensive user input into their development, and the fallout that commonly results from the Waterfall model (again, our words, not his) approach to rollout of new hardware and software.

Hopefully not in violation of any protocol, but there was some ‘High Fiving’ within our group at this unofficial endorsement of enlightened development practices, from such high levels of State Government 🙂

His Excellency additionally was very supportive of initiatives in regional Australia to provide opportunities for young people to secure high-skill careers, such as those commonly offered within the ICT sector. He suggested he may, in his travels, cite CoWS Near The Coast as a practice model that other regions could potentially follow or adopt for their own purposes.

All in all, our brief time with NSW Governor David Hurley, and Mrs Hurley, was a splendid affair, and gave all associated with 2pi Software, CoWS Near The Coast, and IntoIT Sapphire Coast a huge morale boost as we strive to nurture our embryonic tech sector in Far South Coast NSW.