Tech skills: CIO Steward flattens demand spikes

James Riley
Sunday, 13 September 2009 08:30

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

The 2004-05 year was the start of the last skills demand spike as the ATO’s Change Program, Centrelink’s refresh, the aborted Access Card work and the Immigration Department’s Systems for People program got underway. Customs had its difficulties during that period – problems that were bombarded with additional resources.

AGIMO has forecast skills demand for years and made scheduling recommendations about the most efficient way to proceed. But unforeseen developments – like the Cornelia Rau detention debacle, or even the Access Card debate – meant political imperatives have a role in pressing ahead with projects.

In future, Steward says tech skills will be sourced with a more coordinated approach, and AGIMO is looking at different models that might allow a more flexible pooling of resources in some areas. And of course, flattening demand spikes.

"Wholistically, we look at what are the demand areas we have and what is our collective approach to ensuring we have the skills in place," Steward said.

"We have been been tracking this (demand) profile, and there had been this major peak that had occurred in the 05-06 era – a huge peak, a huge distortion."

"It wasn’t so much that we didn’t have the skills sets – although there were some skills that weren’t there – but it was this four-fold increase in demand."

"The work that we do now in terms of forward projections is to work out a much flatter process, so that as other major programs come forward, they don’t distort the demand."

Steward says more than 200 contractor positions had so far been brought back in-house in the Public Service at a saving of about $17 million – all early gains for the Gershon process. Those numbers would continue to rise, she said.

Resolving skills issues for government – and reducing its costly reliance on expensive contractors – involved a multi-pronged approach: better identification of skills in demand; pooling of resources; in-house skills development; bringing contractor skills back in-house; but as importantly, better demand management.