Transformation happens quickly. Ten years ago, we were without iPads, we'd only just gotten maps on mobiles, and you wouldn't have dreamed of organising a stranger to drive you home using a clever phone.
Digital transformation in government moves just as fast. And it's about improving lives. Your public transport journey was vastly different ten years ago to what it is now. Navigating court processes has changed. Even the experience of working inside government has changed - teams have implemented agile ways of working, there are accelerators and social media teams embedded within departments. It's a brave new world.
But what does the future of digital transformation and customer experience look like in government? Is it embracing innovation? Learning from tech giants and start-ups? Moving away from analogue systems? We asked three thought leaders to share their vision for what transformation looks like to them.
Stephanie Salter, Director, Transport Digital Accelerator at Transport NSW
We are in a unique position at the Transport Digital Accelerator. We are on the leading edge of technology that will impact how people move through NSW. The responsibility to ensure we deliver the best service for our customers is immense and it gives me a great sense of pride that I play a part in this process.
We are on the verge of the fourth Industrial Revolution; automation and AI will transform what we do and how we travel and navigate spaces. The innovation in technology and the promise it brings to solve some tricky problems in NSW is transformational.
Working with start-ups and industry to help solve some of these problems and make our cities more liveable is an exciting space to be playing in.
Michelle Michael, Director, Learning Systems at the NSW Department of Education
We live in an age driven by the digital revolution. The NSW Department of Education (DoE) is the largest education system in Australia and one of the largest in the world. Operating 2,200 public schools for almost 800,000 students, with over 46,000 learning spaces, brings unique and exciting digital transformation challenges. In schools across NSW, we see examples of extraordinary, transformational and visionary teaching and learning practice. In these schools, leaders and communities succeed because they have embraced deep transformation; not just of technology, but of their school organisation, structure, culture and systems too. They have adopted a holistic perspective to student learning, which allows teachers to create a more personalised learning experience. Simply implementing technology without real purpose rarely succeeds. Placing the educational and emotional needs of students at the centre of all transformational thinking and delivery is critical to preparing our students for an increasingly complex and digitally integrated future.
Leveraging data and analytics presents us with opportunities to create new sources of understandings about how our students learn and their unique learning needs. This understanding will bring a new dimension to the teaching and learning experience by identifying gaps and empowering educators to act on them using seamless digital interfaces and feedback-driven individualised content.
Gordon Dunsford, Chief Information and Technology Officer, NSW Police Force
The opportunities for a fantastic customer digital experience in government is huge here in NSW. Putting the customer at the centre of everything we do in Government and of course at NSW Police Force is our priority.
For us that's about having an experience with our services that's seamless or joined up with other partners across NSW government. When it comes to transactional services, we've been working hard on programs including with Customer Services to have a consistent digital user experience with us.
We have a Strategic Action Plan that includes focusing on improving the digital experience for front-line Police. This means keeping Police in the community with the technology tools supporting citizens, which means keeping our community even safer, as opposed to making unnecessary journeys back and forth to a Police Station. Our mobility program delivered through MobiPol means Police have the technology tools to work smarter and faster. What's next - well that's how we adopt technology innovations at speed. This builds on projects like MobiPol and Body-Worn Video, including programs such as the Connected Officer, which will facilitate the Police Officer of the future. These projects keep Police health and wellbeing as a priority and keep the community even safer.
Stephanie, Michelle and Gordon will be speaking on a panel about digital transformation and customer experience at the Digital.NSW Showcase on 12 September. The event brings together government and industry leaders to talk about what digital looks like now and into the future. Attendance is free for public servants, academics and non-profit employees.