DTO explores whole-of-govt service analytics

The federal, New South Wales and ACT governments have announced separate IT projects aimed at improving the efficiency of government departments.

The federal Digital Transformation Office (DTO) is working on a whole-of-government approach to using analytics to improve the experience of interacting with government, the agency said in a blog post.

Service analytics hold the key to this, the post states. Service analytics comprise tools including web statistics from analytics tools, anonymised application logs, as well as social media, search and helpdesk statistics.

“We’re building a view of these analytics across the whole of government so we can improve the total experience of dealing with government. The data will feed into our reporting, user research and design work and our ongoing improvements program,” the blog post states.

Privacy will be maintained by removing context, IP addresses and depersonalising data before it is brought into the system.

The aim is for the associated data to be accessible by government agencies in a machine-friendly API format, to integrate into their own business intelligence processes.

The DTO revealed it is working on a disposable demo environment to test ideas, APIs and reporting approaches. The office is currently focused on data collection and is evaluating various search options including Splunk and Sumologic.

The code will be open source and publicly available over the AusDTO github.

Separately, the ACT Government’s latest budget allocates $8.46 million over four years for a whole-of-government upgrade program involving updating the versions of Windows and Office in use by government officials.

The government wants to bring its operating environment up to date to support a wider range of hardware including tablets, easier access for teleworkers and cloud services, Computerworld reported.

The budget also earmarks $413,000 for a feasibility study into upgrading the government’s IT network as well as $5.3 million next financial year for a new budget management system.

Finally, the NSW Government has signed a contract to outsource the functions of shared services provider ServiceFirst to Unisys and Infosys.

The contract will give more than 6000 public servants access to new technology tools, as well as improved customer service and support.

Unisys revealed it has been awarded a six-year contract to provide end-to-end outsourced IT services. The contract spans mobile device, laptop and desktop support, central computing infrastructure support and IT service management.

Infosys will meanwhile act as a strategic service provider managing the business processes of payroll, HR and financial services.

Image courtesy of krheesy under CC.