Page 4259 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 22 September 2010
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innovation, energy and waste—with a much lighter treatment of issues of community engagement and e-government through ICT. While both of these aspects of ICT are important, this motion squarely puts the cart before the horse, puts the technology well ahead of the use to which it is put. Today I am more than pleased to have this opportunity of discussing, informing or advising members of the government’s proactive use of ICT as part of its community engagement activities and its work in e-government in the future.
As technology becomes increasingly pervasive in today’s world, the ACT government does recognise the importance of ICT as a key enabler for government. The ACT government has a tremendous track record in investing in ICT capability. For example, the ACT government owns and operates a state-of-the-art optic fibre network which has the capacity to run greater than one gigabyte per second to our desktop computers. This is the envy of every other state and territory in Australia. The government has invested in a shared capability across government for its ICT function. This enables a greater level of technology re-use as well as economies of scale. Not only has this initiative saved the government millions of dollars, I can say—and I say it proudly—but we have very credible capability in InTACT as the provider of ICT across government.
There is no doubt that ICT is becoming an increasingly significant component of the world’s energy consumption, carbon emissions and waste streams. The government recognises this and, through InTACT, has undertaken a number of initiatives to improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of the government’s ICT infrastructure. Some examples of those achievements include replacing most of the older, power-hungry, server-based systems with new systems that deliver sound performance, energy and space efficiency and a high level of performance per watt; the introduction of server virtualisation technology, which has dramatically reduced the number of servers required, reducing electricity usage and heat generation from physical servers; and the introduction of aggressive power management on desktop computers, which has contributed to the reduction of InTACT’s carbon footprint.
Another initiative is utilising appropriate technologies to centralise paper consumption information across government to provide an opportunity to better track and manage printer consumption holistically across government. InTACT will be able to provide detailed consumption reports to each agency, and we will also have greater visibility of usage of individual devices, with a view to consolidating equipment where possible.
Another initiative is the implementation of an ICT asset disposal process which complies with international standards. With the ACT government owning approximately 55,000 active ICT assets, and each year transitioning out approximately 10 per cent of those in compliance with the 14001 standard, we are demonstrating a strong commitment to reducing the environmental impact of government ICT. InTACT is also responsible for implementing what is known as the Chief Minister’s computer re-use scheme. The scheme allows for end-of-life computers to be made available for not-for-profit purposes each year. A small example that has made a big difference in 2009-10, for instance, was the transfer of used computers to Canberra Friends of Dili, who then arranged for the equipment to be delivered to Timor.
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