Case studies

Addressing the digital divide between rural and metropolitan NSW public schools

The Rural Access Gap program was set up to address the growing digital divide between metropolitan and rural, regional and remote public schools in NSW. The program, supported by the Digital Restart fund, aimed to provide schools with learning and education opportunities equivalent to their metropolitan counterparts, through modern IT equipment, collaboration tools and professional learning, and upgraded infrastructure to provide faster and more reliable internet access.

Helping people build and buy digital products and services that everyone can use

The Accessibility and Inclusivity Toolkit can be used by agencies and communities to make sure digital products and services meet accessibility guidelines, so everyone can access them. This promotes inclusivity, equal access to information and digital opportunities.

Making digital connectivity throughout the state world-leading, affordable and resilient

The NSW Digital Connectivity Index, launched by the NSW Telco Authority with support from the Department of Customer Service Spatial Services, is an interactive map measuring digital connectivity quality through access, affordability, and demographics, using 220 million datasets. It helps government agencies and communities make informed decisions, prioritise digital inclusion, and guide infrastructure investments.

An index score measures the quality of digital connectivity in an area. The higher the score, the more favourable the conditions of digital activities are in an area. NSW has an overall index score of 55. 

NSW Health’s secure virtual platform for clinical consultations

eHealth NSW collaborated with the Agency for Clinical Innovation to create a secure virtual platform for clinicians, patients, and carers. They gathered user requirements and piloted the platform with six health districts in 2019 before its statewide launch in September 2020. Leveraging existing videoconferencing services, they enhanced capacity to support widespread virtual care.

The platform streamlined clinical workflows, offered improved monitoring and reporting, and improved access to interpreter services statewide. There have been 300,000+ virtual consultations conducted in total and 16,000+ virtual consultations a month.

Breaking down barriers to digital inclusion

The NSW Government is developing the first Digital Inclusion Strategy in our state. The strategy aims to ensure everyone in NSW can access, afford, and engage with digital technologies and services. The strategy will address challenges and provide support regardless of location, age, race, gender identity, socio-economic status or disability.

The Digital Inclusion Strategy aims to support the 60% of Australians who feel they can’t keep up with rapid changes in technology.

Supporting older people in NSW with access to low-cost or free digital literacy training

This NSW Government initiative, in partnership with Telstra, provides low cost or free training sessions for older people to build confidence using online services. The low-cost or free digital literacy training at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels includes the use of computers, tablets, smartphones and online applications such as email, social media and cyber safety. Digital inclusion helps seniors to be active and independent members of their immediate and broader communities.

Trialling a purpose-built AI tool for educational use in schools

The NSW Department of Education has developed NSWEduChat, a purpose-built generative AI tool for educational use in schools. NSWEduChat is currently the safest and most cost-effective generative AI tool available for our schools and staff. NSWEduChat is based in our own cloud environment in Sydney, Australia, data is secure, caters to the NSW educational context and aligns to the NSW AI Assessment Framework.

Key features of NSWEduChat include advanced safeguards, such as content filtering, topic restriction, and moderation, to ensure a safe learning environment. The tool encourages critical thinking by guiding students to reason through questions rather than providing direct answers, fostering a deeper understanding of educational material. 

Supported by Professional Learning resources and technical assistance, the trial will be closely monitored to inform the future direction of AI integration in NSW public schools. This initiative reflects a commitment to transparency, continuous improvement, and the ethical use of AI.

Streamlining policy access for school staff with AI

The NSWEduChat Policy Finder is an AI-driven tool designed to expedite the process of locating information within policy and procedure documents for school staff. This innovative tool leverages AI technology to answer queries by extracting relevant content from the documents and directing users to the original sources. The Policy Finder aims to enhance efficiency and support informed decision-making among school staff by significantly reducing the time and effort required to find specific policy details.

The project is set to begin a trial phase, during which its effectiveness and user experience will be closely monitored. Based on the trial results, decisions will be made regarding the expansion of the trial to include a larger number of participants. This initiative reflects the NSW Department of Education's commitment in leveraging advanced technology to improve administrative processes and support the smooth operation of educational institutions. The ultimate goal is to streamline access to crucial information, thereby empowering school staff to perform their roles more effectively and efficiently.

Land iQ is designed to improve the planning system by helping NSW government agencies make faster, smarter decisions about the use of land

It’s a living platform designed to continue to evolve and adapt to the future needs of users, leveraging new digital resources as they become available. It’s available to NSW Government agencies while we continue to refine the tool and develop license options to make it available to other levels of government, councils, Local Aboriginal Land Councils, researchers and industry.

• Data library – A comprehensive spatial and government data library including typology assumptions sourced from relevant delivery entities (e.g. School Infrastructure, Health Infrastructure, Landcom).
• Site search – Advanced multiple-criteria site searching including ownership, size, planning controls, and proximity to services, infrastructure, amenities, constraints and more.
• Geocentric analysis – A comprehensive analysis of a particular location against benchmarks and other geographies.
• Scenario planning – Land use scenario analysis to understand impact of change in use across social, economic, environmental and financial metrics.

Testing innovative technology to improve public safety in crowded places

Funded by the Digital Restart Fund (DRF), the Creating Safer Crowded Places project is an example of the NSW Government’s commitment to using innovative technology to drive real impact in the community. This innovative platform draws data from the CCTV network, social media, and environmental systems to generate insights on crowd behaviour and mood while ensuring visitor anonymity.

Using AI to revolutionise road maintenance and operations

Asset AI® is helping the NSW Government and local councils make roads safer by using near-real-time data to streamline road maintenance tasks.

Sensors and cameras are fixed to council vehicles to collect information about the roads. This data is then analysed using artificial intelligence. The insights will help find and fix problems on the roads faster, making them safer for drivers and pedestrians.

Building strong digital foundations

The State Digital Assets (SDA) Reuse Policy promotes and governs the reuse of SDAs across all NSW Government portfolios and agencies. SDAs are digital solutions used by more than one NSW Government agency and encompass applications, technology infrastructure and data. They are the building blocks of efficient, proactive, customised and seamless government services.

Actionable strategies to enhance security and reduce costs by reducing legacy technology in NSW

Digital NSW have completed a State of NSW Legacy Report, which will help address the challenge of ensuring agencies have the right technology to meet their objectives through actionable strategies to enhance security, reduce costs and guide investments to reduce legacy technology.

The Process and Technology Harmonisation Program

Consolidating multiple finance and technology systems to simplify our corporate and shared service system and support through the Process and Technology Harmonisation (PaTH) program.

A Digital Platform to share Evidence to multi-agencies

A digital platform to collect evidence from multiple sources and share it with relevant stakeholders in the public safety and justice agencies in NSW. The system will provide access to all the actors in the justice process from NSWPF, DCJ, ODPP, Courts, Legal Aid and Solicitors to all the evidence and case briefings digitally allowing the interactions between these stakeholders in a safe and secure environment. The system will provide content digitally and will save time and improve efficiencies in Justice process and proceedings.