Tasmania is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons with a new report showing the state’s digital government readiness has “barely” improved in the past five years.
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Released by Intermedium on February 4, the report measures what each government in Australia does in whole-of-government policy.
It showed Tasmania was lagging behind the rest of the nation in all six categories.
Principal Analyst Judy Hurditch said Tasmania needs to move on putting in place its digital transformation policy and procedural enablers or risk falling further behind.
She said the low score means Tasmanians suffer second-rate services.
Science and Technology Minister Michael Ferguson said there had been some improvements in the space, including an 8 per cent rise relative to the previous year in the 2018 Australian Digital Inclusion Index, but knew there was a lot more work to be done.
“We are committed to improving digital access and digital inclusion in Tasmania, which is why we have partnered with TasCOSS to deliver the Digital Ready for Daily Life program, which launches this year, backed by funding of $400,000 over four years,” he said.
Opposition spokeswoman for innovation and digital economy Michelle O’Byrne said the report showed Tasmania had not improved since the first round of readiness assessments were done.
“It is clear that the Liberal government has done nothing to assist and enable its agencies in the digital space and Tasmanians are the ones who are suffering through inadequate services,” Ms O’Byrne said.
