Driving Citizen-Centric Transformation Across Australia’s Public Sector

As Australia’s public sector accelerates digital transformation, the focus is shifting from adopting technology to delivering real outcomes for citizens. At Digital NSW 2025, priorities like accessibility, cyber resilience and responsible AI emerged as practical imperatives shaping how agencies serve the community. 

To meet these challenges, agencies are partnering with trusted managed service providers who bring certified expertise to design, manage and implement transformation with confidence. Among Australia’s leading MSPs, Nexon Asia Pacific (Nexon) works alongside agencies to achieve their future state and deliver exceptional citizen experiences. 

As an end-to-end provider, Nexon offers services spanning user experience, cloud acceleration, resilience and connectivity. Driving this vision is Mike Woods, Nexon’s Chief Technology Officer, who leads Nexon’s technology strategy, fosters innovation and ensures security and compliance at every step. 

The journey to a future-ready government is continuous. As Nexon’s CTO highlights, the challenge isn’t simply adopting new technology, it’s making it accessible, secure, and impactful for citizens. By prioritising practical outcomes, embedding robust cyber practices, and driving responsible innovation, agencies can strengthen public trust and deliver services that truly meet community needs. 

We sat down with Mike Woods, Nexon’s Chief Technology Officer, to gain his insights on the forces shaping public sector transformation and how agencies can move from vision to measurable outcomes with confidence. 

What are the strongest technology demands you’re seeing from government agencies?
Right now, the biggest ask is enabling AI within platforms agencies already own, think contact centres, service management, and data platforms. It’s not about adding AI for the sake of it; it’s about unlocking the features that are already there and making sure teams have the skills to use them responsibly. Across the board, we’re seeing four priorities come up time and again: 

1. Switch on AI in existing platforms 

Most agencies have solid foundations - contact centres, case management, and data platforms. The demand is to activate AI capabilities within those systems and apply them in a way that drives real outcomes. 

2. Lift data governance to sustain trust 

Public confidence depends on how we handle citizen data. CIOs and CISOs want practical frameworks that: 

• Make it clear what data is held and why
• Apply sensible retention policies
• Keep auditability front andcentre

Strong governance makes AI safer, reporting easier, and collaboration across agencies more straightforward. 

3. Strengthen SaaS security, beyond the perimeter 

With sensitive information now living inside SaaS apps, security needs to follow the data: 

• Consistent identity, access, posturemanagementand threat detectionacross every SaaSplatform
• Clear guardrails for generative AI features
• Visibility into third-party and supply chain access
• It’sno longer “we secure our network”,it’s“we secure our information wherever it resides.”

How can agencies simplify complex environments and fully leverage the unified capabilities they’ve already invested in? 

The smartest way to simplify is to lean into the ecosystem you’ve already invested in. Most agencies have strong coverage with platforms like Microsoft, yet we often see overlapping tools creating unnecessary complexity. The direction is clear, simplify by consolidating and maximise the value of the platforms you already own. 

Microsoft is a standout example. Agencies are consolidating around M365, Azure, Fabric, Defender, Purview, Power Platform and Dynamics, not just to cut costs, but to reduce integration overhead, standardise security controls, and activate features that often sit idle. The outcome? Fewer moving parts, simpler governance, and better end‑to‑end visibility. 

A practical first step is mapping duplicative capabilities, like multiple endpoint tools or DLP policies - retiring what’s redundant and adopting native features within your strategic platforms. This isn’t just an IT efficiency play; it directly impacts citizen outcomes. Less friction for staff means faster triage, shorter wait times, and more consistent experiences for the community. 

Can you share examples of measurable impact from your work? 

Certainly. Let me share a couple of examples that I think will resonate with government leaders facing similar challenges. 

Recently, we worked with an organisation that needed to overhaul its contact centre experience. Their goal was to make things simpler and faster for customers, especially during high-volume periods. We helped them implement an intelligent voice bot using Genesys, which automated customer identity verification, captured intent, and enabled self-service for routine enquiries. The result? They saved around 28,000 agent hours annually. But more importantly, it meant customers spent less time waiting and got the answers they needed more quickly, something that’s directly translatable to the citizen experience in government contact centres. 

For agencies, the expectations of the community are shifting. People want digital services that are intuitive, responsive, and available when they need them. Leveraging intelligent bots and generative AI, whether it’s to summarise conversations or reduce administrative overhead, doesn’t just make things more efficient for staff. It lifts the level of service and digital experience that citizens now expect from government. 

Another example comes from the education sector, which, like government, operates under strict regulatory and compliance requirements and serves a broad public audience. We partnered with a university that was challenged with fragmented service delivery, multiple disconnected systems were making it hard for students, staff, and researchers to get the support they needed. By moving to a holistic enterprise service delivery model, we improved both the customer and user experience, drove greater operational efficiency, and enabled better decision-making through enterprise-wide service metrics. 

And in Victoria, we supported a government agency looking to modernise its member experience with a new digital platform. The focus was on making services more accessible and seamless, which not only improved satisfaction but also helped the agency meet its accountability and compliance obligations. 

What ties these examples together is a focus on outcomes: 

• Reducing wait times and administrative burden
• Improving the quality and accessibility of services
• Supporting staff to deliver better results for the community

For government agencies, investing in intelligent automation and integrated digital platforms isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about meeting rising citizen expectations and delivering public value in a rapidly changing environment. 

What are the biggest challenges for government agencies adopting new technology? 

The real challenge is striking the right balance between innovation and risk management. Agencies need strong guardrails, especially around AI and data, but too many controls can stall progress. 

Skills are another hurdle. Most agencies have capable teams, but keeping pace with rapid change is tough. That’s why success isn’t just about deploying technology; it’s about building capability. At Nexon, we don’t just deliver technology, we build capability. Our focus is on upskilling and supporting transformation and change management. 

Where do you see the most realistic opportunities for government AI adoption in the next 18–24 months? 

The biggest opportunities are empowering staff with digital assistants and automating specific process slices like triaging service requests. These changes can speed up service delivery and improve the citizen experience, while also making staff roles more rewarding. 

What should CIOs and CISOs prioritise for 2026?
That’s a great question, and it’s one I hear often from agency leaders looking to set their teams up for success in a rapidly evolving landscape. From my perspective, there are three areas that really stand out for 2026: 

1. Securing Data in SaaS Platforms 

We’re seeing a huge shift towards cloud-based and SaaS solutions across government. While these platforms offer flexibility and scalability, they also introduce new risks, particularly around sensitive data. It’s no longer enough to secure the perimeter; agencies need to think carefully about how data is stored, accessed, and protected within each SaaS environment. That means putting the right controls in place, understanding where your data lives, and ensuring your security measures extend beyond your own network. 

2. Strengthening Data Governance 

Data governance is becoming the backbone of public trust. With agencies holding vast amounts of citizen information, it’s critical to have clear frameworks for how data is collected, used, and retained. This isn’t just about compliance, it’s about transparency and accountability. Citizens want to know what information is held about them and how it’s being safeguarded. For CIOs and CISOs, prioritising robust data governance means setting clear policies, communicating them openly, and regularly reviewing practices to keep pace with changing expectations and regulations. 

3. Consolidating Technology Investments 

Over time, many agencies have accumulated fragmented systems, creating inefficiencies and increasing risk. There’s a real opportunity now to consolidate technology investments. By streamlining systems and focusing on platforms that offer strong security and integration, agencies can reduce complexity, lower costs, and improve their ability to respond to new opportunities. It also makes it easier to implement consistent security and data governance practices across the board. 

Put simply, my top three priorities would be:  

• Secure your data wherever itresides, especially in SaaS platforms
• Build andmaintainstrong data governance frameworks
• Consolidateandmoderniseyour technology stack to support these goals

By focusing on these areas, agencies can not only protect sensitive information but also build the public’s confidence in digital government services. Ultimately, it’s about creating a secure, transparent, and efficient environment that enables better outcomes for the community. 

If you could automate one everyday task, what would it be? 

On a lighter note, if I could automate anything, it’d have to be making my morning coffee. There’s something about starting the day with a fresh cup -if only it could appear, hot and ready, right when I need it! I’m still working on that one. 

On the business side, I’ve actually managed to automate a task that used to eat up a surprising amount of my time: booking and accepting meeting invitations. I built an agent that handles the back-and-forth of scheduling, so I can focus on the work that really matters. It’s a small change, but it’s freed up hours each week, time I can now spend on strategy, supporting my team, or even just having a proper conversation with a colleague.