Tasmania seeks contractor for digital services portal to enhance online access

The government of the Australian State of Tasmania has launched a call to tender for the set-up of the first stage of a digital services platform that will enable Tasmanians to have a unified digital account to access services online, iTnews reports. The plan includes combining separate digital identities registered with the government into a “whole-of-government identifier.”

The bidding process, which is open until May 23, 2022, will see the selection of a vendor who will develop, maintain and support stage 1 of a digital services portal “myServiceTas.” Stage 1 of the digital services portal will see the creation of a digital identity-based customer account enabling Tasmanians to log in and access government services digitally, according to the service description.

Service Tasmania – the government agency fronting the project – was quoted by iTnews as explaining that the move is part of the government’s efforts in making improvements to the way people access digital services. It also comes after a review which detailed that many government services were still accessed in person or over the phone, rather than online, making service delivery slow. The review noted the importance of digital identity and different levels of identity verification assurance to the MyGov platform.

Service Tasmania says the digital services portal will enable the integration of many services such as the creation of a Motor Registry client ID, and the linking of discrete government identities to a single whole-of-government identifier.

“Stage one will significantly improve experience for customers through paperless delivery of notices, notifications/reminders, streamlined renewal processes and integrated payment options. The services in scope for Stage 1 have been selected to demonstrate different functions and capabilities of the digital portal which will be broadly applicable to other agencies in future stages,” Service Tasmania says, as quoted by iTnews.

According to the plan, shortlisted candidates will have the chance to perform a demo of their solution in June, after which the winner will be awarded a five-year contract. The first phase of the system is expected to go operational by September 2023.

Bids are due by May 23, 2022, according to the tender documents, and the product tendered must have an existing customer base. The amount of money earmarked for the project is not publicly available, though iTnews notes the Tasmanian government set aside AU$4.3 million (US$ million) in the last budget to support digital transformation.

The Tasmanian government move is part of wider ongoing efforts by Australia’s federal government to broaden the country’s digital identity spectrum and make access to online services much easier and safer.

Article Topics

Australia  |  digital identity  |  government services  |  identity verification  |  Tasmania  |  tender