“What I really like is that the people in councils are quite passionate about being involved with the community and have a genuine desire to make a difference," says John Wiggs, Datacom's new Director of Datascape.
“Local government is a very relationship driven type of business. There’s a sense of purpose. It means what we produce and deliver to our customers has a direct material impact on communities."
John leads Datacom’s Local Government Datascape business across Australia and New Zealand. Datascape provides enterprise software to enable the operation of councils; to date 90 councils leverage Datascape to provide efficient and sustainable services for their communities including full ERP and mission critical services such as fire prevention in Australia and affordable water in New Zealand.
John’s responsibilities span product management and development, professional services, customer success, sales, and support. Most recently, he was the Director of Sales and Customer Engagement at Civica, where he managed new business initiatives and oversaw a portfolio of local government ERP customers.
“When I embarked on my journey specialising in quality assurance and performance engineering, I encountered the healthcare sector and its unique set of challenges,” he explains. “I felt compelled to explore the possibilities within this domain, and I have remained passionately engaged in this space ever since.”
A Kiwi who has lived in Sydney for the last 20 years, John has worked across all levels of central, state and local government as well as the commercial sector, gaining a broad perspective on different challenges and opportunities across his 30-year career.
It’s all about relationships and focusing on delivering impactful solutions to clients, he says.
What’s important is understanding the key drivers for councils and the pain points they’re trying to solve. “There are some interesting challenges, and the key one that comes up repeatedly is financial sustainability. There’s not enough money to do everything and some tough decisions to be made. Do they fund a new community hall, add a new community service or build a new park?”
Councils have a huge amount of data about their community and constituents that has the potential to inform those decisions, says John.
“What’s exciting is that Datascape is delivering tools to help councils engage with communities, empower their people and make the right decisions about where to put their funds, and make them quickly. Technologies like AI and data intelligence are critical to support decision-making and offer better insights."
“For Datacom, local government is a real focus and because we provide a modern platform, developing technologies such as AI can be leveraged quickly. Some legacy systems will struggle to make AI available within their products at the same pace.”
Before Civica, John held leadership roles in several companies, including Oracle, PeopleSoft and Hitachi and was CEO of a startup, wholesale telco Devoli, now New Zealand's fourth-largest telecom company.
Other startups he has been involved with include Capsifi, a company that developed an operating model platform for business strategy and architecture used by major corporations like American Express and AMP, and a virtual reality company in Lower Hutt, New Zealand which developed a 360-degree VR ball for simulations such as flying fighter jets and moon landers.
His career began with ERP platforms, where he developed his expertise as a consultant and developer before advancing to sales and service leadership roles. Such a diverse background has equipped him with a unique blend of skills and insights.
John's leadership style focuses on inspiring and empowering teams to achieve their best. He values robust conversations and diverse perspectives, which he believes are essential for innovation and progress. John's approach to hiring reflects this philosophy, as he looks for individuals who are passionate, driven, and able to work cohesively with the team.
Outside of his professional life, John has a passion for wine and motorcycles. His interest in wine was influenced by his grandfather who had a wine cellar. “We couldn’t drink his wine until we told him what it tasted like and why we liked it and from there I always liked wine, so I have my own cellar – sometimes big, sometimes small.”
Now he enjoys exploring different wines and pairing them with food, particularly those from Spanish or Italian grapes grown in Australia. The only thing he doesn’t do is Pinot because he’s allergic. “It took me quite a while to work it out!”
John also has a love for motorcycles, harking back to his student days. He now owns both a vintage Suzuki Katana 1100 from 1981 and a modern bike and enjoys the hands-on aspect of maintaining them.
John lives with his partner and their two children, who are now at university. Despite residing in Australia, he remains a dedicated supporter of the All Blacks and Hurricanes.
