NSW digital strategy outlines clear actions for government agencies

The government of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia today launched the NSW Digital Strategy, a new roadmap for digitalisation in the state.

The NSW government has a reputation for leading the way for digitalisation in the country. It was the first in the world to have embarked on responsible artificial intelligence (AI) efforts before the advent of ChatGPT, and one of the first to roll out digital licencing.

The NSW government is also the country’s largest employer, employing more than 400,000 people, and so its digital transformation policies are key in terms of impact on the country.

Led by Digital NSW, the state’s lead digital government agency, the new strategy is underpinned by five missions, namely accessibility, productivity, trust, resilience and skills, that will define digital government services.

The Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, Jihad Dib, highlighted that the public sector should prioritise making it easier for people to engage and transact with the government through digital means.

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A whole-of-government approach

Key to the strategy launch is the commitments section, which outlines clear actions and timeframes that the NSW government agencies have agreed to work on.

“The real-world application of the NSW Digital Strategy will be measured through the ‘commitments’ embedded in the strategy,” said NSW government Chief Information and Digital Officer, Laura Christie, in an official statement.

The commitments are also tied back to one or more missions in the strategy, and given different priority levels.

The government agencies involved in this strategy are wide-ranging and diverse - from housing, climate change and resource management, transport, justice, to treasury and more.

“This strategy embeds digital in delivering all-of-government priorities in a way we haven’t really seen before,” she explained.

Some of the commitments that are classified as high priority include updating the NSW AI and cloud policies, driving a shared services reform across the public sector, and reporting outcomes from its National Disability Data Asset (NDDA).

GovInsider earlier did a profile story of NDDA’s lead, Australia’s Department of Social Services (DSS) Branch Manager of Data Access, Kayelle Drinkwater.

Measuring progress is key

The NSW government emphasised the need to remain relevant to keep up with the rapidly changing digital landscape.

The strategy highlighted two timelines – one short-term and one long-term – to report outcomes of the NSW digital government, and revise the strategy whenever needed.

The short-term timeline is a “minor release” of reported outcomes every budget cycle to align with the digital priorities of the NSW government, while the long-term one refers to a “major release” every 18 months to reflect new digital department strategies, technologies and trends.

For next year’s (2025-26) budget, the NSW government plans to introduce the NSW Performance and Wellbeing Framework, which enables agencies to measure public service delivery and track the overall quality of life of NSW residents.

The government emphasised that it would then align its digital strategy with the framework to find opportunities to digitally improve the lives of people in NSW.

“We can measure the impact of digital on the delivery of outcomes identified in the framework,” it stated.

The progress of the commitments will be tracked and measured every year and would include case studies.

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A focus on digital to deliver public policy goals

The strategy reiterated the importance of tapping on digital means to achieve the NSW government’s broader priorities, which include building better homes, essential services and better communities in the region.

The official website details the existing tech efforts in the priority areas, and related commitments around what else can be done moving forward.

For example, in the priority area of better homes, existing efforts include a grant programme that incentivises NSW council for being early adopters of AI, recognising AI’s potential to improve efficiency of applications processing, and user experience during process.

Moving forward, the government may consider redesigning the planning portal to enhance user-centricity and accessibility to streamline the development approval processes.

You can access the NSW Digital Strategy here.