After a successful six-month trial on the fast payments network, which included $2.2 million in emergency response funds processed during the Townsville floods, the welfare agency was able to slash payment transfer times from two days to just seconds.

Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation Michael Keenan acknowledged the stress faced by citizens in waiting for payments to process through the banks' existing clearing and settlement system. 

The protective DNS layer will block known and likely malicious domains, filtering multiple “threat feeds” through an analytics engine.

The service will also provide up-to-date reports to the ASCS and select external partners, with the overarching goal of “[uplifting] the whole of Australia (sic) security posture by reducing the volume of known and likely malicious intrusions,” tender documents state.

Dubbed WINTEROSE, the DNS project has been declared a “strategic priority” by The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), the ACSC’s parent agency.

The Digital Restart Fund will adopt agile as a guiding philosophy for digital projects funding, shifting away from a predetermined funding mechanism (largely driven by finance) to a more iterative model based on the agile methodology – the widely embraced software development model which encourages incremental, evolutionary and continuous improvement to solutions.

“As many agile practitioners know, the biggest inhibitors to widespread digital adoption are the traditional funding and governance processes over projects,” digital.nsw said in a statement.

The new ‘ask the market’ feature opens a new communication channel between buyers and sellers, giving government buyers an option to seek Expressions of Interest (EOI) or Requests for Information (RFI) from businesses.

With the platform upgrade, government agencies can approach sellers with questions or problems and then incorporate feedback before fully defining the solution requirements. Buyers can expect to receive a response through ask the market between five and 10 business days.

One of the major announcements in the airport’s 2018 annual report, the CSOC forms part of the transport hub’s “maturity improvements” – a key component of its Information and Cyber Security 2020 strategy.

“A refreshed Information and Cyber Security 2020 strategy has been at the centre of our cyber programs to drive security governance, improved maturity levels, and stronger user awareness via security culture campaigns,” the report said.

In a statement released by the Digital Health Agency (DTA), responsible for the rollout of the national database, nearly 23 million individuals were automatically signed up to the scheme at the conclusion of the final opt-out period, ending 31 January 2019, with 2.5 million opting to remove themselves from the system entirely.

This was the second extension of the initial opt-out window, originally set for October last year.

Equipped with a state-of-the-art Linescanner camera, the new jet – supplied by Canadian-owned aircraft manufacturer Learjet – can map large-scale areas of current emergencies, including regions devastated by fires and floods.

The technology is particularly useful for tracking active bushfires across the state, with the high-tech camera capable of peering through smoke and cloud cover and delivering intelligence reports in near-real time.

The re-launched Transperth app, which adds a new GPS tracking function to the existing JourneyPlanner capability, allows commuters to track Perth buses across the city in real-time. The tracking function is, however, limited to metropolitan buses, with Perth trains or ferry services yet to be incorporated into the new network.

The Transperth app has been in beta testing since last November, receiving near-universal praise from 5,000 or so testers – 98 per cent of whom said they would continue to use the app after its official launch.

The Federal Government expects its $33.7 million investment in the hub to "usher in a new era in computing... that will help create the jobs and businesses of the future".

“The Centre is a global leader in quantum computing research, using atoms to develop quantum processes in silicon and optical platforms that can transfer information over secure communication networks,” the Government said in a statement.

The breach of parliament's email servers, carried out by what the Government has claimed to be an unidentified foreign state actor – though widely believed to have originated in China – was logged by cybersecurity officials earlier this month.

Cybersecurity experts described the attack as “unprecedented” in its sophistication; however, there is no evidence that any data was lost or accessed in the raid, nor of any electoral interference.

Australia’s three biggest political parties were also believed to have been in the hackers’ firing line.

One of the more recent players in the Taiwan Government's spectacular emergence as an eGov leader and trailblazer was once its most ardent critic. Audrey Tang, appointed as Taiwan’s Digital Minister in 2016, has been the Tsai administration’s most vocal proponent of transparent, citizen-centric governance.

The report assesses the progress of digital transformation rollouts across state and Federal governments, measuring progress in whole-of-government policy as well as legislative action and procedural processes.

The agreement, which coincides with the opening on Tuesday of the multi-million dollar Microsoft Technology Centre (MTC) in Sydney, will give DFSI heads exclusive access to the Centre for training opportunities and featured solutions exhibits.

The MTC promotes itself as an interactive learning environment for enterprise leaders, with facilities including an ‘envisioning theatre’ (a showcase area for demonstrating Microsoft and partner solutions), an ‘innovation factory’, social hub, cybersecurity room, as well as workshop and boardroom areas.

The new policy urges NSW Government agencies to prioritise small to medium businesses when considering government suppliers.

For contracts up to $250,000, SMEs (classified as businesses with between one and 199 full-time employees) and regional businesses will be given full priority for procurement contracts.

Businesses that tender for contracts valued at more than $3 million will be required to meet certain “sustainability criteria” based on economic, ethical, environmental or social priorities of the Government, which will be continuously monitored for compliance.