New ICT purchasing arrangements for Australia

The Rudd Government today announced it will establish new whole-of-government arrangements for the procurement of desktop computing equipment and telecommunications products and services.

Lindsay Tanner, Minister for Finance and Deregulation said the decision reflected the Government’s commitment to achieving savings and efficiencies through better utilization of aggregated buying power.

“The current arrangements for the procurement of desktop computing equipment and telecommunications products and services are completely devolved,” Lindsay Tanner said.

“Recent scoping studies undertaken by the Rudd Government have shown that greater coordination in the purchasing of these goods and services has the potential to achieve significant savings.”

The new arrangements for desktop computing equipment and telecommunications products and services will include whole-of-government panels and contracts. The first of these arrangements for desktop computing equipment, telecommunications invoice reconciliation services and internet-based network connections will be in place by the end of the 2009-2010 financial year.

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