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Under the second round of the program, the state government will provide up to $1 million over the next year to help consortiums develop new mobile solutions for the public sector.
'Earlier this year 11 NSW consortiums were awarded incentive grants under Mobile Concierge, the first round of the Collaborative Solutions program, to develop new mobile solutions for the tourism and retail sectors,' Mr Stoner said.
According to the Minister, the second-round program will accelerate development of new-to-market and significantly innovative mobile solutions that have significant potential for commercial success, job creation, and exports.
'Not only does this aim to support growth in our ICT sector but it will also drive innovation, service and productivity improvements in NSW Government agencies.
'Today's announcement is in keeping with our Simpler Services Plan, a commitment to ensure government services are easier to access, simple, and offer real time, up to date information for NSW residents.'
The Minister said the government expected that between five and ten projects will be supported, depending on consortium submissions, and that the mobile solutions will be delivered either via mobile phones or tablet devices and could exploit features such as wireless broadband, mobile computing, mobile payments, location based services, augmented reality, mobile social media, or sensor technologies.
The new solutions will be matched and trialled with agencies within the state's Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services, which spans activities including economic development, primary industries, tourism and the arts.
'Trialling the solutions with the NSW Government will provide consortiums with a low cost and low risk opportunity to fine tune and validate their technologies while providing a valuable and trusted reference site for promoting future domestic and international sales,' Mr Stoner said.
'At the same time the NSW Government will gain early and cost-effective access to innovative technologies that can improve the public sector by leveraging our ICT industry's agility, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
'Improvements delivered to the public sector could include better government-to-public or government-to-business interactions, reduced costs, faster processing, and more positive customer engagements.
'The aim is to provide long-term benefits for all stakeholders including the creation of valuable intellectual property, high-value jobs, digital economy capabilities, and more effective government delivery, all in NSW.'
Details on the Collaborative Solutions Mobile Government program including submission forms are available online at www.business.nsw.gov.au/collaborativesolutions
An industry briefing is planned for Thursday 17 November, with registrations required via the website.
