It is now seven years since the government first introduced an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Awards program. In that time, every nomination we have received has been an acknowledgement of the excellent work that Government does.

In an ever-changing information technology landscape, community expectations are also continually changing – “raising the bar” so to speak. To meet those expectations we must continue to lead in exploiting the technology available to us.

We all know that Australians can be self‑effacing innovators, quiet achievers who often prefer to remain silent about their achievements – they just want to get on with the job at hand. Fortunately we also have a reputation for helping one another. A nomination from your agency for the Excellence in eGovernment Awards is just one way of doing that. Not surprisingly, others want to know:

• what was the problem your agency faced and how did you solve it?
• how did your agency make that process more efficient?
• what did your agency do to make service delivery more customer focussed?
• how does your agency use technology to communicate with your clients?

Take a look at last year’s winners. Their agencies were happy to share their stories and I’d like you to consider sharing yours. Don’t think “But we haven’t done anything special!”  A problem solved, a job well done, a more satisfied customer – that’s what we want to hear about.  What you’ve done might help someone else, and that would really be something to be proud of.

And don’t forget the quiet achievers. The Government 2.0 Innovator Award and the ICT Professional of the Year Award are also open for nominations. It’s a great way of acknowledging those individuals and teams who have worked so hard for their agency. Why not take the time to say a public “Thank you – great job”?

You still have plenty of time to nominate for this year’s Awards – nominations don’t close until 6:00 pm (AEDT) on Thursday 1 March 2012.

 The report is based on data that Finance collects from agencies as part of the annual ICT benchmarking exercise. We established the benchmarking framework in 2009, and began the benchmarking exercise officially with the 2008-09 data.   

 The report provides aggregate figures on ICT expenditure and use by agencies. It shows that the Australian Government spends about $5 billion per year, which is about 5% of the Australian ICT market, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics figures. 

Some other points worth noting are that the Applications area accounts for over a third of ICT expenditure, and that 30% of costs related to expenditure are new projects in 2009-10. It also shows up some interesting changes occurring – such as the increase in Unix-based servers between the two years.

We intend to publish the expenditure report as new data is collected. The next report with the 2010-11 data should be available in a few months.

We have also published the report data on data.gov.au, and encourage you to investigate how you can reuse and add value to the data. This is a first step in making the data available, and we would welcome your feedback and ideas on how to improve the report. Please provide any feedback to ictbenchmarking@finance.gov.au.

This is the sixth and last in the time series of studies that commenced in 2005.

Over the period of the time series, Australians have progressively embraced the internet as the preferred means of contacting government. When it is available, the internet is now the most commonly used channel to contact government.

Convenience, channel features and availability influence the decision to choose a particular service delivery channel to contact government. Four in five (82%) people use the internet because it is convenient.

The 2011 study saw significant increases in Australians accessing the web via mobile phone or similar portable devices, and making phone calls over the internet. There was also continuing growth in the use of social networking sites and SMS.

As these technologies become commonplace, government must continue where relevant to use them to deliver effective e-Government services.

The 2011 study shows that overall satisfaction with government online services remains high. Satisfaction with government websites also remains high and, since 2009, there has been a significant increase in satisfaction with the way government websites are designed to promote quick service delivery.

The opportunities for greater engagement with citizens through e-Government channels will continue as the introduction of high speed broadband through the NBN and the increased use of new communication technologies provide the Government with greater flexibility in delivering better services to people, communities and business, as well as improved government operations.

For further information, please contact the AGIMO Governance and Policy Branch at Measurement.Project@finance.gov.au.

With these new techniques now released, agencies need to incorporate as many of them as practicable, as well as the applicable general techniques, to increase the accessibility of their PDFs.

For a refresher on how to create accessible PDFs, refer to the slides from the Adobe education session held in March 2011 and published on the Web Guide. Other resources include:

• A listing of accessibility checking and repair tools in the PDF Techniques sub-document; and
• A table listing all the WCAG 2.0 A and AA success criteria with the relevant PDF and general techniques in the Adobe accessibility blog.

The W3C How to Meet WCAG 2.0: A customizable quick reference now includes a view of the PDF and general techniques through the customisation panel.

We look forward to seeing many more accessible PDFs and will be interested in agencies’ experiences with these new techniques.

The advice breaks down the process into five steps: discover, process, licence, publish, refine.

These five steps work as a cycle that aims to encourage agencies to regularly release new PSI and improve their existing PSI over time. As part of this cycle, the advice discusses:

• Business concerns - such as security, privacy and other legal assessments to determine if a given piece of government information can be released as PSI, and the use of open licences to allow reuse of PSI.
• Technical matters - such as metadata and open standards, as well as publication options (with a strong preference for agencies to use data.gov.au).
• Ongoing engagement - such as gaining feedback from users of the information and ensuring the permanence of published PSI.

The Declaration of Open Government in July 2010 encouraged the  release of more PSI online as a means of increasing transparency and encouraging innovative reuse of government data.  This was also emphasised in the Government’s responses in 2010 to the Government 2.0 Taskforce and Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for Reform of Australian Government Administration (the Moran Review).

 In 2011, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner released its Principles on Open Public Sector Information and an issues paper on Understanding the value of public sector information in Australia to provide further advice and discussion on the subject. AGIMO has also worked with many agencies to release PSI on data.gov.au following its release in March 2011.

This new advice on publishing PSI builds on these previous documents and promotes the release of more PSI in useful formats and under open licences to demonstrate the social and economic value that can be realised when PSI is more widely available.

The program will provide high-quality executive coaching to small groups of selected individuals and be closely aligned with the existing Women in IT Executive Mentoring (WITEM) program. Dell has provided support for the WITEM program in the past and is also doing so for this program.

For more information on Whole-of-Government ICT mentoring and coaching programs supported by the Department of Finance and Deregulation see our Mentoring Programs page.

The Australian Government ICT Graduate Program is a specialised program designed to recruit ICT graduates into the Australian Public Service (APS). The Program will assist agencies to fill ICT graduate positions in a competitive Australian graduate industry. The Program expands on the Australian Government ICT Entry-level Programs currently offered by AGIMO.

The recruitment of ICT graduates through the Program will assist agencies to meet their business and operational needs to build ICT capability and develop future leaders within their agency and the APS community.

The Program consists of a one-year graduate development program, including training opportunities to help participants transition into and understand the broader APS work environment. The Program is a collaboration between AGIMO, the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) and the Australian Computer Society (ACS). Key features of the Program include:

• a customised APSC Graduate Development Program;
• comprehensive training, including a Diploma of Government with an ICT focus;
• membership with the ACS, ACS Masterclass seminars and ACS networking events;
• ICT Entry Level Program networking events and graduation ceremony; and
• ongoing employment with a competitive starting salary.

For more information on the Whole-of-Government ICT Entry-level Programs supported by the Department of Finance and Deregulation please see www.australia.gov.au/ictentrylevel.

The ICT Cadetship Program is intended for current university students who have completed their first year (or full-time equivalent) of an undergraduate degree in ICT, or an undergraduate degree with an ICT major. Cadets work a minimum of two days per week within an Australian Government agency, with the remainder of the week being dedicated towards finishing their university study.

The ICT Apprenticeship Program is intended for students who are currently completing their Year 12 Certificate, and people with a passion for ICT who are looking for a new and exciting career change. Apprentices work the equivalent of four days per week within an Australian Government agency, while completing a Certificate IV or Diploma in either information technology, networking, programming, software development or systems analysis and design.

The Cadets and Apprentices are based throughout Australia and came together tonight, with family and friends, to receive their graduation certificates.

The graduating Cadets and Apprentices will now continue their ICT career, contributing their skills and experience across the Australian Public Service.

To date a total of 110 Apprentices, 40 Cadets and 7 Australian School Based Apprentices have successfully graduated from the Australian Government ICT Entry Level Program.

For your opportunity to embark on an ICT career in the Australian Government visit www.australia.gov.au/ictentrylevel or call 02 6215 2889.

The new policy provides the flexibility that agencies require over a wide range of IT Services. It will deliver operational efficiencies while maintaining a high level of open competition.

Efficiencies are gained by reducing the large number of IT Services Panels that exist across Australian Government agencies and the burden this places on agencies and suppliers. Competition is maintained by allowing a maximum of three IT Services Panels across each portfolio and thus providing IT suppliers with future panel tenders to which to respond.

In practice, an agency will normally use its portfolio’s panels to procure its IT Services; however, it is not restricted to these. Newly established IT Services panels must include a whole-of-government multi-agency access or ‘piggybacking’ clause, ensuring that they will be available to all Australian Government agencies.

Over time, the first step an agency takes in securing IT Services will be to see what IT Services are available via its existing portfolio panel, followed by what is available via panels across the Australian Government. Only then will there be a need to investigate an approach to market via open tender. This is expected to significantly reduce time and dollars spent by agencies and suppliers alike. AGIMO will provide, via the Finance website and govdex, support to assist portfolios with multi-agency access clauses, templates and processes related to the panel development and operation. In addition, Finance will develop a matrix of IT Services panels to help agencies locate the ideal panel for their needs.

What of the earlier WISP consultation?

Thank you for the ideas we received following consultation; these have been included into this policy. Your feedback will also contribute to the development of a new ICT Multi-Use List to replace the two that Finance administers; the ICT Multi-Use List and the ICT Management Consultants Multi-Use List. It will feature updated product categories and improved functionality, delivering suppliers and agencies with savings in time and money. It will provide current and emerging ICT suppliers a channel in which to engage with Government and demonstrate their capabilities. This is expected to be operational during 2012. Like the current lists, its use will not be mandatory.

The new list will be designed around a mandatory head agreement, reducing ongoing legal costs, and online, templated RFTs, RFQs and responses. Combined with performance assessments of suppliers by agencies, the list will simplify procurement, particularly for the over 70% of ICT services contracts that are valued at less than $80,000. Consultation on the policy will be conducted through this blog and is likely to begin in the New Year.

Regards

Brian

Presentation Slides

• Open Source and the Australian Government November 2011 Presentation Slides PDF 1376KB
• Open Source and the Australian Government November 2011 Presentation Slides PPT 3238KB
• Open Source and the Australian Government November 2011 Presentation Slides DOC 1054KB

Update 12/12/11: Speech Transcript

I was asked on Twitter if I could provide a transcript from my speech. Here it is:

• Open Source and the Australian Government November 2011 Speech Transcript PDF 68KB
• Open Source and the Australian Government November 2011 Speech Transcript DOC 52KB