Can you tell us about your organisation and its purpose?
The Digital Strategy, Investment and Assurance (DSIA) branch is positioned within Digital.NSW and is home to the Digital Restart Fund (DRF). The DSIA branch commenced in 2017 to provide ICT Assurance for projects and programs across NSW Government above $10 million. The assurance 'coaching' service has been extremely successful in assisting projects across Government deliver outcomes for customers and is core to our branch value offer.
DSIA has grown to become a key driver of digital transformation in NSW Government, implementing foundational reforms guided by the 2019 NSW Digital Blueprint. Central to this agenda was the need to fix a broken funding system, which led to the establishment of the $2.2 billion-dollar Digital Restart Fund (DRF).
The impact we have on NSW Government and customers is considerable, and the future opportunity for the branch is enormous. We are uniquely positioned at the centre of Government, able to provide insight, advice and influence through strategy, architecture, investment, assurance and transformation services. Ultimately, we are driving digital change in NSW.
Our purpose is to:
- Drive strategic decisions on investments across NSW Government. Setting shared vision, partnering with departments to converge strategies and roadmaps; driving sustainability
- Guiding Investment Priorities. ensuring whole of government strategies deliver priorities and investment decisions through governance and the administration of the DRF, and through the prioritisation and pipeline process
- Delivering sustainability by moving toward cross government shared assets and ensuring priority legacy technology is being planned and funded
- Delivering project success. Shaping, assessing, and assuring digital and ICT projects, supporting sponsors through expert advice and providing government with confidence in the delivery of the Digital and ICT Portfolio
- Partnering with projects and departments to assist with digital transformation and reshaping their organisations, building their businesses by creating adaptive teams that can respond to change through agility.
Who are your key customers?
We have a Whole of Government remit and we deliver B2B services. Our vision is to accelerate digital transformation to make NSW a great place to live and work, therefore, any team across NSW Government undertaking digital or ICT based projects or initiatives, are our key customers. We encourage all teams to visit Digital.NSW to learn how DSIA can assist. As the DSIA branch is home to the DRF, key customers typically include, but are not limited to, project sponsors and teams managing digital projects supported by the DRF and of course Cabinet.
What are the key strategic objectives of your branch?
We have four strategic objectives to achieve our DSIA branch vision of accelerating digital transformation across NSW. These include:
- Drive government strategic alignment to increase reuse, customer outcomes & reduce legacy
- Accelerate investments and ensure projects deliver the greatest customer impact
- Transform and develop our people and capability
- Transform the way governments works to solve problems
What are you most proud of this year?
I'm most proud of how the DSIA branch have rallied together this year in the face of major change. The digital landscape is fast paced, and change is constant. This year, we have reviewed the branch operating model, to ensure we as a branch are best positioned to accelerate digital transformation, create real customer value, and become a trusted digital partner across NSW Government well into the future.
The efforts across the branch can't be faulted. The resilience, optimism and agility shown has been encouraging and our focus on placing our customers at the heart of everything we do has been a shining light. I'm encouraged by the progress across the branch and for what the future holds. We have transitioned to an agile methodology and are already seeing improved ways of working at scale. I am looking forward to partnering with more agencies across Government, bringing them on the journey with us.
What are your headwinds?
If we are going to stay ahead and digitally transform as a government - which we must do, we are going to need to do a number of things including modernising our legacy systems, investing in common and core technologies (State Digital Assets), continuing to innovate e.g., smart places, offer more digital products and services and uplift capabilities in digital and areas like cyber - we need a sustainable and reliable funding source to achieve this, which continues to be our focus.
Most visited App?
Spotify, Flipboard and WhatsApp. I'm a big Tom Petty fan, but like Indie music generally. I'm currently into War on Drugs.
On weekends, I enjoy
I'm a keen cyclist, mountain biker and golfer. On the weekends you could find me in the Blue Mountains on my mountain bike or my favourite golf course in NSW is Twin Creeks. My goal one day is to ride Blue Derby in Tasmania.
I also quite like some pottering in the garden and enjoying the local cuisine and entertainment of the Inner West with family and friends.