It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the way the world works. For the public sector, the pandemic has shown the need to quickly adapt to new technology trends in order to keep up with the demand of serving the people.
Digital transformation was the key in overcoming these demands. And as the Australian Government continues to push for a digital economy through the Digital Government Strategy, it is clear that public sector organisations will have to play a key role in accelerating digital government services.
Chloe Kirby’s article from the PATimes lists some of the technology trends that are expected to play an important role in the public sector’s digital transformation.
1. Digital tools for remote working
The initial wave of the pandemic has caused hundreds of workers to start working from home, and it does not look like things will go back to the way they were pre-pandemic. Leaders can now see the benefits of remote work, particularly in the performance of their employees.
With remote working being more beneficial to workers, public sector organisations will have to adopt new digital tools to support and allow their workers to continue doing their jobs effectively in the online space. Organisations will also have to rework their office culture via digital tools in order to connect with those who work remotely.
2. Automated work tasks
With employees forced to work remotely in order to avoid the risk of getting sick, there arose a need to be more effective and strategic with one’s work tasks. Not being in the office can mean not having access to the right resources, so public sector organisations are now required to achieve their goals digitally in the least amount of time.
Simpler tasks such as sorting emails will be automated in order to give the employee enough time to do more important tasks. By using the right automation tools, public sector employees can have a lesser workload and be more effective.
3. Upgrades in the organisation’s IT infrastructure
As the government continues to evolve digitally, the need to have a secure IT infrastructure grows even more. With employees using digital tools in their work, an organisation must ensure that its IT infrastructure is capable of handling and supporting the work.
It is expected that government organisations will be upgrading their IT infrastructure in the near future so as to not get caught off guard in the face of a public emergency. Having a good IT infrastructure will help agencies serve the public effectively and handle future emergencies better.
4. Prioritisation of cyber security
Cyber attacks have greatly increased since the start of the pandemic, and both private and public sectors have incurred huge losses of data. And as organisations continue to adopt new digital technologies, improvements on cyber security will be prioritised so as to protect those who are using the digital technologies.
5. Increase in focus on digital services
In line with the Australian Government’s plans to become a leading digital economy all over the world, improvements on government organisations’ digital services will be prioritised. Not only should citizens have better experiences when interacting with government digital portals, but employees should also have a flexible and secure digital experience when doing their work.
6. Use of cloud computing
With digital technology becoming more advanced over time, there has been a need for better computing power that will keep up with the demand. Cloud computing is the answer to this need.
Cloud computing allows data to be processed faster without bringing stress to the organisation’s digital infrastructure. By having cloud software solutions, resources are more accessible and reliable. Aside from this, cloud computing is also flexible and scalable.
7. The emergence of edge computing
Digital-first and new technologies such as 5G and IoT have created the need to compensate for the vast amounts of data and computing power required. And while cloud computing is one of the best ways to resolve this, edge computing is also being looked at as a potential method to leverage these new technologies to their full advantage.
8. Possibilities with 5G technology
Although 5G technology is still being rolled out to the public, there has been an increase in its deployment all over Australia. These changes will provide faster wireless broadband that will impact both the public and private sectors as it will allow digital services to be quickly delivered to more places.
9. Applying AI to analytics
The amount of data collected by government organisations can be overwhelming, and it can be difficult to sort through the data and infer insights from it. By applying AI to analytics, however, organisations can use it to quickly uncover the insights hidden in that data. This will allow them to process data faster and identify issues before they can cause problems.
10. Expanding the use of IoT
The rise of edge computing and 5G will provide opportunities for IoT tech to expand its capabilities, making it the foundation necessary to build smart cities. The expansion of IoT tech will also make governments more efficient by providing better services to citizens.
10 technology trends that will transform the public sector
The events of the pandemic have shown that the public sector should not delay in adopting technologies that can help them perform better. With the Australian Government pushing for a digital economy within the next decade, public sector organisations should embrace technology trends to become more effective, efficient and better equipped for the future.
Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.
