Brisbane, Friday 30 November: Businesses and consumers have the most to gain from an integrated approach to e-government, with an ACS report released today highlighting a range of benefits. These will be derived from a multi-tiered and integrated approach to e-government, according to the Introducing Integrated e-government in Australia report by The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in conjunction with ACS.
The report, released today at River City Labs in Brisbane, is authored by Dr Arvo Ott; Executive Director of the e-Governance Academy, Fergus Hanson; Head of International Cyber Policy Centre, and Jelizaveta Krenjova; Project Manager at the Estonian e-Governance Academy Foundation.
“An integrated Australian e-government would mean reduced transaction costs and the opportunity to save time for businesses and citizens through seamless engagement with all levels of government. The ease with which citizens can access government services also contributes to increased transparency, engagement and ultimately increased trust in government. We can learn lessons from countries like Estonia and Denmark, where e-government is a national priority and efficiencies gained have lifted their annual GDP.
“That’s not to say that joining up three tiers of government in Australia will be easy, however it’s integral to high-functioning governments in contemporary economy,” said Mr Ramasundara.
The report details solutions for the development of integrated e-government in Australia.
Fergus Hanson, Head of the International Cyber Policy Centre said, “With the history of the failed Australia Card, and scandals such as eCensus, it’s no wonder that barriers such as security and privacy have interfered with the successful launch of integrated e-government up until now. However, the time has come for the Australian government to launch detailed consultations across all three tiers of government, and with business and the public, to make this happen.
“The e-government model will need to be customised to Australia’s unique circumstances but should be designed to reduce business transaction costs, allow citizens to engage seamlessly with the federal, state and local governments and prioritise citizens’ control and ownership of their data. It should allow different government departments to communicate seamlessly. A decentralised architecture should be used to ensure there’s no single point of failure and to allow easy and secure integration with existing digital government platforms,” he said.
According to the report, the federal government is well placed to take the lead by enabling key systems in order to be successful such as:
● A digital identity (eID) for all Australians.
● The legal, organisational and technical preconditions for a digital signature—legislation should ensure that the digital signature has equal legal weight to a traditional handwritten signature.
● Secure data exchanges between different government IT systems.
To read the full report, click here
The Introducing integrated e-government in Australia report will be launched in Brisbane by MP Terri Butler, Shadow Minister for Employment Services, Workforce Participation and Future of Work and Shadow Assistant Minister for Equality, Young Australians, Youth Affairs, Family Violence and Child Safety.
-ENDS-
Further information
Troy Steer
Director of Corporate Affairs and Public Policy
M – 0417 173 740
E – troy.steer@acs.org.au
About ACS
ACS is the professional association for Australia's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. More than 40,000 ACS members work in business, education, government and the community. ACS exists to create the environment and provide the opportunities for members and partners to succeed. ACS strives for ICT professionals to be recognised as drivers of innovation in our society, relevant across all sectors, and to promote the formulation of effective policies on ICT and related matters. Visit www.acs.org.au for more information.
About ASPI
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) was formed in 2001 as an independent, non-partisan think tank. Its core aim is to provide the Australian Government with fresh ideas on Australia’s defence, security and strategic policy choices. ASPI is responsible for informing the public on a range of strategic issues, generating new thinking for government and harnessing strategic thinking internationally.