Coalition to update existing Labor IT policy

A de-emphasis on the NBN and updates to existing government IT strategies form the key plank of the Coalition's IT policy, which will be unveiled by shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull and shadown finance secretary Andrew Robb later today.

Shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull

The Coalition IT policy, first reported by Commsday, by and large aligns with Labor's, with updates to the existing strategies.

Turnbull and Robb's policy paper frame IT as a tool for improved productivity and economic growth, following the intent and form of Labor's present strategies.

As reported by iTnews last month, a Coalition-led government would seek to bring in a cloud-first approach to IT for agencies, to remove stand-alone system inefficiencies and to encourage public cloud adoption.

Virtually all government services must be online by 2017, with greater access to public sector data, with functions such as an online ID verification scheme and mobile payments being developed for digitial economy industries.

The policy will also seek to bring in a UK-style dashboard with government agency league tables for greater transparency for public IT projects and their performance.

Under the Coalition, the federal government will take a key digital leadership role while drawing on state and territory strategies.

Key actions for the policy would be within the Department of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy as well as the Department of Finance and Deregulation, the Coalition said. 

The updated IT strategies will be met out of existing funding, according to the policy.