The culmination of months of communications between Industry and Government through the Industry/Government ICT Group has resulted in the Industry presenting the first in a series of specific actions which it believes will improve the economic environment for the ICT industry in Queensland.

The ICT Industry Workgroup was formed in January this year as a collaboration of Associations to ensure the ICT Industry was more effective in lobbying to the Queensland State Government.

Nine months down the track, the ICT associations are claiming success with their strategy.

Industry changes being lauded by the ICT Industry Workgroup include the following:

The appointment of the Hon. Chris Cummins, MP, Minister for Small Business, Information Technology Policy and Multicultural Affairs resulting in a dedicated ministry for industry policy.

The Industry Associations have implemented a series of ICT Leaders Summits as a forum to bring together the Associations and key ICT leaders. The forums are designed to enable the industry to jointly discuss and ratify the submission of industry position papers to the Queensland Government.

The Industry now has representation, through the ICT Industry Workgroup, on the Office of Government ICT Strategic ICT Committee which oversees government procurement practices and the structure of large ICT tender requests.

The Government has agreed to clarify the definition of ґwhole-of-government as it relates to ICT procurement. There has been some confusion in the industry as to which agencies come under the ґwhole-of-government and Shared Services provisions. This clarification will apparently greatly assist suppliers of ICT products and services with an understanding of how far ґwhole-of-government reaches.

The Department of Public Works and Housing has agreed to engage industry input in all planned tenders for ICT products and services valued at over two million dollars and to also ensure that the tendering process is scrutinised and approved by the
Department before the tender release.

ғThe Industry commends the Premier and his Government for listening to our concerns and responding positively to the suggested recommendations. The Governments prompt response to the IndustryҒs recommended actions clearly signifies that Queensland has a Smart Governmentђ that recognise the integral value of how the ICT industry underpins todays economies,Ғ commented Mark Lloyd, member of the ICT Industry Workgroup and chair, Australian Computer Society (QLD).

"This is really good news for the Industry as well as Queenslands mid and long-term economic prosperity. The Government has demonstrated that it is addressing Industry concerns and good progress has been made with more effective communications between Industry and Government. There is still a long way to go however and we expect the Government will continue to work with us in jointly addressing the identified issues."

Of course, the proof in the pudding will be if more Australian ICT SMEs end up getting a larger slice of the QLD Government pie. On that score, we know of one $3 million contract with a large Queensland utility that was won recently by an SME against stiff multinational competition. More on that tomorrow.