How We Think

The future augmented Australian Public Service (APS) workforce is a powerful mix of upskilled, digital-savvy staff and business-friendly configurable automated processes and systems. So how do government teams achieve the ideal workforce-skill-technology mix in the augmented workforce? Where do agencies start when it comes to applying digital capabilities in their organisations?

The public sector is part way through a significant period of digital transformation, with new digital capabilities being adopted by the Australian Public Sector every day. Yet this transformation is more than just a shift away from legacy systems to modern ICT applications.

The federal government released Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy 2020 to the usual bouquets and brickbats. The focus on critical infrastructure was welcomed but the strategy was also seen to lack precision. The clear message to all board members to take cyber seriously was applauded but the focus on policing and intelligence was queried.

A 1993 episode of The Simpsons focused on a viral breakout, while a 1995 episode titled ‘Bart’s Comet’ draws parallels to what the world is now facing. The writers have an unnerving way of predicting the future.

Australia’s economy is now heavily digitally geared. Key sectors such as manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and banking and finance are moving rapidly to online preferences.

COVID-19 is foremost a health crisis but it is also an economic crisis. Governments, businesses, communities, and individuals will all need to find a path through the uncertainty because it will be part of our transition from acute outbreak to recovery, and then emergence into the new normal.