Hardware

Dominant in the overall Federal Government ICT marketplace, the Department of Defence is even more dominant in the market for Hardware. In 2005-06, Defence accounted for almost half of the $533 million hardware contracts awarded, by value.

More than 4,000 ICT contracts incorporating Hardware were signed by Federal Government agencies in the 12 months to June 2006. This is up almost 25% on the previous year.

Key findings from the Hardware Report

The Q3 2009-10 Federal Government Large Computing Systems (LCS) market was up $13.2 million or 93% on the same period in 2008-09. 33 suppliers signed a total of 112 contracts worth $27.2 million with 26 agencies, with the top three suppliers accounting for 75 % of the market in the quarter.

One of the early deliverables for Labor's Education Revolution is the provision of computers to high school students. While there is no doubting its commitment, there are some questions about how the new government will implement this policy in the proposed time frames. It’s not just about buying computers; this is a massive logistical exercise.

With Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Information, Industry, Science and Research, calling for no less than a “digital educational revolution”, notebook vendors in the education space are bracing themselves for a substantial increase in sales over the next few years.

While some of the $1 billion the Federal Government digital education revolution fund is targeted towards Internet connectivity, the bulk of the funds will be spent on laptop or portable computers for the country‟s million senior school students.