IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

"This year, we commenced investigations into the services provided by ServiceFirst and BusinessLink to assess whether they are providing quality services, and to look at ways to maximise their value," the NSW ICT minister, Greg Pearce, said in a statement to ZDNet Australia. This confirmed a report by the Australian Financial Review.

The campaign against shared services in Labor's last mainland state comes as NSW indicates it is also reviewing elements of its shared services scheme.

South Australian Finance Minister Michael O'Brien met the state Ambulance Employees Association yesterday after it had threatened industrial action for ongoing payroll problems related to shared services. Mr O'Brien said he had negotiated for industrial action to be put on hold after committing to a new taskforce to resolve the pay dispute. However, other state unions are joining the call for the unit to be abolished, saying payroll errors are widespread in the public service.

Yesterday the Victorian Government published what many will expect to become a landmark document in the long and troubled history of the state’s use of technology to support its operations: Its new whole of government ICT strategy. The document comes with strong credentials; it was put together by former South Australian Government chief information officer Grantly Mailes over much of the past year, and features input from some of the finest public and private sector minds in Victoria. CIOs, vendors executives, analysts, the government itself; all of these threads have been pulled together in this one overarching policy.

The Victorian government will use cloud computing infrastructure and increase the use of shared services to deliver its new whole-of-government ICT strategy, according to the state's new chief technology advocate, Grantly Mailes.

Victoria named Mailes the state’s first chief technology advocate earlier this month. The title is in addition to his previous role as deputy secretary, innovation and technology for the Victoria Department of Business and Innovation.

The package will assist CenITex in managing the governance, risk and compliance obligations of its customer base for the infrastructure services within their service catalogue offerings.

The IT governance capability will specifically help manage legislation, regulation, industry security standards, WoVG security standards, CenITex policy / standards / security controls, policy exemptions and security metrics.

The key lesson from the Queensland, WA and South Australian shared services misadventures is that it is foolish to underestimate the depth and resilience of agency autonomy. Agencies have strong incentives and drivers — supported by culture and on-the-ground operational realities — to make decisions based on local imperatives. Whole-of-government incentives and drivers, on the other hand are weak. When push comes to shove, agency autonomy always wins because it is agency heads that carry accountability for operational service failures.

The West Australian Government’s decision to decommission its Shared Services business will cost a projected net $95 million this financial year, and around $370 million overall, according to budget forecasts.

The WA Government released its 2013-14 budget on Friday. It revealed it had spent $258 million since it made the decision to scrap Shared Services in 2011, and estimated a further $95 million would be spent this financial year, with an additional approximate $5.9 million each year until 2017.

The Authority was asked to examine the OSS after client Departments complained about delays in service and inadequate outcomes.

The ERA investigated the Office’s effectiveness and efficiency at its current level of operations; how that effectiveness and efficiency was likely to vary as the number of Agencies it serviced increased; and the impact that new Agencies ‘rolling-in’ was having on the operations of existing client Agencies.

This shocking, though not unexpected, outcome should send a shiver down the spine of any government contemplating shared services strategies to reduce costs.

The WA government commenced its shared services strategy in 2003 in the pursuit of economies of scale benefits expected to be worth $56 million annually for implementation costs of $82 million over four years.

The Office of Shared Services, the brainchild of the former Gallop government, was intended to help the Budget bottom line by combining the human resources, payroll, finance and procurement functions of up to 90 government departments into one centralised agency.

But a review by the Economic Regulation Authority has found the office has instead been a financial and operational disaster.

That is according to global analyst firm Ovum, who says 74% of ICT activities are currently provided primarily by an in-house ICT department, with the figure projected to decline to 61% within the next two years.

Through a survey of 63 CIOs across the ditch, Ovum’s IT research director for the region Dr Steve Hodgkinson says outsourced arrangements currently account for 13% of ICT activities, which is expected to reach 20% by 2015.

The site will allow civil servants to share documents on policies and standards, open source code, and other ICT downloads. It also hosts a database of vendors, and allows users to find people across the APS according to their expertise.

Of the cost blowout to the shared services program, $7 million is for renting floor space that is not being used.

This is despite a warning from the Government's own Office Accommodation Committee about minimising the exposure to what it described as "dead rent".

E-government's identity crisis is no reason to perpetuate fragmented and inefficient ICT infrastructure

Governments face a growing challenge as they grapple with the evolving role of ICT in public sector reform. E-government once occupied a modernisation moral high ground, with the Internet as a catalyst for citizen-centric, joined-up government. These days the imperatives are less clear. ICT is starting to be viewed as a problem rather than an opportunity.

Dubbed 'ServiceFirst', the agency's web site states it has about 540 staff providing services to about 80 agencies with approximately 8,800 staff. It was created over the past few months from the previous CCSU, CSS and Department of Commerce Shared Services branches.

ServiceFirst's website states it has about 540 staff providing services, including technology offerings, to about 80 agencies within the government. It was created without fanfare over the past few months from the previous CCSU, CSS and Department of Commerce Shared Services branches.

Operational staff across Transport NSW agencies will be moved to a new IT services division during December and January as part of accelerated plans to implement shared services ahead of the state election next year.

The move will be part of a temporary secondment from staff members’ respective home agencies for a nine to 12 month period, during which time the government agency is expected to formulate a more permanent structure for shared services.

Health boards will now be in charge and accountable for decisions relating to all IT and communications technology.

The e-centre is to be established by Bahrain's e-Government Authority under funding by the UN. In its capacity as a leader in the ICT field the authority will establish the Capacity Building Centre for Developing Arab Countries and Africa which will be a training and consultancy centre that will assist various countries based on their needs and requirements. The centre will serve as a 'one-stop shop' providing governments in the region with vital resource and development assistance.