Published on the 22/06/2016 | Written by Beverley Head
NSW has unveiled a series of digital and innovation focused investments in this week’s Budget as it tilts for the smarter state soubriquet…
Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian said that NSW was now the engine room of the national economy and the infrastructure capital of Australia, while it was also “leading the way in service delivery and innovation.”
With a surplus of $3.4 billion this year, and $3.7 billion forecast for next year, Sydney has become Australia’s construction and infrastructure mecca.
Mention in the budget of innovation and digital infrastructure made a refreshing change; last week speaking at the AFR’s Infrastructure Summit both the Treasurer and NSW Premier, Mike Baird, seemed wedded to the notion that investing in infrastructure was all about bricks and mortar, train lines and transport. Neither of them spent any time at all discussing the digital infrastructure the State needs to support innovating businesses and start ups.
This week however there was a welcome change in tone.
Budget measures included $415 million to Service NSW which has transformed the way people engage with multiple Government services, in one stop shops or tech-enabled pop ups in shopping centres, and $12.3 million for the digital driving licence initiative which allows some NSW licences to be renewed online.
Separately $241 million will continue the rollout of shared corporate support and services to a number of Government agencies, including ICT services; private sector companies will also be invited to tender to government if they can deliver higher service quality at lower cost. A further $69 million is intended to create new strategies that will ensure “better value service delivery from ICT across government,” according to a statement from innovation minister Victor Dominello.
The NSW Data Analytics Centre (DAC) has also received $17 million over four years to continue its work providing data driven insights to help inform policymaking. Ten data analytics projects have already begun including analysing the call out rate by NSW Fire and Rescue and the number of false alarms they attend; understanding commuter needs in off-peak hour travel time; identifying buildings at risk from non-compliant cladding; and identifying property overcrowding.
In other IT related initiatives $65 million has been set aside for the Critical Communications Enhancement programme to support emergency services communications, and legacy hasn’t been forgotten – $35 million has been earmarked for State Records, with which it can digitise at-risk archives and records.
A range of new and ongoing health technology projects including Digital Patient Records and the Electronic Medications Management System received funding while in education the Budget allocated $257 million for school IT works and $334 million for TAFE constriction and IT projects.
