New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced a new-look Cabinet that takes a fresh approach to governance, and enables communities to gain a fair share of the state's economic success.

Among the portfolio changes, Matthew John Kean will move in as the minister for innovation and better regulation. This role was previously held by Victor Dominello, a key supporter for digital government and open data for NSW.

The Australian Government will invest $12 million in a two-year program to test the potential of positioning technology for transport, agriculture, construction, and resources.

Research indicates this technology could generate upwards of $73 billion of value to Australia by 2030 where used to its maximum potential.

Among the functionality, positioning technology supports Google Maps on smartphones, as well as emergency management and farming.

The future of transport in NSW is marked by contactless technology that integrates with credit card payments. This technology is currently being trialled by Transport for NSW in partnership with a solutions provider.

Transport has awarded a $10.2 million contract to Cubic Transportation Systems Australia to design, build and operate the contactless transport payment solution for the trial.

As part of the government's agenda for fintech development and reform, Treasurer Scott Morrison is meeting with ministers, banking representatives and leaders across Western Europe to discuss innovation in the finance sector and issues surrounding housing affordability.

Morrison said the opportunity to meet with British and German officials as part of the G20 Summit would see discussion on the future of financial innovation and trade and investment issues, along with issues around social housing and housing policy.

The Premier for NSW, Mike Baird, has announced plans to resign under a move away from politics and open the field for fresh leadership.

In an official statement, released 19th January, Baird said it has been a tremendous honour to carry the reigns in NSW.

“But I have made clear from the beginning that I was in politics to make a difference, and then move on. After 10 years in public life, this moment for me has arrived.”

The NSW State Transit Authority has unveiled plans to offer free wifi for up to 50 buses on designated routes. This service, currently being trialled, will support mobile phones on public transport.
 
If the trials are successful, up to 1000 buses across Sydney could be fitted with the wifi and supporting technology by year’s end.
 
Andrew Constance, minister for transport and infrastructure, said many people rely on being connected to their smartphone.
 

The NSW government will open up online access to planning data with the launch of a dedicated portal. This Sharing and Enabling Environmental Data (SEED) portal contains 70 sets of data from nine different NSW agencies.
 
The online data incorporates information about soil, air and water quality, mining activities and some vegetation. More data sets will be added in the next stage of the portal’s development.
 

The South Australian government is opening up defence contracts for small-to-medium enterprises under moves to build the domestic capability. The defence sector contributes an annual $2 billion to the economy.

Coinciding with this move, the peak agency, Defence SA, is holding forums that will enable local companies to learn about and target lucrative defence contracts.

AUSTRAC, the Commonwealth’s financial intelligence agency, is raising alarm bells about the impact of cyber-fraud on Australia’s $4.6 billion financial services sector.

These concerns, highlighted in AUSTRAC’s “Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment” report, noted that cyber-fraud has become one of the most reported crime types for the industry.

The AUSTRAC report drew on industry-wide responses. More than 50 per cent of “suspicious matter reports” involved cyber-fraud.

The NSW Telco Authority has finalised a $30 million network upgrade with the contract awarded to Motorola Solutions.

This upgrade will streamline telecommunications services for frontline organisations that manage emergencies or natural disasters.

The Motorola project, when fully operational, will provide agencies with trusted voice communications and resilient performance.

User agencies also receive up-to-date radio technology over the next five years, while building the next-generation capabilities.

New South Wales is fast-tracking plans to build a data lake under moves to navigate information streams across government and industry.

Minister for innovation, Victor Dominello, told FST Government the plumbing is already in place. This data lake, to start filling up in the New Year, will be administered by the Data Analytics Centre (DAC) under the CEO, Dr Ian Oppermann.

Texas-based AgileCraft has announced plans to open its Asia Pacific headquarters in Melbourne under moves to target business across Asia Pacific.

The company specialises in simplifying software for large organisations. Plans are underway to establish a software development hub in Victoria by 2018.

Philip Dalidakis, minister for small business, innovation and trade, said the entry by AgileCraft is another example of a global firm using Victoria to build the regional base, and create new opportunities.