❓ The Minister outlines how a $34.7 million investment in the Office of Digital Government will support an efficient public sector, focusing on cybersecurity, online services, and data management. The Minister also criticises the previous government's approach to ICT funding and cybersecurity.
AnsweredQoN 287Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
OFFICE OF DIGITAL
GOVERNMENT
287. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Minister for Innovation and ICT:
I refer to the $34.7 million
investment in the Office of Digital Government. Can the minister outline how
the investment will support the McGowan Labor government's commitment
to deliver an efficient public sector with quality services for the community?
GOVERNMENT
287. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Minister for Innovation and ICT:
I refer to the $34.7 million
investment in the Office of Digital Government. Can the minister outline how
the investment will support the McGowan Labor government's commitment
to deliver an efficient public sector with quality services for the community?
AnswerView source ↗
I
thank the member for Maylands for that question. Data and data management
underpin the operations of almost all modern organisations, and the public
sector is no different. The McGowan government created the portfolio of
innovation and ICT to focus on an important area that had been largely ignored
by the previous government. I have updated the house on a number of occasions
on the work we have done to improve the capability and capacity of the WA
public sector in this area, in particular the area of cybersecurity. I have
previously advised the house that we have launched a whole-of-government
digital security policy. I announced for the first time in the last budget that
we have invested half a million dollars to establish the state's first
ever dedicated whole-of-government cybersecurity team. We have invested $5.6
million to support the national Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre
headquartered in WA at Edith Cowan University Joondalup and entered into a memorandum
of understanding with ECU Joondalup to
leverage the research from its globally recognised Security Research Institute
for the benefit of the WA public sector.
We have done all that despite the
problems we encountered when we came to government in 2017. In this area, the
previous government had provided only temporary funding to the then Office of
the Government Chief Information Officer. It provided that office with three
years of funding, which would have run out in June 2018. We instituted the
service priority review when we came into government. One of the things it did
was review the operations of that office. Apart from commenting on the
temporary funding that was available, it also commented on the limited mandate
that that office had. Amazingly, that office had no responsibility for
cybersecurity—one of the most pressing areas in ICT. The office as it
stood had no mandate on cybersecurity. Under this government, that office has
been reborn as the Office of Digital Government. That was done at the time of
the last budget. We extended its funding for 12 months. We made it clear that
that office would provide clear leadership across the Western Australian
government sector to improve services to Western Australians.
I am pleased to announce that in the
coming budget, we will allocate $34.7 million of recurrent funding for that
office. For the first time —
Ms J.M. Freeman : Rebooting
it!
Mr D.J. KELLY : Rebooting it,
yes, member. I tried to resist saying that, but as you insist!
For the first time, the digital
transformation agenda that the Western Australian public sector needs to be
part of now has recurrent funding with an office that is properly resourced and
properly led to provide leadership across the Western Australian government
sector.
With this new funding, that office
will improve the delivery of online services to Western Australians. On 5 February
2018, we launched wa.gov.au, which makes available 600 separate services to Western
Australians that they can now access through that single point of entry.
Whenever people sitting at home want to find out how to get a recreational
fishing licence, for example, they can go to that portal and easily search
government departments and find out how to do that.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : Fish.wa.gov.au.
Mr D.J. KELLY : The member for
Scarborough should get on that website, maybe at a quarter to midnight, rather
than tweeting inaccurate information. She can find out a bit more about what
the Minister for Transport is up to by going through that single point of
entry. The member for Scarborough could learn a lot by going online and finding
out what the state government is doing. I encourage her to do so and give
Twitter a miss.
That office will provide enhanced
cybersecurity leadership across the sector. It will provide leadership to
government agencies on ICT procurement. Importantly, it will provide leadership
in the area of data management.
For the first time, we now have a properly
resourced, well-led Office of Digital Government to lead digital transformation across the public sector. I want to
thank the staff in that office, who, for too long, have laboured under an uncertain future. The future for them is bright and the future for services
in Western Australia is also bright.
thank the member for Maylands for that question. Data and data management
underpin the operations of almost all modern organisations, and the public
sector is no different. The McGowan government created the portfolio of
innovation and ICT to focus on an important area that had been largely ignored
by the previous government. I have updated the house on a number of occasions
on the work we have done to improve the capability and capacity of the WA
public sector in this area, in particular the area of cybersecurity. I have
previously advised the house that we have launched a whole-of-government
digital security policy. I announced for the first time in the last budget that
we have invested half a million dollars to establish the state's first
ever dedicated whole-of-government cybersecurity team. We have invested $5.6
million to support the national Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre
headquartered in WA at Edith Cowan University Joondalup and entered into a memorandum
of understanding with ECU Joondalup to
leverage the research from its globally recognised Security Research Institute
for the benefit of the WA public sector.
We have done all that despite the
problems we encountered when we came to government in 2017. In this area, the
previous government had provided only temporary funding to the then Office of
the Government Chief Information Officer. It provided that office with three
years of funding, which would have run out in June 2018. We instituted the
service priority review when we came into government. One of the things it did
was review the operations of that office. Apart from commenting on the
temporary funding that was available, it also commented on the limited mandate
that that office had. Amazingly, that office had no responsibility for
cybersecurity—one of the most pressing areas in ICT. The office as it
stood had no mandate on cybersecurity. Under this government, that office has
been reborn as the Office of Digital Government. That was done at the time of
the last budget. We extended its funding for 12 months. We made it clear that
that office would provide clear leadership across the Western Australian
government sector to improve services to Western Australians.
I am pleased to announce that in the
coming budget, we will allocate $34.7 million of recurrent funding for that
office. For the first time —
Ms J.M. Freeman : Rebooting
it!
Mr D.J. KELLY : Rebooting it,
yes, member. I tried to resist saying that, but as you insist!
For the first time, the digital
transformation agenda that the Western Australian public sector needs to be
part of now has recurrent funding with an office that is properly resourced and
properly led to provide leadership across the Western Australian government
sector.
With this new funding, that office
will improve the delivery of online services to Western Australians. On 5 February
2018, we launched wa.gov.au, which makes available 600 separate services to Western
Australians that they can now access through that single point of entry.
Whenever people sitting at home want to find out how to get a recreational
fishing licence, for example, they can go to that portal and easily search
government departments and find out how to do that.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : Fish.wa.gov.au.
Mr D.J. KELLY : The member for
Scarborough should get on that website, maybe at a quarter to midnight, rather
than tweeting inaccurate information. She can find out a bit more about what
the Minister for Transport is up to by going through that single point of
entry. The member for Scarborough could learn a lot by going online and finding
out what the state government is doing. I encourage her to do so and give
Twitter a miss.
That office will provide enhanced
cybersecurity leadership across the sector. It will provide leadership to
government agencies on ICT procurement. Importantly, it will provide leadership
in the area of data management.
For the first time, we now have a properly
resourced, well-led Office of Digital Government to lead digital transformation across the public sector. I want to
thank the staff in that office, who, for too long, have laboured under an uncertain future. The future for them is bright and the future for services
in Western Australia is also bright.
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