Simplifying NSW Government services
Leader of the NSW Opposition, Barry O’Farrell last week visited the offices of Microsoft Australia to view technologies which can assist in simplifying NSW Government services through the use technology.
Among the products that were viewed included Microsoft Surface, which uses a combination of software and hardware to present information on a flat surface that can be manipulated through use of hand and touch gestures. The technology is being used by government agencies elsewhere in the world, including the United States Library of Congress, and is also being adopted in education and law enforcement.
Other technologies showcased included Windows 7 mobile phone applications and cloud based technologies such as the Windows Azure platform. For example, Microsoft partners have developed the 311 application for the City of Miami. The application allows residents to report issues online through Bing maps, such as potholes on the street, incidents of illegal dumping, or a missed garbage collection. Residents are then issued a service-request number to track progress of the issue to resolution.