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.

The Australian government is launching a new Cyber Security Growth Centre to build the industry’s cyber security capability in a fast-growing market.

This Melbourne-based centre, to be operational in the New Year, will receive $31.9 million in funding during 2016-2017.

Dan Teehan, minister assisting the Prime Minister for cyber security, said cybercrime is costing the Australian economy a conservative AU$1 billion annually.

Last year, the global cyber security market was capped at US$74.5 billion. By 2020, this sector is estimated to be close to US$170 billion.

The NSW Government is launching an Innovation Strategy to foster a culture of “new ideas and innovation.” This strategy, unveiled by the minister for innovation, Victor Dominello, strengthens the entrepreneurship and innovation base.

During 2016-2017, the administration will spend $10 million to grow the network of incubators and accelerators. Another $3 million is assigned for direct grants to start-ups.

Key initiatives include the creation of a Ministerial Innovation Committee to support innovation, and encourage agencies to adapt to digital disruption.

The South Australian government has passed the Public Data Sharing Bill 2016 on 1st December under moves to strengthen data-sharing arrangements between government, local councils and the non-government sector.

Deputy premier, John Rau, said the data-sharing initiative will enable South Australia to work more closely with government and non-government counterparts across key states and territories.

He said data held by governments and non-government organisations are a valuable asset. This vast repository can and should be used more effectively.

A media transcript released by PM Malcolm Turnbull’s office acknowledges that “heads have rolled at IBM” over the Australian Bureau of Statistics website outage.

During an interview with the broadcaster, 3AW, the PM reinforced concerns that Australians expect better services from government. This is especially with managing IT contracts.