76
DATA AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT
coalescing to transform our workplaces and
homes, how we socialise, communicate, entertain,
access services and expect to be serviced.
While modern technologies started the ‘push’
for transformation, consumers of services and
citizens now dictate the scope and quality of
the information and services they expect to be
available online anytime and from anywhere.
As well as efficiency and productivity gains,
customers, citizens and communities are using
digital technology to drive accountability,
transparency and innovation of government and
business across the board.
The sheer magnitude of change driven by ICT in
the last 20 years and the extent to which it has
impacted the activities of government and how
government can interact with citizens, business
and other government makes the present
Commission of Audit long overdue.
Noting that key objectives of the Audit
include achieving efficiency and productivity
improvements to pay down the national debt;
ensuring taxpayers get value for their money;
eliminating waste; reducing duplication between
federal, state and local governments; and
identifying areas where the commonwealth no
longer needs to be involved, it is paramount that
the application of digital technologies figure
prominently in shaping how government operates
in the future.
There are two perspectives to this: first, the
obvious ways in which government can itself
operate more efficiently and effectively; and
second, through appropriate leadership in
its own use of ICT how government can drive
economy wide productively gains through
digital transformation. In the case of the latter,
through its own digitally focused activities and
interactions, government can empower entities
other than itself to drive the growth, jobs and
innovation necessary to strengthen the economy
and Australia’s overall competitiveness.
Govlink Issue 2 2013
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing services for example, facilitate
new ways of working and collaborating and
more flexible options for organisations through
the ability to obtain the information and
communication capacity they need, when they
need it. ICT can be delivered over the internet
and consumed as a service, on demand, across
a wide range of locations and devices. With the
ability to maximise economies of scale cloud
services provide government the opportunity
to achieve cost savings through reduced capital
expenditure on ICT hardware/software; adoption
of a pay per use model; and reduced ICT support
and maintenance costs. Technical complexity
related to set up, operations and maintenance
is taken care of by the cloud provider, enabling
government to focus on their business rather than
the technology that supports it.
Service capacity can be adjusted dynamically
to meet the fluctuating needs of the business.
Unlike traditional approaches, cloud services
facilitate speed to market and with the ability to
support remote and mobile business operations,
provide opportunities for new, innovative
business and service delivery models.
Cloud-based services signal the potential to
move away from traditional agency-centric
operating models in which each agency builds its
own infrastructure and the full set of end to end
services required, to models in which demand
can be aggregated and costs shared – with no
compromise or diminution of individual agency
service capability.
Big Data and Data Analytics
Big data and data analytics provide equally
compelling opportunities for government.
Developments in the effective capture, storage and
manipulation of large sets of data and the increasing
sophistication of data analytics combined with
access to scalable, high-performance computing
capability provides the ability to identify otherwise