Minister Tremain, a keynote speaker at the FutureGov Forum New Zealand, held Tuesday 28th May in Wellington, said the final blueprint has involved detailed consultation with government and industry — with an imminent launch date.
But this strategy is not a “cookbook” with a defined recipe about technology choices. “This strategy will evolve as technology evolves, while ensuring that everyone understands and appreciates the ICT plan.”
Peter Fitness, acting director, defence commercial services, New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), shared insights about e-procurement trends, noting that integrated e-payment systems support an ongoing journey to streamline the purchase of goods and services.
The principles of new government rules for procurement have much to recommend them to the local ICT industry, says Don Christie of Catalyst, president of local industry lobby NZRise.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce’s tone in the announcement of the rules late last month gives encouragement to local ICT companies that they might get as fairer go in bidding for government contracts, but “we don’t see much of a link between those principles and the rules as they’re written,” Christie says.
University of Canterbury (UC) senior teacher education lecturer Wendy Fox-Turnbull says the knowledge age has arrived and New Zealand can no longer continue to rely on primary produce to boost its gross domestic product.
``ICT is an area of huge potential and one in which we can compete on the world stage, and it doesn’t rely on large supplies of natural resources.
Read more: Vitally Important That Creative Computing Grows In New Zealand, UC Expert Says
To experience a privacy failure in government ICT, when more and more government processes and transactions are being consigned to digital channels is to strike powerfully at public confidence. In recent months we have had two accidental releases of public data, from the Earthquake Commission and the Accident Compensation Corporation and one deliberate penetration of a core government agency – the Ministry of Social Development - albeit only for the purpose of demonstrating the vulnerability.