Navigating Australia to the trusted digital services of the future

Across the world, governments are increasingly making moves to digitise their operations and services more rapidly. While there is widespread understanding that governments need to innovate and adapt at-scale, many are struggling to strike a balance between digital transformation and maintaining public trust. The concept of a “trusted digital service” has emerged as a key feature of effective government, most notably the need to develop and retain trust in the public sector. Implementing trusted digital services should be a government imperative – according to IBM’s white paper,?Charting the Course to Tomorrows Trusted Digital Services, countries that lead the world in digital transformation identified trust as key to their success, coupled with the ability of technologies to pave the way for new approaches to governance.

The Australian Government has long been a leader in technology deployment and is continuing to work hard to build trusted digital government services. In August, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese?restated?his focus?on renewing public trust, specifically the need for the government to prove it could deliver for people. But there’s still a long way to go –?the latest OECD data?shows just four in 10 Australians trust the federal government, with many reporting that they weren’t confident it had the ability to improve public services, or to think innovatively when it comes to improvement. The data points to a serious national trust issue – one that has the potential to affect overall government performance if not addressed.

A thorough understanding of the drivers of the trust economy is critical to the government’s ability to chart a successful digital transformation course. There needs to be a commitment to improving competence, reliability and responsiveness, while maintaining public expectations around openness, fairness and integrity. Balancing these factors will safeguard trust in the establishment as a whole, while also helping agencies better serve the Australian community.?

Post-pandemic, Australians expect more from the public sector, and as a result, the federal government must find a way to manage these increasing expectations whilst also keeping a close eye on fiscal and inflationary pressures. Digital tools are key to helping build closer relationships – they can enhance the user experience, unite communities in a crisis and ultimately, build and maintain trust. Digital transformation must focus on improving the customer experience and leaders need to ensure that the end-to-end customer journey is easy and convenient. Importantly, governments need to identify and resolve any pain points before new digital services are released. It’s all part of building the trust economy, making it easy for people to navigate systems, by directly involving them in the transformation process.

Central to long-term success is also enhancing cross-departmental cooperation, particularly when it comes to data security and service delivery. One of the biggest challenges the Australian Government faces is increasing threats to its cyber security, and the effect of a potential breach on overarching public trust. Recent data breaches in Australia are prime examples of the sensitive nature of the trust economy and the need for leaders to prioritise digital security to maintain public confidence. Critical to this is ensuring agencies work closely together, improving collaboration and information sharing across government, as well as collaborating effectively with the private sector.

The ongoing review of legislation, policy and regulation is also critical to transformation. Outdated underlying regulations that were built for a different era can often hinder development of new industries, hence regular policy reviews must focus on creating an environment where co-ordination and collaboration can thrive. Regular reviews in areas including privacy, cybersecurity, data management are becoming increasingly important as technology changes the way in which organisations operate.?

Finally, leaders must embrace an “agile mindset” when it comes to digital transformation. They need to be fluid, hyper responsive, and flexible in their decision making. The focus needs to be on perpetually innovating to deliver more customer value, and collaborating across an interactive network, enabling leaders and their agencies to rapidly adapt to changes in the marketplace and customer needs. The Australian Federal Government is in a good position to adjust its thinking – its leaders already have a solid reputation globally for their use and delivery of technology; but maintaining this leadership will require continual agility. Leaders need to be open to adapting and looking at other nations’ successes to guide their decisions; along with greater focus on strengthening workforce capability in order to thrive in a digital-first world. It’s a difficult line to walk – many current government operations are based on legacy systems, exacerbated by a fear of challenging the status quo. To chart a successful course of action for establishing trusted digital services requires innovation, foresight, an appreciation of the desired end point, along with a plan on how to get there.?

Australia has an ambitious digital transformation agenda. Notwithstanding the great gains made to date, the speed of progress must continue to gain pace if this agenda is to be achieved.?A 2020 study on the digital evolution?of nations globally characterised Australia as a “stall out,” with less momentum for advancement compared to several other countries worldwide. It comes at a time when Australians are crying out for digital change – recent survey results show that 92% of Australians want?more?government digital services. All of this points to the Australian Government needing to prioritise continuous progress in driving digital transformation across the board. There are positive signs that the government understands this need, and if the pace of digital transformation is enhanced, the prospects for Australia’s digital future as one of the world’s leading digital governments?are promising.?

Nicholas Flood

Managing Director

IBM Australia & New Zealand