AIIA CEO Suzanne Campbell
The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) has thrown its support behind the development of a whole-of-government innovation policy to underpin NSW Government use of ICT.
“While the 2012 ICT Strategy has been critical to enabling the NSW Government provide better public services and value for citizens, the shift in focus to driving innovation across all government policy signals deep recognition of the transformative impact of digital technology,” AIIA CEO, Suzanne Campbell, said.
“Service NSW is a great example of the benefits which flow from a government which gets the critical role of technology and innovation in improving service delivery.
“And technology procurement has been transformed from being a blunt purchasing instrument to helping the NSW Government achieve broader policy objectives in support of service delivery, SMEs and jobs growth.”
The AIIA said the commitment to innovation underpinned future government policy and service delivery, representing the next logical step and a refreshing agenda.
“The AIIA looks forward to working with the NSW Government and the experts of the new Digital Government Advisory Panel as we reimagine the role of government in the digital age and extend engagement with industry, the research sector and NSW residents,” she said.
Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, final update to the NSW Government Digital + 2016 ICT Strategy document,, released the final update to the NSW Government Digital + 2016 ICT Strategy document, which was originally launched in 2012, that includes work in key areas such as customer service, procurement reform, open data, transition to Cloud, data centre consolidation, and cyber security.
“This work will help to frame a new approach to digital innovation across government in 2016,” he said.
Back in August, he revealed the NSW Data Analytics Centre (DAC), which enables better data sharing across agencies for strategic decision making. It is being developed within the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation with Dr Ian Oppermann, former CSIRO Director of Digital Productivity Division, appointed as expert adviser to lead the development phase of the DAC.
The updated document states it will work closely with the ICT sector to test its ideas, seek expert advice and achieve better value for money in procurement.
“Government will improve organisational productivity through coordinated ICT investment, smart procurement, and by leveraging emerging technologies, cloud, and networked computing,” the document said. “Government will continue to engage with industry, from start-ups to global businesses, to grow the local digital economy. Smart government is made possible by people with the right skills and capabilities working in agile ICT environments.”
Some of the initiatives the government is looking to implement include a Service NSW payment services platform that will consolidate payments processing.
A NSW Digital Licence Program will also be established to make licenses available on a mobile device such as a smartphone. Customers will be able to apply, receive, update, show and renew their licenses on a mobile device.
It will be delivered in two stages. First will act as a proof of concept, developing the technical platform and providing access to a range of commonly used licences that aren’t used for proof of identity purposes. The second stage involves access to more complex licences such as the Driver Licence.
It is also developing a NSW Customer Dashboard; open government initiatives; implementation of the NSW Government telecommunications strategy as well as establish a whole of government approach for project identification, selection, design, management and benefits realisation for ICT projects.
