Keenan says myGovID pilot is coming, now with sensitivity

Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation Michael Keenan has acknowledged that Australians will need to trust the nascent myGovID service before it becomes widely-used, as the government treads softly on the key reform following the My Health Record controversy.

Addressing the Gartner Symposium on the Gold Coast, Keenan said the ramp-up of myGovID will be accompanied by a new roadmap outlining how the government will address security and privacy challenges, signalling efforts to keep potential critics in the loop.

The issue of community and stakeholder engagement has been a thorny one for privacy sensitive reforms, with the now minority Morrison government essentially at the mercy of the cross bench.

Keenan said the myGovID roadmap would be updated regularly to take into account new technologies.

Meanwhile, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is continuing to plug away at the first pilot of the myGovID digital identity credential, which Keenan described as “an end to end digital tax file number application process”.

It understood the ATO's trial of myGovID is close to launch. 

Keenan also revealed that the ATO’s “Alex” chatbot is being trialled in the ATO’s call centre.

Alex has been present on the ATO’s web site since 2015. Keenan said it’s now been adapted for use in the ATO’s call centre where it will handle voice inquiries.

Again, precise details of just what will happen and when still appear to be being worked through, but Keenan said the government is deeply interested in digital assistants.

A DTA group discussing best practice with the technology has quickly attracted representatives from 35 agencies, Keenan noted.

Simon Sharwood attended Gartner Symposium as a guest of Gartner.