You may have noticed that on the DocumentumWorld blog we spend a few months on a particular industry vertical before we move to the next.

We have just finished the Government stint and we are moving into Energy but I came across a few blogs linking to the AGIMO Draft Stategic Vision for the Australian Government’s use of ICT

Now, as EMC Australia has worked closely with AGIMO on the AGOSP Program I thought it was worth a read and maybe a comment or two….

A quick look at it shows this not to be a lightweight vision statement and the whole of government approach is to be applauded.

The opening quote of the strategic vision is very interesting and shows how the business of Government is changing.

“ICT will increase public sector productivity by enabling the delivery of world leading government services for Australian people, communities and businesses, supporting open engagement to better inform decisions, and improving the operations of government.”

In the earlier stages of civilisations, Government is concerned with defining and administering the law; in fact the 14^th Century Arab scholar, Ibn Khaldun defined government as “an institution which prevents injustice other than such it commits itself”

But if you look at the business of Government in Australia, increasingly its primary function is being overtaken by the need to deliver services, many of which are electronic services that require ICT Services to deliver them – the AGIMO strategic vision is key to this aim.

The draft strategic vision has three strategic priorities:

• Deliver Better Services
• Engage Openly
• Improve Government Operations

And all of these priorities require an integrated, secure approach to Information Management.

The Australian Government (and most other Governments) is the biggest collector of citizen related information on the continent and the key to increasing the efficiency of the public sector is managing this content and disseminating this sensitive information in a secure manner.

The demands of the citizens are increasing and the costs are too – no longer can the old processes deliver the turnaround that we expect so information needs to be more accessible, more quickly and more cheaply.

AGIMO recognises this and some of the drivers of this strategy, identified in the document, need to be addressed by not only managing but also interacting with content. Some of the drivers are:

• Customer expectations
• Declaration of Open Government
• Decision Making
• Transparency
• Innovation

It is not hard to see that Content Management has a big part to play in this (again identified in the document as actions)

• Simple, easy to use online services
• Personalised services
• Simplified Government websites
• Automated processes and services
• Data analysis tools and platforms
• Collaboration across Government
• Strengthen external collaboration networks

The strategic vision is one thing but delivering on it will be another. That’s where the Content Management industry can help….

On a final note, Ibn Khaldun as well as defining the role of government also hypothesised that civilizations have a lifespan and that as civilizations get more sophisticated, governments start to over-tax citizens and begin injustices against property rights. This leads to the downfall of the civilisation. Maybe the desire of citizens for more and more sophisticated electronic Government services is a symptom of this and in order to avoid it the tax burden needs to reduce. Solutions such as Documentum, Document Sciences and Captiva can help with this and maybe avoid the fall of civilisation…

ECM · Enterprise Content Management · Government

Congratulations to David Martin from Australian Bureau of Statistics.

We will be donating $500 to the Heart Foundation on your behalf.

Thank you to all who participated in our Survey.

Government · Survey

Public Private Partnerships (PPP’s) are commonplace in Australia wherein State or Federal Government may enter into a commercial agreement with a construction or infrastructure consortia in order to secure funding for major projects. These are highly complex, very sophisticated agreements that can be worth literally billions.

Our guest blogger, Julie Sweet, shares an experience that demonstrates how the same principle has been applied to offering a simple and efficient document management and retrieval service. Yet her success story also highlights some extremely convoluted processes that continue to create unnecessary barriers for business owners.

Julie Sweet - Guest Blogger

We are often told ‘the system’ is a complex and confusing thing but until some part of your personal or professional life is directly affected, it can be difficult to understand just how frustrating it can be to find yourself caught up in that infamous red tape.

When the ambitions, goals and dreams of the public are thwarted by the sometimes arbitrary behaviour of various Government departments and agencies, it can take every ounce of resourcefulness, patience and hyper vigilance to stay on course until the right outcome is achieved.

Even then there is no guarantee you won’t end up tearing your hair out. I have my own personal bald patch courtesy of the rigmarole I went through when trying to register the name of my company – Birth, Marriage and Death Certificate Service and its subsidiary Birth Certificate Courier Service.

I had a goal to launch my web service www.certificatesonline.com.au and associated call centre 1300 CHANGE. The model is essentially a centralised document retrieval service for the public. It offers services such as making it fast and efficient to obtain a passport, process the required documents before and after a wedding and helping those grieving the loss of a loved one request the necessary documentation without any additional stress.

Let me illustrate why I saw a need for a centralised service such as this.

Did you know that to register a business name nationally, you need to complete application forms plus payment with seven (7) different State/Territories Government Departments? (more…)

birth certificates · Case Management · centralised management · citizen services · FOI · Freedom of information · Government · legal cost · personal identification · records management

Due to overwhelming demand and the hot bed of activity that government is going through at the moment, I have decided to extend the survey so that more people can have their say.  The closing date will now be March 31st 2011.  So go to my survey here and make sure to let me know what you think about government and their efficiency levels… and don’t forget that the winner will be helping their charity of their choice because EMC has agreed to donate $500 to your chosen cause!

records management · Survey