The Australian Government has engaged UK Efficiency Expert Sir Peter Gershon to lead an independent review of the Australian Government's use and management of information and communication technology (ICT). [1]

The review is part of the broader ongoing reform agenda to improve the efficiency of government spending and deliver better value for money.  It will provide a snapshot of the current state of ICT in the Australian Government, what exists and how it is managed to deliver Government objectives.

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We welcome your thoughts on the issues raised by the review's Terms of Reference [2], as well as any other options that, in your opinion, could improve efficiency and effectiveness of the Government's use and management of ICT, including barriers to their adoption.

In particular, we would like to hear from you regarding the following:

• Do you think that aggregation or standardisation would drive economies of scale benefits for the Australian Government?
• Do the Government's requirements inhibit the use of Commercial Off the Shelf products without customization?
• How would you rate the Federal Government compared to:
  • State Governments?
  • Other Governments elsewhere in the world?
  • Australian private sector?
  • Local governments?
• Name or describe key best practice techniques of which you are aware?
• To your knowledge, are these techniques being used by the Australian Government?

To make a submission, you can fill in our short online survey [2] or simply post a comment using the link below. 

All Open Forum submissions will be forwarded to the ICT Review Secretariat on 30 May 2008.

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The review will examine and report on the Australian Government's current use and management of ICT to determine whether the Government is realising the greatest return from its investments in ICT. This includes the ways in which ICT can be used to meet the Government's broader objectives and the means by which the financial return to Government might be increased. 

In a media release [3], Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner said: “The Australian Government has approximately $10 billion in ICT assets and spends around $6 billion per annum on ICT encompassing procurement, maintenance, development and staff costs. Under the Howard Government this spending was completely uncoordinated leading to serious inefficiencies and cost blowouts. There are clear opportunities for efficiency gains in information and communication technology. But we also want to use this review to ensure Australians can access convenient and high quality government services.”

A former Chief Executive of the UK Treasury’s Office of Government Commerce, Sir Peter Gershon has undertaken several major strategic reviews for the UK Government on procurement including ICT and public sector efficiency. As a result of the reviews conducted by Gershon, the UK Government achieved an estimated £23 billion in budget savings.

Sir Peter Gershon will be supported by the Department of Finance and Deregulation and will report to the Minister by September 2008 on options to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of ICT within Government.