Better government services

Governments need to develop new business delivery models and systems that will be citizen centric, adaptable and cost effective.

Innovation in the public sector means improving policy and program development and the delivery of services to citizens.

Science and technology is embedded in many service industries, public and private. For example, online forms for web services, customer analytics or tracking goods through a warehouse.

CSIRO’s goal is to create smarter service systems for public sector agencies in line with moves by state and federal governments to improve their delivery of services.

Customers want government services that are:

• centred around them (citizen-centric)
• flexible, timely and responsive
• simple and easy to access
• equitable and fair.

Governments face the challenges of being:

• transparent and accountable
• effective and efficient
• responsive to changing community needs.

These innovative new systems will need to function smoothly, interconnect with citizens, communities and businesses. They will be adaptable to change and spark growth, further innovation and progress.

For example CSIRO can analyse the existing data collected from government agencies to identify bottlenecks, plan improvements and streamline the design and delivery of public services so that they are citizen centric and accurately reflect people’s needs.

Implementing smarter systems may reduce the frustration and stress citizens face when accessing government funded services, whilst allowing government to manage resources more effectively and increase transparency and accountability.

CSIRO and services research

Globally, people are still recognising the amount of science behind services, yet CSIRO has been involved in services research for many years.

Understanding complex service systems requires teams of people that combine a deep knowledge of information and communication technologies (ICT), mathematics, statistics, economics and social sciences.

As Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO is uniquely placed to provide this breadth and skill set.

CSIRO’s Government and Commercial Services group aims to:

• assist in the optimisation of government service delivery systems
• solve service challenges for a range of Australian industries such as:
  • banking, finance and insurance
  • manufacturing, logistics and infrastructure.

Our capabilities

CSIRO's unique capabilities in service science include:

• risk assessment and modelling of strategic decision processes
• dealing with rare events with serious consequences
• operational and physical decision planning and scheduling processes
• dealing with large and complex data sets
• representation and visualisation of data and systems
• interoperability and services-oriented architectures
• citizen centric information delivery
• trusted secure collaboration systems
• vulnerability and resilience of complex systems
• behavioural economics to understand human decision making

Our customers

In Australia, CSIRO has worked with many state and federal government departments and agencies including:

• NSW Roads and Traffic Authority
• Commonwealth Department of Climate Change
• Australian Taxation Office
• Queensland Health
• Seqwater.

Among our many collaborations, CSIRO and the Department of Human Services (DHS) have formed a research alliance to improve the delivery of services to over six million Australians.

Over the next five years, the Human Services Delivery Research Alliance (HSDRA) will help DHS to innovate and meet the challenges of service delivery into the future.

Read more about Human Services Delivery Research Alliance.

To find out more about CSIRO's expertise in services research and how your organisation or business can benefit, please contact us.