[LINK] Sustainability of Government ICT Procurement

[Tom Worthington]

The ACT Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Public Accounts is 
holding an Inquiry into ACT Government Procurement 
<http://www.legassembly.act.gov.au/committees/index1.asp?committee=116&inquiry=812&category=13>. 
Public Submissions close on 31 July 2009. Below is an outline I what 
I am thinking of submitting about ICT procurement. There is a version 
with links in my blog at 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2009/07/submission-to-inquiry-into-act.html>. 
Suggestions and comments are welcome:

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This is a submission to the ACT Legislative Assembly Standing 
Committee on Public Accounts for the Inquiry into ACT Government Procurement.

The submission addresses the following terms of reference, largely 
with respect to the use and procurement of computers and 
telecommunications (ICT):
         ...
         (2) the integration of sustainability considerations that 
encompass environmental, economic and social aspects throughout 
procurement processes
         (3) agency approaches to procurement training and 
development activities
         (4) the ability of local suppliers to compete for ACT 
Government procurement opportunities ...

INTEGRATION OF SUSTAINABILITY CONSIDERATIONS IN PROCUREMENT PROCESSES

It is suggested that the ACT Government should work with the federal 
government and other state and local government on common 
sustainability standards for procurement of government ICT. The 
federal departments of Environment and Finance are working on green 
ICT standards at present.

It is suggested that the ACT should propose to work with the 
Commonwealth and other jurisdictions. It is suggested that this be 
done by using the federal finance department's GovDex system. This 
will allow federal, state and local government officials to 
participate in joint working parties without the need for 
face-to-face meetings. It is suggested that there be also 
participation by industry representatives. The aim should be to 
release green ICT guidelines by the end of 2009.

AGENCY APPROACHES TO PROCUREMENT TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

It is suggested that ACT government agencies should make use of 
flexible and e-learning for procurement training, using nationally 
accredited courses. The Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) is a 
leader in the field of the development and delivery of such courses 
and could provide for the ACT Government's needs. In addition other 
organisations run specialised courses, as an example I have designed 
a course in Green ICT, including ICT procurement, versions of which 
are delivered via the web by the Australian National University and 
the Australian Computer Society.

ABILITY OF LOCAL SUPPLIERS TO COMPETE FOR ACT GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT 
OPPORTUNITIES

It is suggested that the ACT Government's online tender system be 
upgraded to provide similar facilities to the Australian Government 
AusTender and NZ Government GETS. Systems. In particular the system 
should allow a small business to register for a particular category 
of tender and automatically receive an email message advising of 
tenders in that category. Also once registered, the business should 
be able to obtain details of a specific tender via the ACT 
Government's web site without needing to reenter all their contact details.

At present the ACT Government display tenders online and sends a 
weekly message advising new tenders are available. However, the 
message does not indicate if there are any tenders the particular 
business might be interested in. The business has to look through all 
the new tenders. In contrast the Australian and NZ systems allow a 
particular category to be registered for, such as computer related 
tenders. The business then can look at that specific tender.

At present the business has to reenter all its contact details in 
order to download a tender from the ACT tender web site. In contrast 
the Australian and NZ systems only requiring registering this information once.
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Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      http://www.tomw.net.au/
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Australian National University