NSW govt unveils massive ERP system consolidation

The NSW government will create a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for six of the state’s nine clusters after receiving $187.3 million to progress the reforms.

Plans for the whole-of-government system were revealed alongside a handful of new digital investments in NSW’ half-yearly budget update released on Thursday.

The funding has been sourced from the $1.6 billion digital restart fund, which the government is using to accelerate the state’s digital transformation.

While details are scarce, Stronger Communities, Customer Service, Treasury, Premier and Cabinet, Planning, Industry and Environment, and Regional NSW will all use the system.

It promises to be a significant undertaking, with tens of thousands of public servants spread across the six clusters.

Only Transport, Health and Education will continue to use separate systems, having already spent significant time and money over the past decade reforming these.

The Department of Education, for instance, spent $750 million alone replacing its legacy finance, human resources, payroll and student administration systems between 2006 and 2018.

iTnews has contacted the Department of Customer Service for additional information on the reforms, which come three years after an ERP consolidation program was first funded.

Digital licenses

Half-yearly budget update documents released on Thursday also reveal the government will invest $122 million over three years to “further modernise its licensing and compliance program”.

An initial $20.1 million from the digital restart fund will allow for the delivery of “eight final digital licence scheme products relating to asbestos, demolition, conveyancing and paintball by June”.

Police cyber uplift

Another project outlined in the update is the NSW Police’s cyber security transformation program, which documents reveal will receive $23.5 million from the digital restart fund over three years.

As reported by iTnews last month, the program kicked off in December, and will see the force stand up an around-the-clock cyber security operations centre (SOC) to protect its IT systems and data.

The SOC, which is expected to go-live in May, will allow NSW Police to become more proactive in its cyber security, improving threat intelligence and predictive response.

The program will also result in a “substantial increase” in the size of the force’s cyber security team, according to chief information and technology officer Gordon Dunsford.

The Department of Communities and Justice has also been handed $32.5 million over three years from the digital restart fund for its cyber security program, which is separate to that of NSW Police.

According to the update, the funding is “one component of the protected highly sensitive data and increase productivity program”.