"We will implement new procedures that ensure local products are duly considered in Victorian Government and other Government purchasing, calls for tender, expressions of interest and decision making," says the policy document.
We want the best value for money in the market place, not the best marketing, sales or low cost pitch."
As part of the process, the Liberals propose to appoint a Chief Technology Officer for the state, with a unit specialising in risk evaluation in IT purchasing with the implied expectation of avoiding problems like those encountered RMIT University after it chose an academic management system from Peoplesoft. A competing product was developed locally by Callista Software Services, a Deakin University spinoff.
Anticipated cost savings will be deployed to areas such as service delivery, community skills and export development, the policy states.
"Recent anger by Victorian IT professionals over the Victorian Government's support for Indian outsourcing company, Infosys, has highlighted the Victorian Government's failure to utilise and engage with the local industry," said Victor Perton, Shadow Minister for Innovation and Technology.
"A ... Liberal Government will establish a specialist unit that will focus on existing shortcomings of Victorian Government purchasing systems and help support decision making which gives Victorians a fair go in the purchasing decision," he added.
Other Liberal promises for immediate action include a cost benefit analysis of proprietary versus open source software, a productivity audit of existing government systems, an opening of government IT buying to open standards solutions without product mandates, and measures to reduce the cost to industry of tendering for government business.
