Dr Steve Hodgkinson, Chief Analyst, Global Public Sector

Three Australian state governments have recently released updated ICT strategies that include cloud-first policy positions. However, each state has taken a different approach to driving cloud services adoption. This raises interesting questions about the impact of cloud services on the logic of whole-of-government ICT strategy.

Our view is that central agencies should focus on leadership and enablement. They should be mindful of the risk that too much top-down strategy too early on will kill the golden goose of decentralized cloudy innovation that is created when agencies are simply empowered to buy services that already work.

NSW government agencies are already evaluating cloud-based services when undertaking ICT procurements

The New South Wales (NSW) state government’s ICT Strategy was published in 2012 with an implementation update released recently. The 2012 policy statement on cloud services remains unchanged:

NSW Government agencies will evaluate cloud-based …