NSW Government accelerates digital transformation

Microsoft has extended its partnership with the NSW Government for a further five years to support the unique needs of agencies during their digital transformation journeys.

The renewed agreement supports 25 agencies and almost 400,000 users across the Health, Transport, Public Safety and Justice Departments, and civilian government, as NSW continues to execute its Beyond Digital strategy.

The NSW Government’s commitment to improving its cybersecurity posture and moving 25% of its ICT services to the public cloud by 2023 formed the foundations for its renewed partnership with Microsoft.

The agreement will support the NSW Government through collaboration, security, communications and data analytics, and modernising services using the Microsoft Cloud.

“This agreement supports a number of our Beyond Digital priorities and has enabled access for a range of new users — in particular, our volunteers, who have played such a significant role across NSW over the past 2 years,” NSW Government Chief Information and Digital Officer Greg Wells said.

“This agreement will boost NSW Government employees’ technical capabilities with a comprehensive skilling and investment program, enables participation from SME and Sovereign suppliers to the NSW Government and provides enhanced security, customer data protections and privacy services.

“These requirements have been highlighted more than ever during the pandemic, and we look forward to continuing to build on the partnership between the government and Microsoft to further improve public services.”

The renewed partnership has already resulted in several new projects between the NSW Government and Microsoft, including the following.

NSW Department of Communities and Justice

Microsoft has partnered with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) and KPMG to replace the department’s legacy payment and contracting system with a modern, scalable and user-friendly solution.

The new system will be built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, and will be used to manage the contracting and funding of approximately 1800 service providers across a wide spectrum of programs, service types and client groups.

Dams Safety NSW

Dams Safety NSW (DSNSW) has partnered with Microsoft and Datacom to enhance its auditing, compliance and water management processes by migrating Microsoft SharePoint workflows to Microsoft’s Power Platform.

Datacom will use Microsoft Power Apps to develop a model-driven app with predefined business process flows for internal DSNSW staff to use on any device. It will also use Power Apps to build a self-service portal on DSNSW’s public-facing website to enable dam owners to track and collaborate on relevant business data.

Furthermore, Datacom will leverage Power Automate to automate workflows and Power BI to provide DSNSW staff with timely access to accurate data insights. The Power Platform’s Common Data Service will be used to improve data collection and integrity.

Local Land Services NSW

Microsoft partner Sentient Dynamics has worked with Local Land Services (LLS) NSW to develop a solution that improves the speed and accuracy of its reporting process, and helps the agency to better define its strategic objectives.

The business evidence and reporting tool sits within Teams and uses Microsoft Dataverse and Power Apps to capture business plans. The tool also leverages Power Automate for workflow automation and notifications, and Power BI to visualise data, generate reports and enable data-driven decisions.

In addition, Sentient Dynamics has developed a solution for LLS to help farmers and advisers quickly and easily report damage caused by mice plagues to a central, secure location. The reporting tool uses Microsoft SharePoint, Power BI and Power Automate.

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