The NSW Department of Finance and Services has announced that Optus is the new provider for managed mobility services to the agency. The two-year contract, up for review in 2015, covers services for smartphones, tablets and laptops. “Service costs will be reduced by up to a massive 50 per cent” through the contract, according to Finance Minister Andrew Constance. The contract will initially apply to DFS and ServiceFirst agencies, but is accessible by all NSW Government agencies. Previously, most of these services were provided by Telstra.
The Queensland Department of Science, IT, Innovation and the Arts (DSITIA) shed 600 staff in 2012-13 according to its most recent annual report, reports IT News. The report indicates 3065 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff were employed at the end of June 2013, 16 per cent less than at the end of 2012. Of the 600, 271 held roles in its Government ICT branch, CITEC. CITEC is due to be sold off completely in two years under the recommendation of Peter Costello’s Commission of Audit report.
Annual reports for 2012-13 from other Queensland agencies have revealed a number of upcoming ICT projects. The Department of Treasury and Trade plans to implement Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), an online system that removes manual processes and paperwork associated with property transfers. It allows all parties to transact together online. The Department of Natural Resources and Mines has agreed upon a single consolidated record keeping platform and is already migrating and decommissioning the incumbent legacy recordkeeping systems. The Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing has also started work migrating records to a consolidated recordkeeping platform (eDRMS).
The annual reports have also outlined the implementation of ICT projects last year. The Department of Education, Training and Employment implemented a $3.5 million eLearning initiative that included the provision of more than 7300 tablets, including over 7000 iPads across 633 schools. The Department of Energy and Water Supply also began work on its open data revolution which aims to release as much information as possible to encourage the private sector to develop new initiatives to deal with agency problems.
The Queensland Department of Parliamentary Services has replaced 70 ageing Lenovo laptops with new Windows 8 Fujitsu convertible laptop-tablet hybrids, reports IT News. The replacement is one of a string of IT initiatives by the agency, which has also recently implemented a $300,000 SharePoint Hansard production system.
The Queensland Government is planning to release a 30-year plan for the State by the end of 2013. The advancement of technology, along with education, health and the economy, ranked among respondents’ top priorities in the initial community engagement process. The Queensland Plan aims to “identify local and statewide priorities” and “guide future activities delivered by all levels of government, business and the community”.
A supplier on the Data Centre as a Service (DCaaS) Panel, NextDC, has opened a Tier 3 data centre in Macquarie Park, Sydney. The new facility opened by Federal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull on 30 September 2013 is the largest of NextDC’s five centres, reports CRN. Telstra, Dimension Data and ICT Networks are among 30 customers already using the facility. According to CRN, Malcolm Turnbull told attendants at the launch that it showed Australia’s ability to host cloud services.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has issued a Request for Quote (RFQ) for a case management system. CASA expects that it will be a single integrated automated system that will manage workflows and investigations. Submissions close on 15 November 2013 with implementation of the system due to commence in February 2014.
Related Articles:
NSW Police to begin mobile trial
QLD ICT Action Plan to strengthen project controls
Young gun to lead Queensland’s ICT reforms
For more information, please contact the Editor (02) 9955 9896.