NSW govt sites need some standards

NSW is embarking on a program of standardising its portals to help the state's residents better negotiate the maze of government agency Web sites.

According to New South Wales government acting CIO Tony Gates, over 300 of the smaller agency Web sites will be brought under a common government look and feel.

"By adopting a common look and feel it's easier to find information on a government service ... We've got to concentrate more on the services and less on the departments that offer them," Gates told a recent Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) event.

The state is also working to standardise navigation and layout in an effort to help citizens track down the service they need without knowing which agency provides it, as well as developing a commonality of where certain services are located across government Web sites.

Larger agencies like the RTA won't be obliged to adopt the state's shared look and feel, however. "We're not targeting the bigger Web portals which have complex backend systems," Gates noted.

NSW is part year through an overhaul of IT strategy, entitled People First, which it hopes will save the state government AU$565 million over four years.

The head of the project is set to change before the end of the year, with the announcement of a new state government chief information officer. The incoming CIO, Emmanuel Rodriguez, will take up the position in November.