Greg Mace (Veritec)
Local IT solutions provider Veritec has rolled out a new digital platform for the federal government’s Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment (DAWE) aimed at streamlining the application process for waste exporters under a new recycling regime.
Thanks to the government’s Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020, which was passed into law late last year, from 1 January this year, any business that wants to export waste glass must apply for a licence from the Department.
The Act was brought in to reduce the environmental and other impacts of products and waste material, and for related purposes.
However, the reforms required DAWE to create a new digital platform to streamline the application process for both exporters and Department personnel, while keeping data secure and private.
Working with Veritec, a Microsoft partner, the Department rapidly developed a Dynamics 365-based solution, with the initial prototype rolled out in roughly three months.
“We worked closely together as a team to use Dynamics 365’s out of the box capabilities to develop a plan and a minimal viable product,” Veritec CEO Greg Mace said.
Broadly, DAWE uses Dynamics 365 and SharePoint to create a secure library that authorised users can access to track past activity and licences. The platform went live in time for the first waste glass export licences to be granted at the start of the year.
According to Dennis Foden, acting Assistant Secretary of the Architecture and Engagement Branch, the project came with a tight timeline.
“We had 91 working days to build and test our portal system for the multiple stakeholders involved in this including DAWE, the Australian Border Force (ABF), and waste exporters,” he said.
Indeed, the project was being rolled out as the policy details and legislation were still being developed in parallel with the digital platform being developed – along with the background disruption presented by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Maggie Tattersall, acting director for the CRM delivery team at DAWE, the Department of Agriculture had deployed Dynamics 365 prior to becoming part of DAWE early last year, which smoothed the way for the latest program of work.
Working with Veritec, DAWE mapped out how a Dynamics 365 customer relationship management (CRM) system would provide a user-friendly mobile-accessible portal for exporters to register, to create an application detailing their business, waste processing and intended market.
The applications needed to be submitted along with any evidence attached. The system would then need to provide the exporter with the necessary licence or rejection advice. At the back end, the system also needed to manage the workflow associated with the licence application as it was assessed.
Besides streamlining the application for, and granting of, export licences and declarations, the system would provide detailed national-level data on exports of waste in near real time.
Looking forward, the system’s scope will be expanded to provide licences for other waste materials which, over the next couple of years, will also need to comply with the new legislation.
“Beyond this Waste Export project, Microsoft and Veritec continue to work closely together on multiple initiatives across the Department,” Mace said.
“What we are starting to see now is a consistent best practice agile approach to how Dynamics 365 can shape and streamline internal business operations and drive better engagement with the millions of Australians that engage with the platforms we are building together,” he added.
In January this year, it was revealed that Veritec had joined a consortium of providers to build the federal government's New Employment Services Model (NESM) digital service for the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE).
Led by DXC Technology, the consortium of partners and technology vendors was to be responsible for delivering the platform built on Microsoft Dynamics 365.
