NSW Launches Dedicated AI Office to Drive Innovation
▼ Summary
– The NSW Government has established a new Office for AI within Digital NSW, led by Laura Christie, to operate for an initial two-year period.
– This office will coordinate AI rollout across the public sector, support agency adoption, and develop NSW AI operational policy and an assessment framework.
– A head of AI will be appointed to lead a multi-disciplinary team with skills in architecture, development, strategy, and change management.
– The office aims to ensure responsible and beneficial AI use in government services, alongside existing initiatives like bushfire and education AI tools.
– It follows recommendations from a state inquiry, including broader AI governance and increased transparency through a central register and gap analysis.
The New South Wales government has officially launched a dedicated artificial intelligence office, marking a significant step forward in the state’s digital transformation journey. This move comes more than a year after a major review recommended the creation of a specialized unit to oversee AI adoption across the public sector.
Operating under Digital NSW, the newly formed Office for AI will be led by Laura Christie, the chief information and digital officer at the Department of Customer Service. The office has been established with an initial two-year mandate to drive and coordinate AI initiatives throughout the state’s government agencies.
A core function of the office will be to support the rollout of AI technologies, helping individual departments enhance their capabilities and integrate AI responsibly into their operations. It will also be responsible for developing statewide AI operational policies and implementing a standardized AI Assessment Framework to guide government use of the technology.
A head of AI will be appointed to lead a multidisciplinary team with expertise in areas including architecture, development, business strategy, and change management. This team will work to ensure that AI implementations are both innovative and aligned with public sector values.
Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib emphasized the importance of using AI safely and effectively in government services. He stated that the office will help establish a clear roadmap for managing emerging technologies in ways that benefit the community. Dib also highlighted that AI is already playing a role in everyday life, and the government has a responsibility to use it wisely.
Several AI initiatives are already underway across NSW, including an AI system analyzing school zone activity in the Hunter region, the NSW Rural Fire Service’s Athena bushfire prediction tool, and NSWEduChat, a generative AI platform designed for educators.
The Office for AI will work alongside the existing AI Review Committee, which evaluates high-risk AI projects within the government. This structure ensures that both innovation and oversight are prioritized as AI becomes more deeply embedded in public services.
The establishment of the office follows a series of recommendations from a state-led inquiry into AI conducted last year. Key suggestions included the creation of a broader AI governance framework, the appointment of chief AI officers across departments, the development of a central register for automated decision-making systems, and a regulatory gap analysis to improve transparency and accountability.
(Source: ITNews)