Representatives from the biggest technology companies and leading universities convened in Sydney on Wednesday to discuss New South Wales’ next blueprint for digital services.
Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, SAP and Salesforce were among the tech giants invited to the roundtable, which was also attended by Sydney’s four biggest universities and the Australian Information Industry Association.
Customer Service and Digital Government minister Jihad Dib, who hosted the roundtable, committed to a new digital strategy in November last year, with AI, cybersecurity, digital credentials and inclusion expected to be the core themes.
The pledge came just weeks after the government unveiled a Budget with no new funding for the state’s $2.2 billion Digital Restart Fund (DRF), with the focus of the remaining $100 million narrowed in response to the budgetary challenges.
The government has not updated its digital strategy since before the pandemic, when the DRF contained only $100 million, the Department of Customer Service was still in its infancy, and Glady’s Berejiklian was Premier.
But NSW, widely considered the example of government digital services, has retained its lead over other states and the Commonwealth over the last four years, according to Intermedium’s Digital Government Readiness and Maturity Indicator.
Recent key initiatives include digital identity, which the government has forged ahead with in recent months. In December, the first digital verification service for renewing Working with Childrens Checks launched.
At the roundtable on Wednesday, selected leaders from industry and academia joined Mr Dib to discuss new ways to harness technology to improve service delivery, ensuring the strategy continues to meet the state’s needs.
Mr Dib said the roundtable would “capture input from experts across the sector and allow us to share the government’s research and thinking”, ahead of the arrival of the new strategy later this year.
Representatives from AWS, AIIA, Telstra, Microsoft, ServiceNow, HP, Salesforce, Oracle, SAP, the University of NSW, University of Technology Sydney, University of Western Sydney and the University of Sydney were invited to participate.
“Today’s conversation is a valuable opportunity to work with industry experts as we shape the new State Digital Strategy to best meet the evolving needs of our communities,” Mr Dib said in a statement.
Mr Dib said the strategy would “help guide investment to deliver on government priorities and allow more people across the state to benefit from digital initiatives”, as well as response to rapid shift in technology, most recently generative AI.
“As technology evolves, it will also help ensure the NSW Government is ready to meet the resulting changes and challenges so we can continue to deliver safe, resilient services and build a digitally innovative future,” he said.
