‘Twas the Night before the Ministerial Handover
‘Twas the Night before the Ministerial Handover
November 28, 2007: The posters are being torn off light poles and the annoying mailouts have ceased, so while you may not be hearing about how unions or economic mismanagement are going to make the sky fall in, you may have heard that we have a new Prime Minister in town. IDM speaks with Gartner’s Managing Vice President John Kost to get the low down on what Governmental guru’s and CIO’s should expect from the upcoming ministerial handover.
”An organization as large as the Australian Federal government can no longer operate without ICT and its leaders must understand their role in the management of ICT, even if they understand nothing about ICT itself.” Said Kost.
While it might not be the night before Christmas quite yet, it is the eve of incoming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s announcement of his new front bench at the Labor caucus meeting and time for organisations to prepare their briefing documents for the new ministers. These briefing documents can hold the key for the freshly implanted senior officials taking over the department in shaping the future and as Kost explains are vital in helping ministers decide what current programs are worth keeping as well as assessing the kinds of changes that are needed urgently.
According to Kost, IT organisations are welcome to submit briefing documents that are more then just a review of current programs and should also tatake a critical look at how the processes of government are impacting the effectiveness of IT programs overall.
The story isn’t much different for IT leaders in Government positions who should expect the movement to be slow as incoming ministers evaluate what they’ve inherited and “try to decide what is worth keeping and what is troubled and should be jettisoned. After a settling in period, the new government will clarify its top priorities and then individual ministers will determine what lies within their respective portfolios.” Said Kost.
Gartner also believes that CIO’s in Government sectors should be paying special attention to the ministerial handover and should pay special attention to what has been announced and who takes over what department. “Once new ministers are named, each CIO should develop a relationship with his or new minister so that the minister understands what IT can and cannot do to help the government achieve its policy objectives. Changes in government bring changes in relationships and a CIO is well-advised to spend a great deal of time listening and learning about who the new ministers are and what might be needed. CIOs should not, however, sit back and wait to be told what to do. This is an ideal time to influence an agenda and to help educate new leaders on what IT can do for them.” Said Kost.
Governmental shakeups can always furrow the brow of many IT leaders and managers, but they can also put a smile on the most hardened of frowns thanks to a tendency of loosening the purse strings and a different ideological approach.
“Change always brings a degree of unknown which can be frightening to those who’ve done well under the old regime and bring hope to those who were less successful. Fortunately, in most governments, the actual vendor selection process is not part of the role of ministers. The change of government mostly affects the programs and initiatives the government might pursue and, therefore, the vendors who will be winners and losers. But, vendors also have a subtle role to play in how the government decides what initiatives to undertake. As taxpayers, vendors do have access to elected officials and can be very influential in sharing ideas that the government might consider.” Said Kost.
Another area which Kost believes has been thus far neglected in the Labor landslide is the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) which was set up by the Howard Government in an attempt to create coherence across the federal government and back it up with financial and administration powers.
“Key to ICT leadership in the Rudd government will be what happens to AGIMO. Will the Rudd government continue the office? Will it further strengthen it? Will AGIMO have a more powerful voice in ICT spending to help build synergies and efficiencies across the federal government? These will be early indicators of internal ICT leadership in the new government.” Said Kost.
While the incoming batch of ministers has a host of promises to live up too as well as being given assignments by Kevin Rudd to visit schools and homeless shelters before the front bench has even been announced, there are several key promises that can effect the ICT landscape though it doesn’t receive the prominence Kost believes it should.
“The ALP did promise a computer for every student between 9 and 12, but this has little to do with the operation of government. Additional comments are made about investing in industry and other aspects about industrial relations policy, but most of the focus appears to be manufacturing. Thus, it would appear that most of the direct initial impact on the ICT industry will be on ICT components of the programs that the government puts forth and discontinues.” Said Kost.
While it may take a while for promises to be delivered and the wheels of change to start clunking around, it’s the perfect time for CIO’s and IT leaders to begin planning strategically now that the election result is known, particularly with the ministerial announcement on its way. This doesn’t necessarily mean change will happen instantly, far from it, but it is a perfect time to begin preparing to maximise the opportunity a change of leadership presents and make the most of Kevin Rudd’s win in the nation’s biggest popularity contest.