Across the globe, the pace of digital transformation is accelerating. The private sector continues to invest in disruptive technologies to get ahead of the competition. They adapt their business models to meet ever increasing customer expectations.

The pace of change continues to blur the boundaries of the physical and digital worlds. It is redefining traditional industry sectors and the way we live and work. Emerging technologies, growing amounts of data and smarter ways of getting insights are changing the way people, businesses and governments interact.

Australia’s ongoing success depends on our ability to harness these technological advances to drive economic growth and raise productivity and living standards for all Australians. A key focus of the government’s Digital Economy Strategy is the digital transformation of government itself – ensuring we keep pace with community needs and expectations.

Since 2013, the Australian Government has made significant progress on our digital journey. Through our digital transformations, we have made it easier to register a business, transition into aged care and access veterans’ services. We are bringing government into the digital age, investing in digital capability programs and major ICT procurement reforms. We are internationally regarded for the effectiveness of our digital government services.¹

In spite of these successes, we must continue to evolve. It is not enough to keep pace with the private sector. In many cases we need to deliver even better services, policies and experiences.

By 2025, what people expect will be dramatically different from today. Recognising how Australians live and work must be absolutely central to how we develop and deliver policy and services.

This Digital Transformation Strategy will guide us on our journey to 2025. It will deliver benefits and meet the expectations of Australian people and businesses.

It will guide us on our journey to 2025 to focus on delivering benefits and meeting expectations of Australian people and businesses. We will hold ourselves to the same benchmarks that Australians do, and strive to be one of the top three countries in the world for digital government.

We have already been doing a lot of work in this space. We have been exploring emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and advanced analytics. We need to stay at the forefront of digital change and deliver better, faster outcomes.

¹ UN E-Government Survey 2014, 2016 and 2018.