RBA seeks to firm up technology services and data analysis

The Reserve Bank of Australia has laid out intentions to make its technology services more resilient, and to make better use of the data it holds, in its latest corporate plan.

The central bank released its latest strategic plan on Wednesday, saying “part of its strategic focus areas will be to strengthen the resilience of technology services” and “harness the power of data”. [pdf]

The report notes that maintaining “key system resilience” is a strategic focus area as the RBA “seeks to avoid system downtime caused by unplanned events”

“This will be achieved by minimising security vulnerabilities to protect against cyber-attacks, enhancing compliance and awareness of security threats and controls, improving the stability of Bank systems, and reducing the complexity of the Bank’s technology environment,” the report states.

The RBA intends to “keep technology systems patched for security vulnerabilities”, “increase automation of core technology delivery processes”, to invest in technology talent and adopt cloud services “where appropriate”.

The bank also highlighted “the maturity of data governance and data management” as keys to making better use of that data.

It also mentioned a refresh to its strategic platforms and tools for storing and analysing data will take place alongside migrating data from legacy systems “and consolidate strategic platforms with modern tools”. 

“Additional major changes could be in prospect if new forms of digital money, such as CBDC and stablecoins, are adopted.

“Over the period of this corporate plan, we will work with participants in the payments system on policy issues relating to both legacy and emerging payment methods”.

The added the RBA will work with the treasury to apply payments system regulatory reforms, continue to “realise the potential of the NPP” alongside international payment transparency, and support cash usage while the cheques system winds down.

It also stated it intends to conduct “research with external partners on use cases for CBDC [central bank digital currencies] and evaluating the case for issuing CBDC.”

Some research is already under way, with RBA partnering with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) earlier this August.

The DFCRC officially launched this week, with the Minister for Financial Services and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones calling it "a pivotal point in the way commerce is conducted”.