CIO 100: Ministry for Primary Industries

THE MINISTRY FOR Primary Industries (MPI) and its staff of over 2,456 conduct a range of operational, readiness and response, policy, regulatory, diplomatic and industry development activities to support New Zealand’s primary sector.

It was formed in 2011 from the mergers of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and New Zealand Food Safety Authority in 2010, and Ministry of Fisheries in 2011.

Tracy Voice, business technology and information services (CIO), says one of the major projects she and her team completed over the past year was the electronic contentmanagement- as-a-service. This Intergen product, part of an all of government (AOG) offering, has allowed staff based in different locations to collaborate on projects and reports.

The team also rolled out Skype for Business, a BI/GIS platform capability and grants management capability using the Salesforce platform, plus created a mobile app for cruise pathways on all platforms.

This year the ICT team will work on another AOG offering, the provision of telecommunications-as-a-service, she says.

Voice says the team will also implement the Research, Technology and Innovation practice for rapid prototyping and creating the right Data Hubs that the industry can leverage. The rollout of Windows 10 and acceleration of customer centric digital services will continue this year through a mobile platform.

Before the year-end 2015, MPI launched an online tool to help food businesses understand how they will be affected by the new Food Act 2014, which came into effect in March.

She says new and innovative technologies she will work on this year are around advanced predictive analytics, digital services through multiple channels (smart regulation), smart mobile workfl ows at the frontline/border, surveillance monitoring both onshore and offshore and food traceability technologies.