The federal government will pay consulting giant McKinsey nearly $1 million to develop a business case for its Facebook-inspired myGov update over the next three months.
The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) is in the process of updating myGov and developing a new “digital experience platform”, dubbed GovDXP. The new platform will resemble a social media platform and aims to provide a smoother, more cohesive digital service for Australians to engage with government.
Consulting bigwig Deloitte has already been handed a near-$1 million contract to design and build a prototype for GovDXP in a “90-day sprint” with the DTA.
Now Deloitte rival McKinsey has landed a contract to develop a business case for GovDXP. The contract runs from 27 April to 10 July and is worth $997,425.
“The DTA is continuing work to improve digital experiences for Australians, in accordance with government requirements and relevant procurement processes,” a DTA spokesperson told InnovationAus.
McKinsey is a prolific government contractor and previously worked to help design the new Services Australia department. The organisation shared a $1 million, six-week contract with KPMG to provide advice on the design of the new department.
The DTA is also on the hunt for an organisation to do the design work the GovDXP platform, with a tender posted online earlier this year. The agency went to the market looking for a “systems integrator with hosting and software partnerships” to develop the platform, based on the Deloitte prototype.
This work is pencilled in to begin at the start of July.
An industry briefing was held for this project in late March on the same day that the myGov platform buckled under pressure from huge numbers of people attempting to register with Centrelink in the wake of job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Government Services Minister Stuart Robert initially claimed that myGov had been a victim of a denial of service cyberattack, before later admitting it had been unable to handle the surge in demand.
The new myGov platform is a key part of the government’s digital transform strategy to be delivered through Services Australia.
“This myGov update platform will offer government information and services across portfolios and jurisdictions and will integrate these around the events people experience in their life, such as having a baby or experiencing a natural disaster,” the DTA said.
“It will improve the way people and businesses interact with government information and services. Enhancements to myGov will enable a more effective model for government to deliver the information and services people and businesses need, in a way that works for them.”.
The new platform will work in tandem with the existing myGov service, providing “simple, smart and personalised services to customers”, aiming to provide a service on par with those offered by the private sector.
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