Australian states have pushed through funding to drive technology innovation across the country.
The state of New South Wales announced the Government was investing more than A$700 million in this year’s Budget to expand the digital capabilities of the state and build new and flexible ways of delivering services everywhere from classrooms and living rooms to courtrooms.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the funding formed part of the Government’s A$1.6 billion Digital Restart Fund and will be used to boost regional and remote education improve cyber security, enhance NSW Courts and enhance ePlanning.
“COVID-19 has shown us just how important it is to have the digital infrastructure and the skills to match for a modern flexible society,” Berejiklian said.
“Streamlining and enhancing our digital capabilities improves efficiencies, makes our lives simpler and ultimately saves everyone time and money.”
A key component of the A$700 million funding contained in the upcoming Budget is A$366 million to close the digital gap in schools in rural and remote areas.
The NSW Government’s digital investment initiatives include:
- A$240 million over three years for cyber security maturity uplift, including an initial A$20 million (A$60 million over three years) investment in Cyber Security NSW, to help boost cyber security across agencies and departments
- A$366 million over two years to retool regional schools, upgrade learning spaces, upskill teachers and give students cutting edge distance education platforms and digital education resources
- A$54.5 million for the Digital Courts Reform project which will help to digitise courts and tribunals, enhance efficiency, improve customer experience, reduce technology risk and improve business continuity and build data capability
- A$45.8 million for ePlanning Phase 4 to be delivered over the next three years.
- Phase 4 will continue to enhance the quality and reliability of planning data, working to reduce assessment timeframes, cut red tape and costs for business
- A$17.5 over two years (including $13.6 million in 2020-2) for the Assured Revenue program to make the lodgement and collection of revenue simpler.
The state of South Australia, the Government has announced the South Australian Digital Restart Fund as the state positions itself as a leader in driving innovation and technology for the country.
The Government’s A$120 million investment signals the importance of digital transformation and sovereignty as a key priority for the state with funds going towards projects that support an improved digital experience and further access to both businesses and individuals.
The funding will be used for:
- Skills information system upgrade in Department for Innovation and Skills to enable improved service delivery, data management and productivity.
- Upgrade the Audio-Visual Link capability across the justice sector to enable more services and court proceedings to be undertaken remotely.
- Transition a range of government services onto a new portal providing a more user-friendly single point of entry customer interface to government.
- Upgrade and replace the current Consumer and Business Services systems supporting increased online access to Consumer and Business Services functions for businesses and individuals.
- Ticketing system enhancements to enable a ‘tap on’ facility for debit and credit cards in addition to the existing Metrocard facility used on public transport.
- Reforms to enable electronic roll mark-off in polling and pre-polling booths, an online portal for candidate lodgments, and the ability to apply for a postal vote online.
- Converting Births, Deaths and Marriages records to electronic records. Improving public access to records dating back to 1842.
- Replace the Public Trustee customer relationship management system improving services for customers.
