The Department of Customer Service hosted online community workshops recently to understand the barriers affecting customers accessing digital identity services and products. The Executive Director of Identity for NSW noted that collaborating with customers would help ensure digital services were available and accessible to as many customers as possible.
She said that working alongside customers through community workshops will ensure that the government addresses the real barriers to their participation by exploring accessibility, digital literacy, affordability and security to deliver a digital identity solution which works for all NSW customers.
As NSW aims to be the most customer-centric government by 2030, the Minister stated they look forward to strong community input on how their digital solutions can address these obstacles. The government must ensure the digital services that are provided, work for all customers and all needs.
The Digital Identity program will allow customers to prove who they are online. This means greater access to government services for customers with a disability, time-poor customers or customers who live in rural or remote areas and would otherwise struggle to get to a Service NSW centre.
Developing services through collaboration and understanding the needs of customers was the key to delivering great results and building trust.
The Digital Seniors Card has received a customer satisfaction rating of 90 per cent and has roughly 40,000 seniors joining the program each month. The government will continue to collaborate with the people of NSW to deliver programs which fit their needs.
Now that the first-hand the needs of the customers through Have Your Say consultations, the Digital Inclusion consultations are already starting to provide identifiable trends, with customers ranking digital skills and accessibility as a key barrier to their participation.
As the Digital Identity program continues to grow, the Government and customers and industry will continue to collaborate to make a sure solution that works for everyone is delivered.
The Digital Restart Fund
As part of a modern government, the NSW Government has allocated $2.2 billion across four years to invest in digital transformation projects through the Digital Restart Fund.
The Fund is administered by the Department of Customer Service and funds iterative, multi-disciplinary approaches to planning, designing and developing digital products and services in NSW. It encourages projects that use modern methodologies and foster customer-driven business transformation and collaboration across the NSW Government Sector.
The Digital Identity Program
The NSW Government Chief Information and Digital Officer noted that the NSW Government was investing in the power of ideas to improve lives and ultimately, the future, and believes the NSW Government’s Digital Identity program would play a big role in delivering a modern, digital government for the customers of NSW.
He added that the NSW Government’s Digital Identity program will allow NSW customers to conduct a range of new transactions online, providing greater accessibility to government services and better support for customers with disabilities, and those in rural, regional or remote areas.
The NSW Government’s Digital Identity program will provide customers with greater control of how and where their information is shared and enhanced privacy protection against identity fraud and theft associated with physical documents.