Community-centred services - Government services that are designed, developed and tested with the community in mind. Services that are truly digital but that leave no-one behind.
Chief Minister's Message
Canberra is a unique city, with a high quality of life that most cities aspire to.
It’s a great place to raise children. To start a business. To take advantage of world class cultural institutions and enjoy the great outdoors. As we enter a new decade it’s time to look at new and innovative ways to make a great place even better.
The ACT Government wants to support a more connected Canberra, taking advantage of advances in technology and data to make life better for Canberrans and the businesses that employ them.
The ACT Digital Strategy is not just about the technology. It doesn’t dictate the bits and the bytes. It’s about how we use technology to further improve the quality of life for all Canberrans. It sets out a plan of action and makes a range of commitments to the ACT community based on the following timeless principles:
- People in our community are at the centre of everything we do, from policy making to city planning and service delivery
- The data we collect and protect is used and shared transparently, to make better decisions and enhance the wellbeing of people
- Design and co-design is how we manage change and ensure results are achieved
- Strategic, open relationships with a wide range of industry groups creates greater value for the community
The ACT Government is positioning technology at the heart of our decision making and using it to drive better outcomes for our community. Good design and implementation can achieve better service delivery for people, use information more effectively and free up our staff to focus on identifying and servicing those in our community most in need.
Andrew Barr MLA
ACT Chief Minister
March 2020
Introduction
This Strategy supports the Chief Minister’s vision to make Canberra one of the world’s most liveable cities; Inclusive, Progressive and Connected; open to all.
The first ACT Government Digital Strategy was published in 2016. Things that were once thought futuristic are now commonplace. Technology is a part of our everyday lives, whether we use it for social, professional or recreational purposes. Government responses and approaches to fulfilling community needs and expectations will be greatly influenced by new ways in which we, as a community, experience and leverage technology advancements in our private lives.
Canberra is well placed for technology revolution. With a population projected to reach 500,000 by 2029 the shape of our community, and our city, will need to change. We will age, we will look for different places, and ways, to live. We will seek out new employment opportunities and new ways to travel between our homes, schools, places of work and places of recreation.
In this Strategy we have described a number of current and possible future initiatives to demonstrate how its implementation will further enhance liveability and wellbeing in our community. The progression of any possible future initiatives would be subject to the usual budget processes of government.
We consider this a living Strategy, which will be refreshed on an 18 month to two-year cycle, along with progress reports on our initiatives. We believe the community outcomes described here will stand the test of time, even though the technology, methods and approaches to achieve them will change rapidly. This is one of many strategies and policies that, together, help create a vibrant and welcoming city. Further information on the ACT Government and its other strategies and policies can be found on the ACT Government website .
We'd like to thank the members of the community and our internal staff who provided feedback throughout the development of this Strategy. You can find out more about our community engagement through the YourSay website.
What is our frame of reference?
- Our community is at the centre.
- Improving the life of our people is the reason.
- Co-design in the approach.
- Whole of system thinking is the context.
- Data is the fuel.
- People, process and technology are the enablers.
Value the data we collect and use on behalf of our community - Data is collected, managed and used in a way that protects privacy and develops better services for the community. Data is a cornerstone to a truly digital government.
City planning - by design – and for wellbeing - Combining city-wide connected technology and data to make Canberra more liveable, sustainable, vibrant and resilient. This allows us to model, monitor, plan and support our city in real time and into the future.
Relationships with industry to create value for our community - Government, business and industry working together with academia and innovators to use digital technology for economic growth in Canberra. To look for new ways to co-design citizen-centred and socially-inclusive approaches to all our work.
Reshaping the government of today – building the government of the future - We have set high level principles for government to continue evolving the knowledge and skills of its people, and how to go about delivering successful change through design, investment, purchasing, support and security.
These are some of the initiatives that we are working on that illustrate how we are delivering against the digital strategy.
ACT Digital StrategyACT Digital Strategy Report CardACT Digital Strategy Initiatives