The caretaker period: new AGIMO advice and temporary changes to the running of the AGIMO blog
The Governor-General has accepted the Prime Minister’s recommendation to dissolve Parliament and to set an election for 21 August 2010 for the House of Representatives and half the Senate. As a result, the Government is now in what is known as the ’caretaker period’. During the caretaker period the Australian Public Service (APS) follows what are known as the Caretaker Conventions.
During the caretaker period agencies can still continue with many of their pre-existing “business-as-usual” processes, including communicating online as part of these processes. However, an important part of the Caretaker Conventions is that Commonwealth resources, including online resources such as this blog and other social media tools operated by agencies, cannot be used to communicate material which advantages any party in an election campaign. These measures are not specifically intended to curb free speech or discourage political discussion among the community; rather they are to protect the apolitical nature of the APS. Read more
Declaration of Open Government
The central recommendation of the Government 2.0 Taskforce’s report was that the Australian Government makes a declaration of open government. As the Minister responsible for that Taskforce, I am proud to make that Declaration today on behalf of the Australian Government. Read more
Gov 2.0 Taskforce Report as an ePub
This is just a quick post to let you know that the Government 2.0 Taskforce report is now available in ePub format, which can be read on a range of different devices including compatible e-book readers, tablet computers and smart phones. We’re releasing the ePub file on the AGIMO blog to start with, and may put it up on the Finance website as well (we’ll see how we go based on your feedback). Read more
Consultation Draft RFT: Data Centre Facilities – Pricing Model
Thank you for the comments we have had on the Data Centre Facilities Request for Tender (RFT) so far. As I signalled in my initial post, the Statement of Requirement is only one element of the draft RFT. Another matter, which I am sure will be of interest widely, is the pricing we will ask tenderers to provide as part of their response.
To address this interest, we have prepared a description of our draft pricing model (RTF, 45k, also available in PDF, 114k, and HTML). In particular, I am interested in your views about which elements we should be pricing and whether you can identify any other elements, components or dimensions that influence price and thus should be included in the model. Read more
Consultation: Draft COE Discussion Paper
The Government’s agreement to the coordinated procurement of desktop hardware (the RFT of which is currently under evaluation) included a decision to pursue a whole of government Common Operating Environment (COE). We have been working with agencies on a discussion paper on this subject and we are now ready to share it more widely. We would welcome comments from interested parties so that we can use them to develop an effective and efficient way forward. Read more
