From Australia: The latest in tech and innovation
In recent news, the NSW government reveals its $1.6 billion investment in digital and IT projects, the health industry is urged to double down on cybersecurity, media organisations urge government to act in response to lobbying by Google and Facebook and buy-now, pay-later platforms face new regulations around customer targets.
Media bosses urge government to act on code and intense lobbying
Leaders of Australia’s media businesses have co-signed an open letter to government to act on new laws for news for digital platforms. The letter includes four key requests for the news media bargaining code: strong protections against discrimination; cover all services; final offer arbitration; and information exchange.
Inside NSW’s $1.6 billion digital restart fund
Last week, budget documents unveiled by the NSW government revealed the full suite of digital initiatives to be funded under its $1.6 billion digital restart fund. The pandemic-focused budget includes $500 million for government-wide IT investments as a means to fix the traditional government IT funding model.
Working from home sees ‘insidious’ rise in unpaid overtime: study
A new study revealed working from home has contributed to a substantial rise in unpaid overtime this year, with unpaid hours increased from 4.6 a week last year to 5.25 hours. The report demonstrates that the shift towards working from home may not represent progress towards a better work-life balance for Australians.
Banks Lagging in Digital Maturity: Infosys Report
While there are significant opportunities for digital maturity, only 7 per cent of banks have deployed digital transformation initiatives at scale, citing problems related to time and cost, system integration and legacy technology. Scaling digital transformation, improving customer engagement and cost management, are among the top three priorities for banks, with strong emphasis on agility driven by cloud adoption.
Hospitals ‘must bolster defence against hackers’
Draft legislation reveals new laws requiring hospitals to implement critical infrastructure risk management programs to protect against cyber-intrusions, as state actors and global crime groups lay eyes on the Australian health industry. The Morrison government is focused on boosting the cyber defences of health sector organisations and research facilities by embedding preparation, prevention and mitigation activities into business practices.
Afterpay and other buy now pay later platforms will be forced to limit the types of customer they target under new regulations
Financial regulator ASIC has revealed new regulations for buy-now, pay-later platforms, that now need to identity their customer target market and regularly assess whether their products are appropriate for users. The new framework is an attempt to mitigate risk for customers already facing financial difficulties.