OPAL3 Summit 2026 (Online) Less Money. More Demand.
OPAL3 Summit 2026 (Online): Less Money. More Demand.
Local government under pressure. Two hours to step back, compare perspectives and think ahead.
Being asked to do more with less is familiar. Finding a useful answer is harder.
When budgets tighten and expectations rise, every decision carries more weight. What deserves attention? How do we know our work is making a difference? And how do we sustain performance without exhausting the people delivering it?
These questions sit at the heart of the OPAL3 Summit 2026.
This year, we’re bringing the Summit online. Join the OPAL3 community for a focused morning exploring people, evidence, technology and the future. No travel required. Just two hours in your diary and a decent coffee.
Friday 27 November 2026 | 10am–12pm NZDT | Online via Zoom
Join us online
Email admin@praxxisgroup.com and we’ll send you a calendar invitation with the Zoom link. You’re welcome to invite a colleague too.
A morning for people making difficult decisions
The Summit brings together people working in strategy, planning, performance, reporting and risk, alongside leaders responsible for turning plans into results.
Our theme, Less Money. More Demand., reflects a challenge shared across councils and the wider public sector. The programme brings several perspectives to that challenge:
- Sustaining performance when pressure becomes part of everyday work.
- Using evidence to understand what matters to communities.
- Making sense of AI trends in enterprise development.
- Seeing what is ahead for OPAL3.
- Thinking more clearly about an uncertain future.
Meet the speakers
Sarah McGuinness | Sustaining Performance Under Pressure
Sarah is the founder of Revolutionaries of Wellbeing (ROW) and a specialist in sustainable performance, burnout prevention and leadership.
For more than 20 years, she has worked with organisations across New Zealand and Australia, helping leaders navigate pressure, change and demanding environments while supporting their people. She is completing a Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, researching how senior doctors recover from burnout while continuing to work.
Her session addresses a question many leaders face: how do we keep delivering when the pressure does not let up?
Find out more about Sarah and ROW
Malcolm Mersham | Measuring What Matters
Malcolm leads the Data and Information practice at Trust Tairāwhiti, helping turn data, community insight and impact evidence into clearer decisions.
His work spans the Tairāwhiti Regional Wellbeing Survey, He Rangitapu He Tohu Ora, a community-developed wellbeing investment framework, and impact reporting. It helps inform regional investment and brings community wellbeing into the decisions behind it.
Malcolm brings a practical perspective on a familiar challenge: moving from collecting information to understanding what difference our work makes.
Explore Trust Tairāwhiti | Explore the Tairāwhiti wellbeing data
Carl Davidson | How to Think About the Future
Carl is a social scientist and business leader whose career spans academia, government policy and the commercial sector.
He founded Research First and served as Chief Commissioner of the New Zealand Families Commission. Today, through The Curiosity Company, he helps organisations make sense of a changing world. He is a Fellow of the Research Association of New Zealand and a Global Insight250 winner.
Carl brings an evidence-informed perspective to thinking about the future, a useful discipline when today’s decisions have consequences well beyond the next reporting cycle.
Tony Meyer and Dr Marcel d’Eurydice | Technology and the OPAL3 Roadmap
Tony will present AI Trends in Enterprise Development, then join Marcel for an update on the OPAL3 Product Roadmap.
Together, these sessions bring the wider technology conversation back to the platform our community uses, with a look at OPAL3’s next steps.
The morning will be hosted by Dr Bernie Frey and Colart Miles.
The programme
All times are New Zealand daylight time (NZDT), Friday 27 November 2026.
| Time | Session | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 10.00am | Opening remarks | Dr Bernie Frey and Colart Miles |
| 10.05am | Sustaining Performance Under Pressure | Sarah McGuinness |
| 10.35am | Measuring What Matters | Malcolm Mersham |
| 11.00am | Short break | |
| 11.10am | AI Trends in Enterprise Development | Tony Meyer |
| 11.25am | OPAL3 Product Roadmap | Dr Marcel d’Eurydice and Tony Meyer |
| 11.35am | How to Think About the Future | Carl Davidson |
| 11.50am | Closing remarks | Dr Bernie Frey and Colart Miles |
| 12.00pm | Session ends |
Who should join?
The Summit is for OPAL3 super users, strategy and planning teams, performance and reporting practitioners, risk and assurance professionals, and senior managers and leaders.
If your work involves deciding what matters, tracking progress or helping others make better decisions, this morning is for you.
Join us online
Set aside two hours to step back from the reporting cycle and consider the people, evidence and tools behind better performance.
Friday 27 November 2026. 10am–12pm NZDT. Online via Zoom.
Email admin@praxxisgroup.com and we’ll send you a calendar invitation with the Zoom link. You’re welcome to invite a colleague too.
Questions? Email admin@praxxisgroup.com.
Hosted by Praxxis Group, the team behind OPAL3, a New Zealand-developed platform connecting strategy, performance, risk and reporting.