IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Health, welfare and the deficit levy have garnered most of the attention but the audit report does hold some interesting thoughts for the long-term future of e-government in Australia and whether Canberra can truly give shape to its ‘digital by default’ strategy.

The Department of Health and Ageing has agreed to resume the funding required to develop the technical standards that underpin its $466.7 million personally controlled electronic health record initiative.

The department had reportedly cut funding to an e-health standards development program by Standards Australia over the current financial year.

CenITex was set up in July 2008 from the merger of the previous Shared Services Centre and Information & Technology Services divisions under the Department of Treasury and Finance, and has since rolled in a number of major departments and agencies to use its services, such as the Departments of Human Services (health) and Justice.

It’s official: the success of the Rockhampton Region is going global.

The region was recognised with an Asia-Pacific Leading Smart City Award at a recent international conference in China.

Rockhampton Region Mayor Margaret Strelow said Council’s commitment to embracing a digital future and building a Smart Regional Centre was clearly paying off.

The first draft of the Vision was leased in April 2011. Announcing the new version on the AGIMO blog, the Government's CIO, Ann Steward, said the second version had been produced following input to a workshop conducted by the Secretaries' ICT Governance Board (SIGB) with a range of senior executives and academics from ICT and other industries, broader consultation and additional advice from Dr Ian Reinecke.

"A key element of the Vision continues to be active engagement with the community. Consistent with that, I am sharing this updated version with you today," Steward said.

Speaking with FutureGov, Craig Humphrey, Executive Director for Integrated Service Delivery, and Gavin Atkinson, Director of Online Service Delivery, share about the strategic framework for developing the Business and Industry Portal and the key hurdles they have overcome to ensure its success.

Ongoing economic uncertainty and a slowdown in government technology investment continue to delay or limit the adoption of digital innovation and radically redesigned service models.

But CIOs at all levels of government can help ease the path.

Part of the problem is that the structure of government has remained largely unchanged for more than half a century, while the needs and expectations of citizens and businesses have outpaced the ability to adequately address them.

As of midnight 24 September, only 10,577 Australians had registered for a personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) scheme – up from around 5000 in mid-August – since its launch on July 1, according to the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA).

Around 90 per cent had registered online, despite some reports that users are frustrated with the arduous process of enrolling to access a single record of their medical history, gathered from multiple systems.

Today is the day the Carbon Tax goes into effect, with many people and organisations bracing themselves for a hike in energy costs. But instead of waiting to get “wrapped up in ‘carbon red tape’”, CIOs need to step up and show leadership in reducing ICT energy costs for their organisations, says Ovum Australian and New Zealand research director, Steve Hodgkinson.

“It is imperative for CIOs to show leadership regarding the management of the CO2 footprint of the ICT infrastructure and applications,” he says.

Every one of us now expects excellent customer service wherever we go – be it at our local supermarket, on a banking app or when buying something online. Personalised experiences are also customary, from companies remembering our personal details on return visits or receiving a one-time SMS code when we forget our password.

This is largely due to a recent heightened focus and investment into improving customer experience across various sectors, and government services should be no exception.

Australia touts new '4D' modelling of infrastructure as boon for region's urban planning.

Australia is integrating new technologies into its urban centres and one of the projects that showcase this urban development innovation is "Data61".

They’re the fastest growing segment in social media. They’re engaged in online blogs and forums. They’re searching on Google, connecting on Facebook, watching videos on YouTube, chatting with family and friends on Skype. And all the time, they’re tweeting about it.

As digital transformation continues to drive new solutions and organisations look for more flexible options, moving services to the cloud is becoming the deployment choice for many.

While on-premises deployments are still a valuable option, many companies are shifting their IT protocols to support cloud-based, multi-cloud or hybrid environments.

The new guidelines, Information Security Management Guidelines-Risk management of outsourced ICT arrangements (including Cloud), simplify the decision making process for Agencies considering cloud and other outsourced ICT arrangements.

Everyone’s talking about cloud computing, but some government CIOs are still not convinced, arguing that the market is still immature with one saying that some vendors are simply “repackaging” outsourcing services.

During a panel session at CIO’s recent digital assets event in Canberra recently, Gary Sterrenberg, CIO at the Department of Human Services (DHS), told attendees there were only one or two cloud vendors that could provide ‘true’ cloud capabilities.

The Senate committee investigating the legislation required for the implementation of the $466.7 million PCEHR system yesterday called for the passage of the Bills in its report handed to the Senate yesterday. However, a dissenting report from coalition senators Sue Boyce and Bridget McKenzie noted that the majority of participants in the inquiry are extremely concerned about the launch date being just four months away.

It outlined its approach in 'The Coalition’s Policy for E-Government and the Digital Economy', released just prior to the Federal Election. Most significantly, the Coalition said that government could "contribute to the growth of a vibrant domestic industry of cloud infrastructure and service providers by moving more rapidly to adopt such services whenever economically justified in its own operations."

It outlined its approach in 'The Coalition’s Policy for E-Government and the Digital Economy', released just prior to the Federal Election. Most significantly, the Coalition said that government could "contribute to the growth of a vibrant domestic industry of cloud infrastructure and service providers by moving more rapidly to adopt such services whenever economically justified in its own operations."

The project was initially funded in the 2010 Federal Budget to the tune of $466.7 million after years of the health industry and technology experts calling for development and national leadership in e-health and health identifier technology to better tie together patients’ records and achieve clinical outcomes. The project is overseen by the Department of Health in coalition with the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA).

The Coalition says it will trial an opt-in pigeonhole from 2014, which will be a free, secure digital inbox that can be used as a standalone “mailbox” or be combined with another email address for communication from all levels of government.