Jurisdiction

Employment secretary Renee Leon is embracing collaboration within and beyond government with “a bold new experiment” in collaborative, outcomes-focused outsourcing.

Digital transformation requires a transformation in thinking within government. At a recent IBM event in Canberra, government leaders heard customer-focussed strategy is the way forward.

Policy and service delivery agencies can spend big dollars on communications and engagement activities without truly listening to what the public wants. Why do governments struggle to listen as much as they talk?

The iVote system used in the last two NSW state elections is spectacularly popular, but controversy around it has gone global. Two academics appear focused on disrupting online voting, here and in Estonia, instead of assisting authorities, the commission claims.

A new Prime Minister will demand a more agile public service, Canberra’s top bureaucrat has warned. But after 10 months in the job he’s also singing public servants’ praises.

VIDEO: Tom Burton talks with Kerry Purcell, the Managing Director for IBM Australia and New Zealand, about how empowered citizens challenge government to offer the same services they get from the big internet providers.

VIDEO: Tom Burton talks with Kerry Purcell, the Managing Director for IBM Australia and New Zealand, about the role of cognitive computing in delivering customer solutions.

VIDEO: Tom Burton talks with Kerry Purcell, the Managing Director for IBM Australia and New Zealand, about the challenge of getting real insight from digital data metrics.

The latest HR trend is to get rid of formal, detailed performance reviews altogether. APS commissioner John Lloyd sees a lot the public service could learn from the private sector, but thinks that’s going just a little too far.

You never know what you might uncover when you examine big data with a curious and critical eye, argued DHS’s Medicare chief Barry Sandison. People’s natural curiosity is the key to unlocking the insights within Australia’s vast welfare records.

Submissions to the review of ACMA have elicited a range of views for reforming the regulator. The spread of digital information technologies throughout the economy means that a future ACMA will almost certainly look different.

New Zealand is three years into its digital transformation agenda, with “Result 10” — solving the pain points in digital government services — and their online authentication system, RealMe, changing how the country supports citizens’ major life events, starting from birth. Project lead Richard Foy says they’re on track for 70% digital uptake by 2017.

As agencies and departments try to better understand citizen needs, along comes US marketing guru Jay Baer with some simple advice. For public servants who just want to be helpful, not flog things, it’s a powerful way of engaging with stakeholders.

Encouraging public servants to try new roles and portfolios, commissioner Belinda Clark draws on some of her own career’s most interesting jobs. From the UN to land rights claims to secretary of Justice to a private law firm, Clark says she never expected the roles that proved most rewarding.