A successful pilot involving the automation of file management and search functions has resulted in a more comprehensive digital transformation phase

In accordance with Australia’s State Records Act, the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) manages Machinery of Government (i.e., the way government functions and responsibilities are organized) changes and compliance.

Following a successful cloud computing pilot in which DPE significantly reduced the time taken for its legal team to locate relevant documents in support of processes such as Government Information Public Access (GIPA) requests, the agency has announced that it will transform its content management with cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to:

  • consolidate multiple records repositories
  • automate compliance management
  • manage the majority of records in place, within systems that staff use every day, including the agency’s Microsoft 365 collaboration platform
  • enable staff to find relevant content in real time to guide better-informed decisions and strategies and to meet broader obligations and objectives

In this deployment phase, instead of DPE staff manually classifying and checking legal documents, the SaaS solution will automate the process and even apply record keeping policies to file shares and Microsoft 365 content for greater efficiencies and operational savings.

According to Jesse Todd, CEO, EncompaaS, which ran the successful pilot for DPE: “When we talk to government or the private sector, the issues are the same: they are struggling to keep up with today’s complex data and regulatory requirements, let alone deliver value to the business and its customers. In contrast, DPE is taking control of its information with innovative technologies and turning its vision for transparency, compliance and efficiency into a reality.”

The firm’s Microsoft Azure-hosted platform integrates with Microsoft 365, data repositories, file shares and other data sources to provide DPE teams with visual data discovery, AI metadata enrichment and automated compliance driven by policies.

With this SaaS automation system in place, DPE also reduces exposure to risks associated with ungoverned content in SharePoint, Teams, file shares and other potentially-vulnerable collaborative cloud environments targeted by cybercriminals.