Electronic banking:
an illustrative example

By CPL Andrew Hetherington

Electronic banking: an illustrative example

UP until the 1970s, people paid for purchases using either cash or cheques. Credit card use has only become popular over the last 30 years. Automatic teller machines (ATM) did not exist in Australia 25 years ago and facilties for electronic funds transfer at the point of sale (EFTPOS) only became available in the late 1980s.

Due to the convenience and efficiency provided to the consumer, EFTPOS and BPAY®, have gained universal acceptance. Over time, using them has become second nature.

There is no single date as to when this change to electronic banking occurred. The development and evolution of technology such as the Internet, have in themselves taken decades and will continue to evolve into the future.

The point is that a whole variety of technology, skills and attitudes have all converged, across a relatively short period of time, to produce a relatively rapid change to the way buying products is done.

NCW is a lot like the change to electronic banking:

• The technology (the new capabilities that Defence has identified in the Defence Capability Plan) is only one piece of the puzzle. NCW, just like electronic banking, is about how people use this technology to improve the way that they do things.
  
• NCW, like electronic banking, will take decades to reach maturity. A good plan (like the one described in the NCW Roadmap) provides Defence with a sound basis to move forward.
  
• As with the changes in the banking industry, NCW is about the convergence of capabilities, skills and knowledge that lead to rapid changes in the long established ways that Defence does its business.
  
• Just as is the case with EFTPOS and BPAY, Defence will know it has reached a mature NCW capability when our people routinely use NCW tools to conduct their everyday activities.
  

Excerpt from Explaining NCW

Back to "NCW - the future is here"

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