Becoming a leading digital nation

Only 7% of Australasian public sector organisations feel they’re ahead of global counterparts on digital transformation.

The Australian Government has set an ambitious goal to become one of the top three digital governments globally by 2025. But is it ready? Infosys’s recent study, Infosys Digital Acceleration Study: Infosys Australia and New Zealand, reveals that 86% of leaders perceive medium-to-high levels of digital disruption within the public service and, understandably, gaining operational efficiencies (63%) is cited as the key driver behind digital transformation initiatives. As citizens become more accustomed to frictionless customer experiences in their daily interactions with businesses, there is increasing pressure for public sector organisations to meet similar expectations.

While the United Nations has lauded Australia as a leader in digital government, taking the number two spot in its E-Government Survey, local sentiment seems to differ. Our research shows that 50% of public sector leaders feel they are trailing behind their international counterparts, with a minor improvement on home ground, while 34% feel they are behind when compared to local peers. Alarmingly, only 7% of public service leaders believe Australia to be ahead internationally. There is no doubt that public sector organisations in Australia are still facing challenges when it comes to building disruptive models at scale, and need clarity to navigate to their next milestone to be able to continuously transform and meet citizen expectations.

The key challenges for public service organisations in this context are building a culture of innovation and improving agility and flexibility of processes. It is worth noting that internal challenges, rather than external market forces, are cited as a key barrier to change across all sectors surveyed, suggesting that leaders need to focus on internal programs to encourage innovation and digital programs. It is no surprise then that the top initiative for public service leaders to overcome challenges is organisational level transformation (63%). This is certainly a step in the right direction; strong leadership across the entire organisation and breaking down silos are key to enabling change in the digital era.

If Australia is to truly have a global, world-class digital government, it is critical that leaders consider other elements of the digitisation journey, such as design thinking capabilities, to spark cultural change and different ways of problem solving.

Public service organisations, not dissimilar to private entities, also need to have frequent stocktakes along their digital transformation journey; this is crucial for sustained evolution. It is also important to remember that the challenge is always two-fold; access to and implementation of technology and a digitally agile culture must come together to drive success.

Ultimately, to be truly impactful, leaders must be cognisant that digital transformation is not an end state; it’s a journey.

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