Background
In late 2019 NineSquared was engaged to review the Economics, Population, and Land Use Analytics (EPLA) team within Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE). Our role was to identify core issues and determine an appropriate pathway for implementing change for the future. Since this initial review, work has been done internally to rebrand EPLA as Evidence and Insights.
Evidence and Insights forms part of the Strategy and Reform Division of DPIE. The Strategy and Reform Division is focused on developing the long-term direction of the Department’s work and the roadmap for achieving its goals over the coming decades. As part of this Division, the Evidence and Insights branch leads the provision of evidence and analytics to support planning. Evidence and Insights supports the Minister, DPIE and the NSW public sector by building, analysing and deploying evidence for integrated whole-of-government outcomes for people and places.
NineSquared’s role
To guide the transition of EPLA to Evidence and Insights, NineSquared was engaged to assist in the development of a Business Plan. The Plan:
- Provided an overview of issues identified within EPLA both internally, and in NineSquared’s independent review, and described the case for change.
- Detailed the vision and objectives of the new Evidence and Insights Team.
- Proposed a new functional structure.
- Outlined a future program of work and FTE requirements.
- Described success, including future relationships with stakeholders.
Results and relevance
The engagement process and outputs from the work supported helped define a clear work program for the team and apply new ways of working including more active engagement with external stakeholders.
