The future of digital government: the impact of the NBN

The announcement of a National Broadband Network has been the catalyst for government to assess their digital strategy and take serious action to implement a roadmap that leverages digital technology. They’re focused on the “the digital economy”, and how it will impact the delivery of public services.

Having worked with government clients for nearly 10 years, I believe that access to high-speed broadband will offer the following benefits to government agencies and departments, as well as the citizens they serve and the businesses they support:

• Reducing resource load on government, while increasing scale and reach of services.
• Increased information provided to the public to increase their awareness, educate and inform so that they can achieve their objectives online rather than by phone or over the counter.
• Public can be better informed and educated to assist government agencies with their various initiatives.
• Ability to provide services after normal business hours.
• Gathering information about citizens so that information is only collected once and reused where appropriate between government agencies.
• Gathering information and feedback effectively and efficiently using surveys, forms, polls, marketing campaigns, blogs and micro-sites.
• Providing increased choice to the public so that they can engage with government, where they want, when they want, on any device they want.

However, the creation of a digital economy has a greater impact on government than the direct effect on their service delivery capabilities. The public sector will need to act as a change agent and be the leader of the pack to motivate the rest of Australia to act.

The NBN will require the Government to focus on the following impacts on the business environment:

• Increase in businesses dealing online. Government (Federal, State and Local) will need to be very proactive in take up and usage. Like anything new, there will be a need for leaders to motivate others to follow. Government agencies and departments are critical to this role. Small businesses in particular will require strong direction on how they can utilise this new infrastructure.
• Regional migration. 95% of Australia’s population currently live in metropolitan areas. The NBN can play a key role in reducing such metro concentration, as people and businesses move out to more regional areas to take advantage of lower costs, improved lifestyle and 100mbps internet accessibility. This will not be viable for all businesses and will require some changes to the existing business model of others, however, the additional incentives may be worth it. This means government has a role in promoting the real benefits of the NBN and, potentially, incentivising uptake for businesses looking migrate to regional areas. They must also carefully consider where the NBN should be rolled out first to stimulate this change.
• Keeping money in the country and stimulating the economy. Currently in Australia, 43% of online retails sales are offshore transactions, and although 89% of consumers research online, only 7% of overall domestic retail sales occur online. One of the key reasons for this is the main players in Australia have not invested in e-commerce (look at Harvey Norman as an example), which means consumers are often forced to look offshore if they are seeking to purchase goods online. The NBN will prompt Australian retailers to look seriously at their online offering and create a platform upon which consumers can easily transact with them. This will reduce money going out of Australia, stimulate international demand for Australian goods and generate investment coming into Australia. Again, government will need to demonstrate these possibilities and give retailers clear direction to ensure they maximise these opportunities.
• Creation of new businesses and business models. Government will need to look at providing incentives, knowledge, support and grants to help generate investment in new online business.

Government is a key shareholder and stakeholder in the NBN. Their role is broader than just defining the business case, the plan and funding; they need to be a key advocate and user of online. Currently, government at all levels is lagging behind, and so is Australian business as far as what they offer online.

The public sector needs to act as a change agent for businesses (large and small) and citizens to ensure that Australia truly becomes a digital economy.

Mark Nicklin is the Managing Director of Digital Strategy for Bullseye.