NSW is planning to better coordinate technology and cyber security spending across government with its first digital strategy since 2019.
Jihad Dib, Customer Services and Digital Government minister
Under the strategy, the government plans to “reduce duplication” of spending and offer “an enhanced approach to cyber security coordination, governance and investment”.
Key components of the strategy have already been announced, including the NSW Digital ID and NSW Digital Wallet and, most recently, the state’s artificial intelligence assurance framework.
Speaking to iTnews, Customer Services and Digital Government minister Jihad Dib said AI would play a role in helping “productivity [and] reduc[ing] duplication” but would be used ethically.
“We’ll think about this in terms of some of the form filling, for example,” he said.
“You think about how many different times you might do a form, even if it’s a digital form. You populate all the fields, then you go to another department agency, and you’ve got to redo the same thing all over again. There’s that duplication.
“We may have agencies that could share information. Of course, all of that would be quite transparent.
“It’s about having to stop expecting people to retell the same story and same information over and over again.”
Dib’s strategy builds on the ‘Beyond Digital’ strategy launched by former minister Victor Dominello five years ago.
In tandem with the official digital strategy is a separate digital inclusion strategy, which homes in on barriers to services around digital skills and trust in digitalisation.
Other developments the strategy covers are improvements made to the NSW Planning Portal and the development of the Digital Housing Pipeline, the Hazards Near Me app and the Athena Bush Fire Intelligence.
“The NSW digital strategy lays the foundation for a future for digital services that are more secure, inclusive and accessible, and is a commitment to improving people’s daily lives,” Dib said in a statement.
“This strategy is about more than just technology— it’s about people and how we build world-class digital services that strengthen our communities while supporting economic growth.”
Last year, Dib announced plans to re-gear the government’s digital restart fund into more of an innovation support mechanism, narrowing the types of projects it backs to those with clear benefits for the community.
The new direction moved backend project work off the table, except “projects aimed at reducing cyber security risk”.