Vic govt commits $9.5m to revamp ICT procurement

The Victorian government has committed $9.5 million over four years for a project to transform the way it purchases and manages ICT services.

The investment in the VicConnect program will be used to create a secure private government cloud and a government ICT marketplace.

Victorian Minister for Technology Gordon Rich-Phillips said the project involves a revamp of the existing Telecommunications Purchasing and Management Strategy (TPAMS).

“TPAMS was established over 10 years ago. Since then, the telecommunications and broader ICT industry has changed dramatically, as has the size and nature of government demand for ICT,” he said.

He said the goal of the VicConnect program is to reduce the cost to government of telecom services and allow departments to access new technologies including cloud services and mobility to enhance government service delivery.

“VicConnect will create a marketplace for technology services by providing access for multiple suppliers to government ICT spending,” he said. “This will increase the choice of services available to departments, increase competition between suppliers and drive innovation and better value for money outcomes for government.”

The government is conducting a procurement process to identify an organisation that will be responsible for designing, implementing and managing the VicConnect platform and its services.

Interested vendors are being asked to submit prequalification applications, and Rich-Phillips said the government expects to issue a request for proposal later this year.

Pictured: Victorian Minister for Technology Gordon Rich-Phillips.