New South Wales digital minister Victor Dominello has asked the state's information and privacy watchdogs to undertake a "scan of the AI and privacy landscape" in the wake of the robodebt royal commission launch. The move is a possible precursor to Australia's first Artificial Intelligence commissioner, a role the outgoing minister backed earlier this week. Mr Dominello told reporters on Monday a dedicated AI watchdog would be "good to see" as the next layer of independent oversight of government technologies and digital services. He said it likely won't arrive before he retires from politics early next year, but an AI commissioner is being explored and will be necessary to maintain public trust in government technology. "I want to make sure that there is oversight [and] there's checks and balances all the way because there will be failures," Mr Dominello said.

Computer Sciences Corp (CSC) has opened an Innovation Centre at Macquarie Park in Sydney's north that will focus on the development of technology solutions in areas such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and virtual and augmented reality. Opening the centre on Friday, CSC managing director Seelan Nayagam said he expects the new centre to serve as a hub to incubate technology and act as a "prototyping sandbox" that will allow clients to experience and test the viability of their own technology solutions before committing to a large scale implementation. "It will be a showcase for the very latest technology solutions from CSC and our partners," he said. According to Nayagam, it is the people involved in the innovation labs that really make a difference, not just the technology. "This innovation centre ... is a place where we want to bring creative people. Innovation is not just about technology, it's about processes, it's about thinking differently," Nayagam said.