Page 904 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 9 April 2014
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The network will seek private sector sponsorship and involvement and it will develop linkages to position high growth potential companies into international supply chains. It will be the responsibility of the network to establish the program in accordance with the ACT government’s broad guidelines. This will include developing channels to ensure that all potential high-growth businesses and entrepreneurs from all sectors across the ACT have access to the service and the services and activities provided are fully relevant to their needs.
I turn quickly to the matter of the ACT government’s ICT sustainability plan, another area on which I understand members are keen for an update. In short, this is a four-year plan to enhance the sustainability of the government’s ICT operations. The plan aims to improve the environmental performance of the ACT government’s ICT assets, to embed sustainability practices into future ICT solutions and service offerings for the ACT government’s ICT service provision and to support the government’s targeted outcomes for energy management and climate change mitigation. The plan has been drafted and is in its final consultation phase. It has been circulated to directorates through the ICT collaboration forum and the carbon neutral implementation committee and is now being finalised.
In conclusion, the amendment I have moved today gives a clear indication of the government’s commitment to keep the Assembly regularly advised on progress in this area. We are committed to getting on with the job of helping the territory to become an even more digitally focused and innovative jurisdiction. We are investing in our economy and our community through the digital Canberra action plan. We are promoting innovation, we are promoting start-ups, and we are promoting better service delivery through the digital Canberra challenge. We are building partnerships across government, we are building partnerships with the tertiary sector and we are building partnerships with the private sector to encourage more investment in the information and communication technology sector in the ACT.
I commend my amendment and Ms Berry’s motion to the Assembly. This is important work, and, by and large, it seems there is support across the political divide for this. I think it is an important area of policy for the ACT.
MR DOSZPOT (Molonglo) (6.20): I would like to speak to Mr Barr’s amendment. It is a pity in many ways that the government had to amend their own motion. Any pretence that there is a crossbench has well and truly been exposed by Mr Rattenbury not supporting other issues here today. That was not that hard to do. We supported the majority of Ms Berry’s issues, and there was nothing sinister or political in what was suggested. The Canberra public would expect nothing less of us than to extend some scrutiny on this government, and I would say that the Canberra community would have expected the same call from Mr Rattenbury as well.
Mr Barr’s amendment to provide the Assembly with regular updates on the delivery of the plan falls short of what we would have expected, but it is a step in the right direction, and we commend that aspect of it. There is no reason why that information could not be provided in the budget process, which is what we were asking for.
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