Designing the 2023-2026 digital business strategy for the Australian Government Civil Aviation Safety Authority

CASA DBS 23-26

Duminda Aluthgamage (Senior Strategic Designer)
Anthony Kalkipsakis (Chief Business Architect)
Michael Lo Bianco (Principal Strategic Designer)
Morgan Archer (Strategic Designer)
Terry Nguyen (Principal Business Architect)
Angelo Thomas (Senior Business Architect)
Josephine Heffernan (Delivery Manager)



Team

Lead Design Researcher
Strategy Designer

My Role

  • Led executive interview facilitation

  • Led interview data synthesis

  • Led insights generation & report production

  • Led initiatives workshop facilitation

  • Led strategy writing - Initiatives Roadmap

  • Supported strategy writing - Guiding Principles, Strategic Pillars, “Art of the Possible” (technology futures)

My Contribution

The Opportunity

We worked with the Australian Government’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to develop a comprehensive Digital Business Strategy for 2023-2026, defining guiding principles, strategic pillars, and initiatives to enable their ongoing transformation into a digitally enabled organisation.

The Challenge

CASA is an independent statutory authority responsible for regulating Australian civil air operations within the nation’s borders and abroad. CASA also has responsibility for classifying Australian-administered airspace and determining the services and facilities provided by approved air navigation service providers. Some of their key functions include overseeing aviation safety, promoting safety awareness and innovation, and managing licensing and registration within the aviation industry. CASA promotes a positive and collaborative safety culture through a fair, effective, and efficient aviation safety regulatory system which enables their vision of “safe skies for all”.



CASA has commenced its journey to transform into a digital business and modernise the way it delivers services. This involves servicing a diverse public and private client base as well as regulating and adopting new and emergent technologies within the aviation industry. CASA sought expertise from E&A in developing a Digital Business Strategy that bridged the gap between strategy and day-to-day operations. The outcomes of the strategy had to be measurable and deliver benefits for the agency.


The Approach

We adopted a strategic business design mindset and utilised both human-centred design and business architecture methods throughout this engagement. Doing so enabled us to develop an understanding of CASA’s strategic needs through a digital business transformation lens.

My role:

My role included leading various stakeholder interviews, co-design workshops and document analyses, to develop a rich understanding of CASA’s current-state business. This was mainly done with CASA Executives across areas such as CIO, CTO, Marketing, Finance, Legal, and Customer Service. I synthesized this data, developed insights which were presented to to CTO, CIO and others.

This work allowed the team to identify opportunities for improving engagement between business and technology services, uplifting systems and improving user experiences for the workforce and clients.
 I also led the design, articulation and prioritisation of the key initiatives and benefits that CASA would be investing resources into over the coming 3 years.

Overall, our approach achieved the following:

  • Defined, aligned, and communicated CASA’s vision and strategic priorities regarding Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and the business in a consistent manner throughout the organisation.

  • Understood the opportunities to uplift technology and prepare staff for technology changes, including through improved digital literacy and advocation of a digital first mindset.

  • Provided rationale for funding and helped guide the investment process through articulation of key initiatives and benefits.

  • Enabled CASA’s workforce and systems to operate in a manner that is trustworthy and secure.

  • Helped improve or establish governance mechanisms that ensure easy access to content, facilitate reporting, and enhance transparency and accountability.

  • Supported CASA’s ability to achieve cross functional innovation internally and with industry.

  • Maintained awareness of external drivers such as emerging technologies and cyber security, considering proactive and effective incorporation into safety and regulatory operations as required

  • Provided research into emerging technology trends that CASA may benefit from, as the agency’s digital capabilities mature over time.

The Outcomes

We delivered a three-year Digital Business Strategy to facilitate CASA’s continued digital transformation and uplift its digital service delivery within the aviation industry. By considering key insights gleaned from interviews, the Digital Business Strategy provides strategic direction and inspiration, whilst aligning with the overall corporate strategy and vision. The strategy is driven by existing and emerging contexts, priorities, challenges, and opportunities across multiple areas. These include stakeholder experience, ways of working, emerging technology, process automation, systems integration, data and information, and cyber security.

The pillars and principles found in the strategy aim to guide technology decisions within CASA, whilst the initiatives provide a roadmap into technology investment, dependencies, and benefits. Further, the strategy provides a high-level view of the key elements within civil aviation service-ecosystem enabled by CASA’s digital business platform. It also provides guidance on re-use, investment oversight, strategy, co-design, and integration opportunities across the government landscape.