It’s a bit over a year since the Northern Territory Government unveiled its Digital Transformation Plan - with a five-year horizon and five key priorities: to stand up an online service portal and digital identity solution, and to build capabilities in data, digital foundations and digital confidence generally.  

Since then, the plan has moved from ambition to action, with digital government executive director Ewan Perrin anticipating the first “real results, if not in weeks then certainly in the next few months.”

Results, in this context, notably include the launch of a new citizen-facing service portal called Territory Services. “That’s a major step because it’s our first real ‘go’ at getting citizen-facing services consistently delivered online, on a platform that can be built upon,” Perrin says. 

The initial release of Territory Services will comprise existing citizen-facing online services that have been given a consistent look-and-feel, and some other transactions that are being digitised for the first time. These have been shortlisted through a consultation process with government, selected industry and community input. 

Consistency of experience is being achieved through the use of standard architectural patterns and standard tools, for example, to create digital forms. “As we bring in forms-based applications, we can use the same user interface and patterns to design the form so that they start to become familiar. Even if they're just sitting on the front of a legacy application, it still looks like a common form with radio buttons and those sorts of [design features],” says Perrin.  

Centralisation of ICT and application development capability under one roof - the Department of Corporate and Digital Development (DCDD) - is also assistive, as all coding efforts occur within a single governance and architectural structure.  

The government is hoping to catch up quickly with other states and territories that have more mature citizen-facing portals, in part by learning from their experiences. This may help the NT Government skip a few steps in creating a mature ‘one stop shop’. 

Of course, execution of the Digital Transformation Plan is more than the Territory Services portal.  

Digital identity is another key pillar, and a topic of considerable discussion nationally. At the time of writing, the NT Government was in-market for a citizen identity and access management (IAM) solution.

“Digital identity is the thing that’s going to allow personalisation and help people get maximum value out of their digital interactions with our government, and with other [organisations] as well,” says Perrin. If the procurement runs to plan, deployment could begin within months. 

Cyber security 

DCDD has a cyber security strategy and a separate cyber security policy for public servants, but neither is a public document.  

 There has been past effort and investment into cyber security, and that did produce some key outcomes, notably including the standing up of a whole-of-government Cyber Security Operations Centre, which sits under DCDD and is now operational - monitoring and responding to “cyber threats to NT Government ICT or digital services.” 

 The Government also indicated, in general terms, that it “has progressed cyber security through operations and strategy teams” and that “cyber smart” training of Government staff remains ongoing. Its public-facing dashboard shows that it is deploying an “interactive online training system… [to] provide flexible access to self-paced training for all NT Government staff.” This is listed as being in the “deliver” phase as of June 2023, and this status was still current when iTnews checked in early October. 

Generative AI 

The NT Government, through DCDD, provided “some interim guidance” to agencies in March 2023 around the use of LLM tools such as ChatGPT, Adobe Firefly and other “free” online services. “Our approach initially has been not to prohibit artificial intelligence, particularly Generative AI or the ‘ChatGPTs’ of the world. We very quickly pulled together some guiding principles that we distributed around the government,” Perrin says.  

 The guidance aims to help agencies “make good decisions when picking a solution, and to consult with DCDD teams to provide advice about the risks and challenges.” It covers basics such as ensuring no sensitive data is used, and that outputs should be verified and not used as the basis for decisions. Given the rapid evolution of the space, the interim guidance is presently under review. 

Separate but related, DCDD is also “in the process of delivering an AI (including generative) framework regarding the ethical principles which should be assessed when a digital solution proposes to use AI, and other risk factors which should be assessed through the life of the AI project.” This appears to be more about governance associated with any future citizen-facing uses of generative AI, such as the incorporation of the technology into digital government services delivery. 

Perrin is also involved in national government discussions around AI and policy, which remain active.

Current work 

The NT Government has outlined a series of current work programs: 

• Delivering a new policing system called SERPRO to replace an ageing police case management and operational management systems 
• Delivering a replacement Vocational Education and Training Contract management system to streamline processes and reporting 
• Exploring solar energy solutions for the NT Government’s data centre 
• Improving digital connectivity for remote communities and schools through a telecommunications uplift 
• Delivering the first phases of Territory Services, the digital citizen-facing platform for NT Government services 
• Improving and promulgating digital standards when delivering new projects to ensure they’re efficient, easy to maintain, and engaging for the end-user. 

Scorecard