What is a Digital Strategy?
A digital strategy or plan is the articulation of an organisation's vision, goals and purpose for engaging with digital solutions and technologies. It articulates the opportunities and challenges related to digital activities, the governance and management arrangements and risk management issues. It lays out a plan of action in order to maximise the business benefits of digital initiatives to the organisation.
How Does a Digital Strategy Differ From an ICT Strategy?
An Information and Communications Technology (ICT) strategy usually addresses the issues associated with identifying, providing and maintaining the technological infrastructure and solutions that enable an organisation to fulfil its vision and goals.
Whereas an ICT strategy sets out the technical infrastructure (the pipes and plumbing) that underpins an organisation’s use of digital solutions and channels, a digital strategy states what is to be channelled through the pipes and plumbing, how that is to be managed and why.
The two strategies can be developed together. The strategies can be combined, or they can be kept separate with references where appropriate to the other strategy.
The Digital Strategy Toolkit provides South Australian Government organisations with guidance on the development and format of their digital strategies.
The Digital Strategy Toolkit currently comprises four tools for use by South Australian Government departments, agencies and authorities as they develop their digital strategies:
Digital Maturity Assessment Tool
This Digital Maturity Assessment Tool enables organisations to self-assess their level of digital maturity.
The objective is to gain a picture of your organisation’s current level of digital maturity and identify what you’re doing well and where improvements can be made.
Digital Transformation Prioritisation Tool
The aim of the tool is to reduce the risk of undertaking digital transformation projects that are not likely to succeed because they are too difficult to undertake or fail to have real benefits to customers of the organisation.
This tool helps you to prioritise the roll-out of any number of potential digital projects by asking you to consider how each one rates against four key categories of criteria: mandatory criteria, benefits, ease of execution, and risk.
The tool is flexible: it is in spreadsheet format allowing you to change or move criteria, add new ones, delete criteria or change the weighting.
It has been updated and now contains additional charts and evaluation tools to assist with project ranking.
Digital Strategy Template
This template has been provided to assist South Australian Government organisations to develop their own digital strategies in line with the Premier’s expectation outlined in the Digital by Default Declaration and best practice across governments in Australia.
The template is a guide only and can be amended, expanded and redesigned to suit your organisation. The template is modelled on current strategy documents developed by local, state and federal government organisations.
Digital Strategy Implementation Plan Template
This tool is designed to help you map out a high-level implementation plan for your digital strategy. The plan encourages you to identify high-level actions and goals related to developing, implementing, and reviewing progress on the rollout of your digital strategy over a two year period. The tool is in Word format so you can change it in whatever way suits your purpose – or simply use it as a guide to create your own tool in another format.