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In other government ICT news this week, 19 November 2012

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UltraServe and Cloud Central have both announced early contract wins through the Data Centre as a Service Multi Use List (DCaaS MUL) recently launched by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO). Cloud Central has not identified the agency it has been contracted to, but IT Wire reports that UltraServe will provide support to AGIMO itself for a new website the office is launching.

“UltraServe was able to provision the hosting and security services within 24 hours of receiving the original confirmation of the contract,” said CEO Samuel Yeats.

Queensland Minister for Science, IT, Innovation and the Arts Ros Bates has had the final report of the State-wide ICT Audit being run by GCIO Peter Grant for over two weeks now, she has told Parliament.

“The document is well over 1,000 pages and it tells us, for the first time, about the entire Queensland Government’s ICT ecosystem,” she said.

Since making the announcement, however,  Bates has been readmitted to hospital after a fall has left her with serious back injuries. The incident follows a period of medical leave while Ms Bates recovered from shoulder surgery.

Tim Mander is Queensland’s new Minister for Housing and Public Works, Premier Cambell Newman announced on 15 November 2012. The appointment followed former Minister Bruce Flegg’s resignation on the previous day, following revelations he had not disclosed meetings with his lobbyist son. The Housing and Public Works portfolio covers whole-of-government procurement policy.

Queensland Treasurer Tim Nicholls has advised the Queensland Parliament that a Registration of Interest process for the establishment of a Government Wireless Network commenced in September attracted around 80 responses. A formal and compulsory Expressions of Interest process closes today.

The City of Melbourne will use Amazon public cloud services to host websites for its major events in the future, after internal web servers failed due to heavy traffic during a major event earlier this year, reports IT News.

Also in Victoria, the State’s branch of the AIIA will be holding a Government & Industry Networking Forum on 28 November 2012, with a line up of speakers featuring Chris Dowling, CIO at the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Bruce Thompson, CIO at the Department of Sustainability and Environment and Michael Vanderheide, Chief Executive at CenITex.

The NSW Government has launched a $20,000 apps4nsw collaborative solutions for health competition to encourage commercial ICT developers to create smartphone and tablet apps that utilise government data to improve health services and customer outcomes. Entries close 30 November 2012.

IT News reports that NSW Government executive managers will be offered coaching in high-level ICT and contract management, based on the State of the NSW Public Sector Report which identified these as weaker areas in the skill set of the State’s senior staff.

Victorian Treasurer Kim Wells says that the State is on track to deliver its target of a 2012-13 budget surplus of $155 million. Victoria’s Quarterly Financial Report to Parliament included $10.9 billion in total government revenue and $11.6 billion in expenditure for the quarter ending 30 September 2012.

The Department of Health and Ageing’s Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) roll-out is gaining momentum, with providers such as ZedMed, Health Industry Exchange and Genie Solutions announcing PCEHR compatibility for their software, reports eHealthspace. Around 1,400 healthcare provider organisations have registered in the eHealth site, and over 14,000 individual consumers have registered for a PCEHR.

IT News reports that AGIMO is reviewing data from a benchmarking survey conducted to examine State and Federal agencies’ technology investments and activities. Benchmarking data was used in the development of the Government’s Data Centre as a Service panel, according to Australian Government CIO, Ann Steward.

Ongoing issues and errors in the New Zealand Ministry of Education’s Novopay pay systems will have increased the cost to the Government by $20 million to more than $100 million. Originally an $80 million contract was signed with the system provider, Talent 2. However, Talent 2 may incur penalties for delays in implementation and technical issues, according to a report by Computerworld.

Related Articles:

Federal Government straps on its cloud computing training wheels

Nationwide Cloud Update

Cloud talks underway in NSW

 

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