The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) is looking to rationalise around 50 of its IT applications, including finance and HR systems, and upgrade its desktops to the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) standard operating environment based upon Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010, reports IT News. DVA outsourced IT infrastructure to DHS in 2011, and has an IT budget of around $80 million per year.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will commence its upgrade of around 22,000 end-user machines that currently run on Microsoft Windows XP and IE6 in November 2013, reports IT News. The project is expected to be completed by April 2014, when Microsoft will stop supporting Windows XP.
Terry Mills has been replaced by former Transport Minister Adam Giles as Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, as of 13 March 2013. The leadership re-shuffle comes on the heels of Ted Baillieu’s resignation as Victorian Premier and Denis Napthine’s ascension to the post on 6 March.
The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) has released its Big Data Strategy Issues Paper for public comment, with a draft Strategy expected in May 2013 and a final version in June 2013. The aim of the Strategy is to “enhance cross-agency data analytic capability for improved policy and services deliver”, according to the Issues Paper.
The Department of Finance and Deregulation has awarded a $5.5 million contract to Infront Systems for data storage virtualisation management tools and services. The contract period is from 5 February 2013 to 30 August 2013.
Telecommunications firm Visionstream has been awarded a contract worth up to $1 billion over four years to roll out fibre cabling for the National Broadband Network (NBN), reports the Australian Financial Review. The contract has an initial value of $334 million over two years, with two one-year extension options.
Oracle has won a $3 million contract with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs for ICT software licence and maintenance. The contract has a four-month period and is due to expire in June 2013.
The NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure’s Chief Financial Officer Stephen Payne is looking to test cloud-based back office systems in the next three months, with an initial trial at the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and potential rollout across the whole-of-NSW-Government, reports the Australian Financial Review. The trial is part of a broader agenda of cutting corporate service costs at DPI by 10 to 30 per cent in 18 months.
The Victorian Department of Justice has selected ASG Group to design, develop and implement a budget management system in a $2 million contract expiring in November 2018.
Western Australia’s Electoral Commission trialled its electronic Vote Assist system for sight and vision impaired voters in the recent State election, reports IT News. The Windows application works with a Microsoft SQL database.
WA’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services has awarded a $2.5 million contract to Amristar Solutions for ICT systems development services. The contract was signed through the whole-of-government common use agreement for ICT Services and will initially expire in March 2014, with a final end date in March 2016.
The South Australian Government is investing another $6.7 million over the next six years in personal alert and monitoring systems for older citizens.
AGIMO and the ATO are planning to establish a Centre of Excellence in Data Analytics to improve efficiency and innovation and inform whole-of-government policy development. An initial meeting was held on 5 March 2013.
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