Corporate Plan 2020-21

Chief Executive Officer’s statement

I am pleased to present the Digital Transformation Agency Corporate Plan 2020–21, which outlines how we are leading digital transformation to make government services simple, clear and fast.

COVID–19 has driven unprecedented demand for digital information, services and support. It has reminded us of the critical role of digital in our nation’s response and recovery. While challenging, it has provided a strong base for us to accelerate the delivery of government service transformation.

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of a focus on users and true collaboration across government. By breaking down barriers within and between different parts and levels of government, we have been more efficient and more effective. This has driven better use of resources and more thinking at a whole-of-government level.

We will build on past achievements to improve existing and build new digital capabilities. We will continue to lead whole-of-government digital and ICT strategies, policy and advice, and identify opportunities and risks for digital and ICT proposals. This will be complemented by ongoing support for agencies, including practical guidance and tools.

We will continue to focus on better understanding and improving user experience and promoting collaboration across government. Whole-of-government platforms and services, such as myGov and digital identity, will be enhanced and will inform a whole-of-government technology architecture. 

Digital and ICT sourcing, and building Australian Public Service (APS) capability will also remain priorities. We will strengthen our national and international collaboration to further accelerate digital transformation in government.

We have aligned our operating model and priorities in line with this plan. I’m proud of the work we are doing to remain world-leaders in digital government and deliver better services for the benefit of all Australians.

Randall Brugeaud
Chief Executive Officer

Purpose

Simple, clear and fast public services.

Our operating context

Environment

Our operating environment is complex and fluid, as digital increasingly disrupts and replaces analog services. These changes create opportunities to re-think how government services are designed and delivered. We need to constantly test new ideas, tools and practices and assist APS agencies to improve people’s experience of government services.

Digital is integral to the government’s COVID-19 response and recovery agenda. The impacts of COVID-19 have been profound, but they have also helped to accelerate digital delivery faster than we ever thought possible. The national response has highlighted what is possible with unity of purpose, creativity, empathy and determination.

Continuity and scalability of government services has never been more important. We champion innovative, practical and user-focused methods to ensure that government services are simple, clear and fast. We are building the skills and processes that allow us to respond quickly and flexibly. We also help to ensure that data and digital issues are considered in concert, making smarter use of data in designing and delivering personalised services that better meet the needs of people and businesses.

True digital transformation cannot be done alone. It requires high levels of collaboration and coordination. We will continue to work effectively across government to understand our operating environment, identify opportunities for improvement, set directions, and actively manage delivery risks. We are open minded and creative and are motivated to learn from our colleagues as well as share our skills and insights.

Capability

We are a small executive agency and our people have a unique set of skills and experience that allows us to successfully lead digital transformation in government. This includes skills in digital policy governance and investment, digital strategy and capability and digital delivery and operations. We attract and retain talent and strengthen our partnerships to ensure we have a workforce that is fit for purpose.

We work in an agile way, forming multi-disciplinary teams, responding quickly to change, working in small, fast cycles and delivering continuously as we learn through engaging with users, partners and stakeholders.

Our People Strategy outlines our values and behaviours, our approach to attraction and retention, and our pay and conditions. It also describes how we manage performance, and reinforces our commitment to diversity and wellbeing.

Cooperation

Who we cooperate with

Digital transformation is a shared responsibility. Achieving our purpose requires close collaboration with our many partners and stakeholders.

Coordinating digital initiatives and investment at a national level requires collaboration across jurisdictions and sectors. We also cooperate with a broad range of government and private sector stakeholders to explore and share leading digital practices.

How we cooperate

We work most closely with Australian Government agencies and the people who access government digital services. We also work with state, territory and international governments, advisory and oversight bodies as well as industry and academia to innovate and drive digital transformation across government. We work through national forums to help ensure a common view on priorities. We also lead communities of practice and support research, user testing and trials to deliver better government services.

Building the digital capability of the APS is a priority, and we work with academia, industry and government agencies, such as the Australian Public Service Commission, to achieve this. 

Priorities

To make services simple, clear and fast, in 2020–21 we will focus on the following:

1. Lead whole-of-government digital and ICT strategies, policies and advice that enables modern, efficient and joined-up government services.
2. Coordinate and drive common platforms, technologies and services that enhance user experiences by making government simple, clear and fast.
3. Build the digital profession to enhance digital and ICT skills and capabilities across the APS.
4. Collaborate and partner with others, nationally and internationally, to accelerate the digital transformation of government services.

We will outline our performance and achievements against these priorities in our Annual Performance Statement published in our Annual Report. 

Performance

We have identified the following key activities, performance measures and targets that we will use to assess our performance against each priority.

Priority 1: Lead whole-of-government digital and ICT strategies, policies and advice that enable modern, efficient and joined-up government services.

Key activities

Provide advice to government on: 

• whole-of-government digital strategies, policies and practices that enable and accelerate digital transformation across government 
• opportunities to maximise investment in and reuse of digital and ICT across government 
• all new policy proposals that are digital and ICT enabled 
• emerging trends, risks and opportunities on digital and ICT issues.

Support agencies with practical guidance and tools to: 

• adopt digital best practice in the design and delivery of digital initiatives 
• develop new policy proposals that align with government priorities, policies and requirements 
• enhance the user experience for people and business when they engage with government.

Performance measures

Measure	Stakeholders and partners receive high-quality and timely advice on strategies and policies to facilitate modern, efficient and joined-up government services.
Target	Our leadership drives digital transformation in government and increased user-focus in digital government service delivery.

Priority 2: Coordinate and drive common platforms, technologies and services that enhance user experiences by making government simple, clear and fast.

Key activities

Lead the vision and strategy for whole-of-government platforms and services that meet customer needs by: 

• delivering a modern, experience-led and data-driven enhanced myGov platform for customers to discover and access personalised services, in line with the Government’s Services Australia Strategy (November 2019) 
• developing a roadmap and strategy to expand the enhanced myGov platform to offer seamless, integrated services based around events in customers lives, rather than the structures of government 
• designing policies and frameworks that support and measure efficient delivery of whole-of-government services that customers need most.

Coordinate and drive the delivery of whole-of-government platforms and services by: 

• providing government agencies with the ability to quickly and easily communicate digitally with users through Notify.gov.au 
• managing and enhancing the COVIDSafe contact tracing app and Health Portal to support the government’s pandemic response 
• continuing to improve user experience and simplify management of the gov.au domain name space.

Coordinate and drive the development of a secure cloud-based desktop (Protected Utility) that: 

• facilitates cross-agency collaboration 
• enhances security 
• offers a common pattern that agencies can adopt. 

Improve digital and ICT sourcing through: 

• establishing and maintaining a Telecommunications Marketplace panel 
• refreshing Hardware and Software Marketplace panels 
• establishing and maintaining a new Cloud Marketplace panel 
• further improving digital sourcing arrangements and supporting platforms in line with the Digital Sourcing Framework 
• establishing a Whole-of-Government Arrangement with Oracle.

Performance measures

Measure	Whole-of-government digital platforms, technologies and services reduce costs and duplication, provide better infrastructure for Commonwealth entities, and enhance the user experience.
Target	Increase in, or enhancement of, digital platforms, technologies and services that make government simple, clear and fast.
Measure	Sourcing improvements enhance the experience for buyers and sellers of government digital products and services.
Target	Improvements to sourcing of digital products and services drive greater value for money for the APS and more opportunities for Australian businesses, including SMEs.

Priority 3: Build the digital profession to enhance digital and ICT skills and capabilities across the APS.

Key activities 

Provide advice, guidance and tools to uplift APS capability including: 

• implementing the Digital Service Standard 
• delivering an updated Style manual 
• supporting capability development and the exchange of ideas and leading practice through communities, networks and events. 

Provide training and career development opportunities which are focused on: 

• establishing the APS Digital Professional Stream 
• operating the Digital Emerging Talent program and specialist recruitment programs to attract, develop and retain digital practitioners across the APS 
• developing and improving access to quality assured digital training by partnering with training organisations 
• delivering Women in IT Executive Mentoring program, and coaching circles and other programs to support women in IT and digital roles 
• developing and maintaining digital career pathways frameworks and tools 
• working with the Australian Defence Force to pilot the Cyber Gap Program, as a career opportunity for cyber-related roles 
• providing training, coaching and support for Digital Services Standard.

Performance measures

Measure	Advice, programs, training and resources delivered improve the digital capability of the APS.
Target	Quality of advice, programs, training and resources supports and builds digital leadership, attracts emerging talent, and increases capability of staff across the APS.

Priority 4: Collaborate and partner, both nationally and internationally, to accelerate the digital transformation of government services.

Key activities

Lead and promote whole-of-government digital governance in line with but not limited to: 

• the Digital Transformation Strategy 
• guidance from the Secretaries Board 
• the APS Reform Agenda.

Lead and coordinate inter-agency collaboration on key whole-of-government projects, with major priorities including: 

• digital identity 
• the digital experience platform 
• COVID–19 digital response 
• myGov 
• APS Digital Professional Stream 
• Protected Utility.

Engage with states and territories through: 

• initiatives related to ministerial forum/s on digital and data 
• cross-jurisdictional Chief Information Officer (CIO) forum 
• other senior official groups.

Engage with international organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, to: 

• strengthen collaboration 
• promote the sharing of leading digital practice. 

Engage with industry and peak bodies to: 

• strengthen collaboration 
• achieve better outcomes for people and business using government services.

Lead and coordinate the Life Events Working Group to: 

• support implementation and evaluation of the national principles for service improvement 
• assist the Senior Officials Group and ministerial forum/s on digital and data to prioritise and support life event journey initiatives.

Continue to collaborate across the Commonwealth, state and territory governments on life event journeys and initiatives, including: 

• completing a discovery for the Experiencing a Natural Disaster life event 
• continuing to collaborate to uplift the national approach for life events: Having a Baby; Looking for Work; and Transitioning to Retirement

Performance measures

Measure	Collaboration and partnerships nationally and internationally promote digital transformation to improve government services.
Target	Our work increases cooperation and consistent approaches across all levels of government, and increases collaboration nationally and internationally, as well as with industry and other stakeholder groups.

Risk management

The DTA operates in a complex and fluid environment. This requires us to anticipate and manage complex risks. In keeping with our unique role in government, our Executive Board has identified five key risks as potential threats to achieving our purpose and priorities:

1. We are unable to respond to emerging opportunities to progress digital and ICT reforms that support the Government’s recovery agenda.
2. We are unable to provide the strategic leadership, guidance, support and services to enable the APS to deliver improved digital services.
3. We are unable to deliver on our funded priorities.
4. We are unable to enlist the support of our stakeholders and partners, including our industry partners, to achieve shared outcomes.
5. We are unable to attract, retain and develop our people.

We actively manage risks at our weekly Executive Board meetings and encourage staff to engage with risk appropriately. Many of our agile work practices, such as daily standups and multi-disciplinary teams, help us to quickly identify and respond risk.

We place a high priority on regular and open communication, including with our key stakeholders, to help us understand risk. We dynamically adjust our resources to mitigate risk and ensure delivery.

We manage risk in line with our Enterprise Risk Framework, the AS/NZS 31000:2018 Risk management—Guidelines, as well as the Commonwealth Risk Management Guidelines.

Audit Committee

The DTA Audit Committee is an important source of independent assurance and advice to our Chief Executive Officer. The DTA has efficient and effective controls in place to manage risk and drive organisational performance.

Each year, the Audit Committee agrees a forward work program of internal audits that examine delivery against elements of our strategic priorities and enabling functions.

Our internal audit function supports the operation of the Audit Committee, design and conduct of internal audits, and monitoring the implementation of audit recommendations. 

Attachments

• Digital Transformation Agency Corporate Plan 2020–21 (PDF 1.55MB)