SA publishes ICT Strategy for 2018–21

The South Australian Government has published its ICT Strategy for 2018 to 2021, placing a heavy emphasis on cloud and mobile technologies.

The strategy, which has been prepared by the ICT and Digital Government unit of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, lays out the state's technology priorities for the next three years.

The strategy has been developed based on consultation with state government agencies, as well as industry insights and technology trends.

It details a goal of establishing a reliable and secure information management framework across the state's public sector to enable greater collaboration and the improved ability to make data-informed decisions.

Under the strategy, individual agency ICT models will be shaped by cloud computing as well as new approaches to service delivery.

In addition, the strategy outlines plans to embrace mobile and social technologies in order to make it easier for South Australians to interact with government online.

The first of four overarching objectives of the new strategy involves improving access to government services by enabling a better digital experience for government employees and citizens.

To achieve this, the government plans to take actions to allow it to take full advantage of data held by government agencies. This will involve transforming the state's identity management practices.

Key actions planned for this objective include exploring a software-defined approach to network design to enable greater flexibility and agency level control; assessing the viability of network-as-a-service business models; and delivering an identity access management framework that uses consistent user credentials across agencies.

Second, the strategy aims to enable seamless service delivery by leveraging the benefits of hybrid and multicloud services. To this end, the government is considering adopting a centralised hybrid wide area network covering all government sites across the state.

In addition, the government plans to optimise IT systems performance by selecting the best cloud options based on geographic distribution, cost and IT performance goals, and to invest in establishing high-speed links to multiple clouds.

Third, the government aims to enable a connected government by enhancing integration and collaboration across agencies, as well as with citizens. This will involve the adoption of a standardised unified communications solution across agencies.

The state government plans approach the market for unified communications, core voice communications and interoperability solutions by June next year. The government also aims to accelerate the adoption of IP-based telephony solutions and adopt a hybrid messaging model for public sector workers that combines Office 365 and bespoke mailboxes.

Finally, the strategy calls for the development of an innovative and contemporary IT architecture across the state government.

The strategy stresses the need to embrace cloud-native technologies and architectures, including microservice architecture and APIs.

The government plans to collaborate with industry to develop solutions that can enhance employee and citizen digital experiences, and that leverage the state's whole-of-government buying power and economies of scale.

Key actions will include the development of self-provisioning tools to ensure agencies can access cloud services that are agile and responsive to their needs.

In addition, the state plans to establish an online marketplace for available government cloud, mobile and web services.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Petrovich12

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