Stories by Rebecca Merrett

A revamped online presence for the Australian Tax Office will help the government agency deliver “digital by default”, according to ATO CIO Bill Gibson.

One of Australia’s largest accounting consulting groups warns corporates will be a key target in filling the $12 billion gap in the Prime Minister’s tax revenues by the end of the financial year.

The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) has released its response to concerns raised about its data-centre-as-a-service multi-user list (DCaaS MUL) and Data Centre Facilities Panel as part of a refresh of its data centre sourcing arrangements.

Mobile data and messaging revenue surpassed voice call revenue in the six months to December 2012, according to research from analyst firm Telsyte – the first time that data and messaging have overtaken revenue from voice in the Australian mobile services market.

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) and the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) have indicated disapproval of Treasurer Wayne Swan’s move to limit tax deductibles for work-related self-education expenses to $2000.

The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) is searching for a CIO to integrate its information assets and services to support the organisation’s business needs.

With concerns over the economy in China and the United States abating, as well as strong balance sheets and cash flows, CFOs are more confident to take on more risk and help deliver growth in their organisations, according to Deloitte’s latest Quarterly CFO Survey.

To ensure a web-based corporate health program was a success, the Heart Foundation needed to find a better way to engage organisations than simply enabling users to record their goals online and sending them information by e-mail.

Woolworths plans to roll out its Google Apps platform to 26,000 national and state office staff in the coming months, following its rollout of Gmail and its custom ‘Tap for Support’ app on iPads to 890 store managers in August last year.

Shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull said at a doorstop interview today that a fibre to the node (FTTN) policy for the National Broadband Network (NBN) could possibly end up costing around the same as the current fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) policy.

The Australian government’s technology and procurement division has released a draft roadmap for moving the data.gov.au website to the open source CKAN platform. The shift will begin at the end of April.

The Australian government has cut spending on technology products and services by $300 million between 2010 and 2012, according to a new report from the Department of Finance and Deregulation.

Keep the work local and spend the extra money or send it overseas and get near the same value at a lower price? For many budget-conscious CIOs, the latter makes sense. But that doesn’t mean offshoring isn't a panacea for cost-constrained IT department; it can involve risks and potential long-term downfalls when it comes to business agility and innovation.

With just over a decade of experience in the CIO role, Chris Skorsis has seen it change and evolve over the years into a business leadership role. However, he says for CIOs to perform just as well with the business side of things as they do with technology they need to start equipping themselves with a business education.

Google Australia is providing funding to 12 Australian universities this year to develop workshops that help high school teachers promote computer science in their curriculums.