Queensland government unveils ICT ‘action plan’

The Queensland government has unveiled a new ‘ICT action plan’ outlining how it intends to better manage technology rollouts following QLD Health’s high profile $1.2 billion payroll disaster.

As part of the plan, released Thursday, the progress of IT projects will be made visible to the community through an online dashboard.

The dashboard will include information about each initiative’s investment objectives, timeframes, implementation partners and costs.

It will also include a link explaining why projects have a ‘red’ or ‘amber’ status. All Queensland government agencies are expected to upload their data by November 30.

The plan also outlined the previously reported requirement for government ministers to sign off on IT investments.

It follows the July 5 release of the Queensland Government ICT Strategy, which the state government said, “represents a major shift from traditional and wasteful methods of accessing and delivering government ICT to a modern, more efficient state where ICT-as-a-service is the default option.”

The government said it recognised the need to transform how it accessed and delivered ICT following the release of the Queensland Commission of Audit Report 2013, the ICT Audit 2012 and the more recent Queensland Health Payroll System Commission of Inquiry Report.

Related: Heads roll over QLD Health payroll debacle.

The plan reinforced that better governance was vital for future ICT contracts. Andrew Garner, director general of Queensland’s Department of Science, Information Technology Innovation and the Arts (DSITIA), is directly responsible for reporting the status and risks related to IT initiatives to Cabinet.

Under a section in the plan called ‘priority actions’, the QLD government said it was taking “immediate action” to stabilise ICT systems currently use” and address their risk profile.

This would require a “co-ordinated investment paired with an enabling process for working across agencies.” This would form part of an initial stabilisation program, the government said.

The plan also outlined a swag of new IT initiatives to be delivered between now and the end of 2014.