Gary Nairn is a man on a mission. He is the special minister for state in the Howard ministry and the Liberal Party member for Eden-Monaro. He is also a licensed surveyor. But he wants to be remembered as the man who remade government in Australia.
Nairn is charged with carriage of the government's e-government strategy. This is a mission to improve the delivery of government services to taxpayers using Information and Communications Technology. I spoke to him immediately after a presentation to the 5th Trans Tasman Surveying Conference in Cairns earlier this year.
The central plank of this strategy is to deliver a single view of government to users through the www.australia.gov.au portal.
The idea is that a citizen will be able to use this website to log on to government services. The site would then direct them to specific government departments, services or information relevant to their own interests or needs.
'The potential to streamline government services is enormous', Nairn said. 'Just one application - a simple way of changing address, would reap huge savings in the delivery of government services.'
This is a simple idea. Which is precisely the point. All the complexity necessary to deliver such a service is hidden from the user.
'This is about creating greater convenience, efficiency and simplicity for citizens', he said. 'It will lead to less queuing and fewer forms to fill out.
'We also need to be aware of younger generations and their relationship with technology. Generations X and Y - and most baby boomers for that matter - expect to be able to interact electronically, be it on line or with SMS texting.
'Things may evolve to a point where there is an expectation that doing business on line is the primary means of dealing with government.'
Nairn discussed two separate challenges when we met at the conference. One is convincing the general public that it is a good idea. The second - and possibly the greater challenge - is convincing the public service.
The problem with e-government from the public's point of view is that e-government looks a lot like Big Brother. 'I did an interview with an ABC journalist last month, and all she wanted to talk about was privacy issues', he complained.
However, he concedes that privacy issues are real for the community. 'I think we in government need to understand that this is an issue for the public, and deal with it.
'A lot has to do with selling the idea that not only does it simplify things, it also makes it possible to control how much government knows about you.'
The second challenge concerns making such a far-reaching project happen in government. I put it to Nairn that government departments have a woeful record in delivering complex IT projects on time and on budget.
He agreed. 'Part of the solution is in new arrangements for the management of IT projects in Canberra. We have created a new organisation, the Australian Government Information Management Organisation (AGIMO). One of its missions is to get on top of the problem, and various large-project management methodologies have been instituted.
'We also need to see the use of spatial data as the glue that binds together the data from different departments. This actually simplifies the problem, meaning we don't need to re-engineer whole IT systems.
'A big part of my job has been educating people about the potential of spatial information in this regard. It's not as if there are a number of competitive strategies. Most people would regard what we are trying to do as impossible. I find myself constantly telling people that, yes, it is possible, and spatial data is how you do it.'
He seems to be having some success. An On-line Communications Council meeting was held earlier this year, to back a National Address Management Framework. The council resolved to support partnerships between the government's Cross Jurisdictional Chief Information Officers' Committee, PSMA Australia and ANZLIC, the spatial information council.
'Work is progressing well on the basic architecture. Discussions have been held between chief information officers, via the CIO Committee, and chaired by the Australian government CIO Ann Steward. These are going well', he said.
During his presentation, Nairn emphasised the significance of getting spatially enabled government on the agenda of the ministerial council.
'The OCC meeting backed some important initiatives which will elevate the importance of geospatial solutions for government.
'There's an increasing acknowledgment within government that geospatial information can help identify areas of need in health, education, social services and infrastructure across Australia.
'Those in emergency services such as fire, ambulance and disaster detection response and recovery are also realising the importance of mapping information at all stages of dealing with national disasters', he said.
The government's new e-government strategy assumes that citizens can be better served on line. One consequence of this is that it moves the providers of on line services, such as Telstra, Optus, etc, to centre stage. This is obviously problematic, given the current wrangle over the sale of the final tranche of Telstra and the continuing uncertainty over the shape of the communications marketplace.
'I agree that broadband communications is central to e-government', Nairn said. 'I believe the best solution in Australia is for the market to decide how resources should be allocated. For that to happen, you have to have a properly regulated market. Government has to do that. The problem is that currently, government is both a regulator and a player in the market. We have to find a way for government to get out of the ownership position it has in Telstra.
'If we can achieve that, I think companies will roll out broadband as fast as we can use it. It won't be free, but it will be cheaper than it is now.'
Jon Fairall spoke to Gary Nairn in Cairns on 22 September 2006.
