The Department of Defence has awarded a contract for $114 million to Harris Corporation for Combat Net Radios from January 2014, continuing a long-standing relationship in this field. Defence has published a total of 123 contracts with Harris since 2007, with a total estimated value of $588.2 million. Of these, 97 contracts valued at $409.1 million have been specifically for Combat Net Radios and associated services, including a contract valued at $230.3 million in 2012. Combat Net Radios are secure digital radios designed for battlefield operations, typically with built-in encryption, and are an example of growing technology convergence in military ICT.
The Department of Education and Communities has signed another 5 year contract with Telstra to deliver broadband (GWIP) services to over 900 of the Department’s training sites. The deal is estimated to be worth $268 million to Telstra over the full term, and will include Telstra Wavelength Service (TWS), a high capacity data wavelength service using optical fibre cabling to connect training sites together. This new contract is effectively an extension of the previous 5 year agreement, which was signed between Telstra and the Department in October 2009.
The Department of Finance is inviting comment from industry and agencies on how to improve the current whole-of-government Desktop Hardware Panel, operating since 2010 and due to expire in August 2014. More than 1,000 contracts valued at $156 million have been identified by Intermedium as having been procured through the panel to date. Finance plans an approach to the market to establish a new panel in 2014. Comment should be sent via email to ictprocurement@finance.gov.au by Monday 17 February.
The CIO Group at the Department of Defence has opened its search for their next Chief Technology Officer. The new incumbent will be take responsibility for Defence ICT Strategy and Security, Enterprise Architecture and Group Commercial functions with the Group. Matthew Yannopoulos held this role from October 2008 to August 2013, and Major General Michael Milford of the CIO Group is currently managing as a caretaker, until a suitable candidate can be found to take on the Defence’s substantial and potentially overloaded schedule of ICT projects.
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