AIIA welcomes government's digital agenda expansion

The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) has welcomed the government’s decision to expand its digital agenda with the upgrade of the Digital Transformation Office to the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).

AIIA CEO Rob Fitzpatrick said the government recognises the imperative to improve its digital capabilities to respond to citizen demand.

“Australians expect the same level of service and digital capability from their government as they receive in their day-to-day lives from the private sector,” he said.

“We welcome these changes as a step in the right direction towards improving our government’s digital capabilities, which should ultimately drive efficiencies between departments, save costs, deliver better services and save our time.”

A small, high-calibre program management office within the DTA will manage strategy and integration of the digital transformation agenda across all of government, as well as a digital transformation advisory board containing both private and public sector expertise.

“Any transformation such as this is a massive undertaking, so I applaud the inclusion of the program management office and the emphasis on strategic change and implementation in order to ensure long-term success,” Fitzpatrick said.

“The AIIA accepts [assistant mister for digital transformation Angus Taylor’s] request to bring industry’s voice to the table to ensure effective public and private sector collaboration. I particularly welcome the assistant minister’s comments to make more information and data available so that industry can help government drive innovation, resulting in a better outcome for government services.”

Pictured: AIIA CEO Rob Fitzpatrick.