Tag: DTO

Digital Transformation Gets A Budget Boost

Following the earlier announcement to create a Digital Transformation Office, it now has a formal budget as last night the Treasurer directed more than $250m to the creation of the programme. The aim of the initiative is to recast Government service delivery digitally.  The DTO will be responsible for digital service delivery across government. The DTO will lead and coordinate the government’s digital transformation and will work with government agencies as they invest in the technology that will underpin digital services. The DTO will not just be about user friendly websites. The DTO has been established to deliver digital by default and to make services simpler. The DTO will act as a digital champion across government and help agencies with limited digital expertise realise the benefits of digital government. Government agencies will retain responsibility for ICT investment decisions that do not relate to citizen focused digital service delivery. A recently released schematic tells the story.

User Needs

The budget included funding of $95.3 million has been allocated to establish the DTO as a standalone agency from 1 July and $159.3 million will be used to deliver phase one of the Digital Transformation Agenda. This involves progressing work in five key areas:

  1. The Digital Service Standard outlines a digital by design approach to government services. The standard will ensure that all new and redesigned services are designed consistently and will be simpler and easier to use.
  2. The Trusted Digital Identity Framework will give users choice and control if they choose to establish a digital identity. The use of digital identities will improve access to services, new products and markets for consumers and industry.
  3. New and improved services for individuals that will improve the quality of online interactions with government. They include a Tell Us Once capability to update your personal details once across government, enhancements to the digital inbox through myGov, and a new voice identification service for identity.
  4. Businesses will also receive new and improved services, including Tell Us Once for businesses and a new digital mailbox, which will be accessed with a wider range of credentials.
  5. The Better Grants Administration initiative will streamline the administration of grants and reduce work for grants applicants. Two grants administration hubs will be developed, savings applicants and recipients time and money by enabling them to discover, register, and prequalify for grants that match their profile.​

They plan to engage with individuals and businesses, and state and territory and local governments as work on the agenda moves into full gear.

Australia to Launch A “Digital Transformation Office”, But With No Budget

The Commonwealth Government will establish a Digital Transformation Office (DTO) within the Department of Communications so that government services can be delivered digitally from start to finish and better serve the needs of citizens and businesses according to a joint statement from the Prime minister Tony Abbott and communications minister Malcolm Turnbul.

The DTO will comprise a small team of developers, designers, researchers and content specialists working across government to develop and coordinate the delivery of digital services. The DTO will operate more like a start-up than a traditional government agency, focussing on end-user needs in developing digital services.

The DTO will use technology to make services simpler, clearer and faster for Australian families and businesses.

People need to be able to transact services and access information anytime, anywhere. Like any other service industry, government should design its services in the most user friendly way. Interacting with government should be as easy as Internet banking or ordering a taxi through an app.

One of the DTO’s first tasks will be to ensure people no longer have to complete separate log on processes for each government service.  Instead, people should have a ‘digital identity’, which they can use to log in to each of their services across the government.

The DTO will also work closely with State and Territory Governments to identify opportunities for collaboration, including ways to make better use of myGov.

By designing digital services that are consistent and simple to use, fewer people will need to come into a shopfront or make a phone call.

The Government is committed to protecting the personal information it holds about individuals and businesses. Maintaining the security and privacy of personal information is a vital consideration for the DTO.

It is worth noting that there is no new budget for the DTO, “the government already has significant expenditure on service delivery and it is anticipated that much of the DTO’s work will be funded through existing expenditure”.