Federal election 2013 - Now it's time to get on with the job

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: As the outcome of Australia's 2013 Federal Election passes into the history books, it is now time to move our discussion from campaigning to governing. This will be a busy period for government agencies in providing briefings to the new Government and its incoming Ministers. Over the coming months, the new Government's agenda will be fleshed out, and more details will emerge.

Kevin Noonan, Research Director, Asia Pacific, IT at Ovum comments: "Technology leadership will need a long term methodical approach to dealing with reform, and strong advocates in Government. Cloud, mobile and data analytics have become the three pillars of technology transformation in the enterprise. It will therefore not be surprising to see a strong focus on these issues coming from an incoming government."

"The Coalition's Policy for e-Government and the Digital Economy provides a good assessment of key issues and challenges for government ICT. However, the view from opposition can be quite different from the tough grind in government. Technology leadership will need a long term methodical approach to dealing with reform, and strong advocates in Government. The first big test will be in the naming of the new ministerial line-up and consequential changes to administrative arrangements. Only then, can the real challenges of reform begin.

"Likely areas of focus for the incoming government are to strengthen and augment existing governance, renew focus on common standards, sharing, productivity, innovation and agility. This should be welcome news for industry representatives who are wearied from dealing with a more narrow approach focusing on cost containment.

"In order to drive some of these changes, AGIMO's role is likely to be strengthened in terms of responsibility and government influence, particularly through the promised Government ICT Advisory Board. A similar body is already working quite successfully in New South Wales, and is likely to be a welcome addition to Federal IT governance.

"The Coalition has foreshadowed a more outcomes focus as a key requirement for the future. To underline its commitment, the Coalition has foreshadowed a review of agency IT expenditure over the last three years, not just looking at the amount spent, but also on the actual outcomes generated by each investment.

"Cloud, mobile and data analytics have become the three pillars of technology transformation in the enterprise. It will therefore not be surprising to see a strong focus on these issues coming from an incoming government.

"Today, it is becoming increasingly difficult to be a cloud denier. With the release of the Federal Government's national cloud strategy, and the more recent New South Wales government cloud strategy, the broad policy direction for governments in Australia would appear to be pretty clear. Some agencies might have hoped that a change of government could provide one last chance to resist the growing momentum for cloud services. Of course, this has not been the case. The Coalition has quickly realised the value of cloud, both as an internal driver of productivity and agility, and also as a driver of national competitiveness in the wider industry.

"Mobile technology and data analytics are both key building blocks for more efficient and effective government administration. However to date, both have suffered from too much focus on technical issues and not enough on business value. The Coalition was correct in noting that Telework has to be one of the big levers of opportunity, but it is a change that requires a much stronger push from the top if it is to succeed.

"Advanced analytics and Big Data also offer significant opportunities for government but need executive sponsorship and support beyond the IT function. Both require a much stronger focus on productivity and business opportunity than the more narrow focus on IT cost containment."