Assurance research series: 01
Schedule
As with all projects, the adequacy of schedule management processes including identification of variance against baseline, establishing trends for the major elements of projects, identification and management of the critical path and project manager ownership of the schedule all affect delivery confidence.
For digital projects, pressure to start delivery quickly instead of developing a robust business case has been found to reduce confidence, potentially resulting in the schedule not representing the full complexity of the task and not accounting for essential interdependencies. This can lead to unrealistic expectations of digital project pace.
Due to the uncertainties involved in many digital projects, contingency should also be included in schedules to allow for learning during delivery.
Stakeholder engagement
Government digital projects can involve a complex ecosystem of stakeholders with direct impact on transformation effectiveness.
- Successful delivery relies upon user, client and senior executive involvement in the formulation of project goals and scope and in project decision-making.
- Cross agency inter-dependencies can affect delivery confidence, separating delivery and the business across multiple agencies, confounding understanding of responsibility and ownership.
- Effective stakeholder engagement will reveal dependencies that are beyond project control but affect delivery confidence, such as licensing, regulations, policies, data sharing and interfaces with systems over jurisdiction boundaries.
Lack of engagement with suppliers on the feasibility of objectives prior to contracting can reduce confidence on high ambition transformations involving unfamiliar technology.
DCA tolerances
Your responsibilities
To successfully meet this criterion, you need to:
- adopt transparent data handling
- implement security measures
- maintain a reliable service
- be accountable for the service.
High
Substantial early and sustained engagement with people who are influential, impacted or involved in the project, allowing for a nuanced understanding of needs and interdependencies.
Off
Medium high
Substantial early engagement and limited ongoing engagement, allowing for a good understanding of needs and interdependencies.
Off
Medium
Early engagement with some stakeholders but limited ongoing engagement.
Off
Medium low
Key stakeholder groups are not engaged. Assumptions not tested with the people themselves.
Off
Low
No engagement. Little basis for assumptions.
Off-
Substantial early and sustained engagement with people who are influential, impacted or involved in the project, allowing for a nuanced understanding of needs and interdependencies.
-
Substantial early engagement and limited ongoing engagement, allowing for a good understanding of needs and interdependencies.
-
Early engagement with some stakeholders but limited ongoing engagement.
-
Key stakeholder groups are not engaged. Assumptions not tested with the people themselves.
-
No engagement. Little basis for assumptions.
Relevant policy
The Digital Experience Policy (the policy) sets agreed benchmarks for the performance of digital services and supports agencies to design and deliver better experiences by considering the broader digital service ecosystem.
The policy supports a whole-of-government focus on improving the experience for people and business interacting digitally with government information and services, setting a benchmark for good digital services and integrating data based on real-world use.
Through a phased implementation, agencies will be required to meet four standards the:
Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) tolerances
Adopt transparent data handling
Consider privacy, consent, and control: Safeguard user data by adhering to the Australian Privacy Principles and the Privacy Act (1988). Always obtain explicit, informed consent before collecting a user’s data and provide a means to update or delete it. Allow users to report inaccurate data and respond with how it has been rectified. Notify users of their own responsibilities to protect their data, such as not to share their password with others.
Eliminate ambiguity in your user interface: Provide validating feedback and progress tracking as users interact with your service. Design to eliminate the need for error messages in the first place; make them understandable and actionable where they remain. Tell users what information they need before they start a task and, where appropriate, allow them to pause and resume at their own pace.
Off