Tanner slices up Gershon reinvestment fund

The Government today announced 44 projects from 20 different agencies that will share $230 million of its $502.4 million ICT Business-As-Usual Reinvestment Fund.

The fund is a result of the 2008 Gershon review, which recommended that the Government reduce inefficiencies in its everyday IT activities.

Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner expected efficiency gains from the newly announced 44 projects to generate further savings of $78.9 million over four years, and $23.9 million annually thereafter.

A further $271.1 million remains in the Reinvestment Fund to be allocated over the next three years.

Projects listed by agency

Attorney-General's Department:

• Data integration project to consolidate applications that manage staff identity and access to business systems.

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service:

• Customs Connect Facility Environment remediation to prepare data for migration to a new system.
• Data warehouse platform consolidation to consolidate cargo and passenger information to improve intelligence and detection activities. 
• Email archival project to provide robust access to long-term archives of e-mail. 
• Interactive Reporting Environment remediation to replace legacy systems that manage cargo and passenger reporting. 
• Migration of services from a Legacy Windows NT 4.0 domain to Windows 2003.
• Mainframe optimisation to improve communications to and from the cargo industry.
• Procurement of perpetual software licenses for products currently purchased on a subscription basis. 
• Unified Communications to replace a fragmented in-house and outsourced approach to its unclassified network infrastructure.
• WAN optimisation to allow faster transfer of intelligence and clearance information between frontline staff.

Australian Electoral Commission:

• Migration of its enterprise reporting solution to enhance collaboration with State and Territory electoral authorities.

Australian Human Rights Commission:

• Replacement of its 19-year-old Complaints Database Application that handles and manages records of complaints.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC):

• $5.1m project to relocate and consolidate existing data centres by mid-2011.

Australian Trade Commission:

• The engagement of experts to coordinate a tender that aims to reducing international telephony costs.

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