Government agencies in all areas of Australia are revolutionising the way they operate by taking advantage of some of the latest advances in information technology. Whilst they may be reticent to adopt cutting edge tech before it has been thoroughly tested, they are not slow to embrace technological developments once they have proved their worth. In this article, we are going to take a look at what are expected to be some of the biggest tech trends in the Australian public sector for 2022 and beyond.
Australian public sector technology trends to follow
Digital transformation is high on the agenda of many government organisations in Australia as they seek to take advantage of everything it has to offer. There are a number of key public sector tech trends that are helping them to do this in the most efficient manner possible:
- Adaptive security — Cyber security remains a top priority for government agencies that store a large volume of sensitive data. However, many organisations are shifting their focus from compliance-based security systems to systems that take a risk-based approach to security. These systems include staff awareness training programmes and organisational cyber security best practices, both of which are intended to ensure that humans are not the weakest link in the chain.
- Cloud migrations — Migrating software, data and services to the Cloud is not a new trend in the public sector but it looks set to remain one of the most important in 2022. It is estimated that by the year 2025, more than half of all government digital workloads will have been migrated to hyperscale cloud service providers. Data security, disaster recovery, accessibility, availability and scalability are just a few of the factors believed to be driving this trend.
- Use of 3rd party digital identity services — Rather than continuing to rely on their own digital identity systems, government agencies are expected to adopt systems provided by 3rd parties. By taking advantage of cross-sector digital identity solutions, the public sector should be able to provide more efficient services to citizens, at a lower cost. Citizens should also be able to look forward to a more uniform, cohesive service, with the same identity services being used by multiple organisations in the public sector.
- Artificial intelligence — The use of AI to curate, organise and analyse extremely large data sets can help public sector organisations to make more timely decisions that benefit citizens in all areas. From town planning to the provision of healthcare services, AI has a potentially huge role to play in the Australian public sector over the next few years.
- 5G-powered services — As 5G networks continue to be rolled out in more remote areas of the country, it is expected that government agencies will take advantage of the high data transfer speeds and stable Internet connections they offer, to deliver digital services in areas where they are currently not available.
These are just a few of the key trends expected to feature prominently in 2022. Many more may become apparent as the year progresses.
