Government moves to end digital duplication across public service

NEWS  - eHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth

The Government will provide direction on technology decisions across call centre technology, cyber security, networks and mobile apps as part of a new digital mandate aimed at ending duplication across the public service. 

Myles Ward, deputy government chief digital officer, told the Digital Health Leadership Forum on May 12 that the Government Digital Delivery Agency (GDDA) will group agencies around common technology needs including customer relationship management systems, financial management systems and HR platforms. 

"It does not make sense for 46 agencies to buy exactly the same thing," Ward told the Wellington audience.  

"By investing once and reusing capability many times, we can reduce duplicated tech across the system and reshape how agencies adopt and use digital services.” 

The changes form part of the government's Digital Target State, which has been approved by Cabinet and moves away from what Ward described as "bespoke agency by agency solutions toward deliberate system design." 

He said the current approach has created a $13 billion government digital investment pipeline over the next five years. 

The GDDA will create groupings of agencies based on similarity of need to scale solutions, reduce duplication and use capacity more effectively. This approach aims to move from projects to enduring capability and from bespoke procurement to reuse as the default option. 

The target state includes plans for common technology that must be used by multiple agencies, including one government app, one digital wallet, one messaging system for customers, a system data exchange platform and an AI gateway. 

Ward said the changes represent "system discipline applied where needs are genuinely in a common way" rather than "uniformity for its own sake." 

The government is also using accelerators to reduce the size and complexity of the technology footprint across the system. Three priority accelerators are: accelerating cloud adoption, using AI to unwind technical debt, and testing the feasibility of a common desktop across government. 

Ward said this will mean rethinking traditional approaches to capital and operational expenditure to better support modern scalable services.  

He said the current public service operating model is "no longer fit for purpose”. 

"Successive reforms.. have hardwired some silos. Today, these silos show up as duplication, inefficiency, slow and cautious decision making and an aversion to risk that often works against collaboration,” he told the more than 200 attendees. 

Digital identity will be a foundation of joined-up services, allowing them to be designed around people rather than organisations as information verified by one agency will be able to be securely reused by citizens across services with their consent. 

AI will also play a key role, with the GDDA leading a coordinated AI programme focused on common tools, safe and responsible use, workforce capability and common platforms. 

The return on investment is projected to be in the billions over time, he said.  

Image: Myles Ward, deputy government chief digital officer, speaking at the Digital Health Leadership Forum on May 12

You’ve read this article for free, but good journalism takes time and resource to produce. Please consider supporting eHealthNews by becoming a member of HiNZ, for just $17 a month.

Read more National Systems & Strategy news

Return to eHealthNews.nz home page