Section 3 - Management & Accountability (continued)
IT Services
Modernisation and improved integration of the Mint’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has been a primary area of focus over the year and will continue to be into the future.
A significant change has included the appointment of a Chief Information Officer (CIO) to head the IT Services Branch and to change the focus of Information and Technology Management at the Mint from one of supporting existing IT systems to one of identifying and implementing new business technology solutions and improving information governance. As a member of the Mint’s Senior Management Committee the CIO brings another dimension to deliberations on the appropriate use of technology to achieve the strategic goals of the organisation.
The focus during the 2007–08 financial year has been on the provision of a stable Information Technology platform for the Mint. This included lifecycle upgrades to the current servers and parts of the workstation fleet, upgrades and expanded use of virtualisation and the implementation of new software to perform all data backup and recovery.
A range of key initiatives were completed during the 2007–08 financial year, including:
- The introduction of a range of IT Security controls, including policies, firewalls, spam filtering and auditing as well as a comprehensive employee security awareness program.
- A strong focus on information management, with formalised training for all staff on record keeping practices and awareness.
- Introduction of menu based word processing templates to standardise the creation of Mint correspondence.
An ambitious range of projects is planned for the 2008–09 financial year that will modernise the manufacturing and corporate operations of the Mint.
The cornerstone project is the implementation of a new integrated IT Business System to replace a range of different systems. The tender process and evaluation occurred during the 2007–08 financial year. Implementation will occur over a period of 14 months commencing in September 2008 and finishing by January 2010.
The IT Business System will consist of numerous software products that will be linked and operate as a single system. It will cover all aspects of the Mint’s operations, including Enterprise Resource Planning, Financial Management, Logistics, Payroll, Human Resources, Production, Quality Assurance, Asset Management, Sales, Customer Relationship Management and Electronic Document Records Management.
The IT Business System will interface to the Materials Handling and Warehousing System to enable manufacturing orders and reporting to be controlled by a single system.
The IT system will also provide a programmed process for the collection, analysis and reporting of input and output data in the production process and an accurate and timely reconciliation of all coins during each stage of the production process. This will allow the Mint to quickly identify any inconsistencies in coin production and storage, and will therefore address the one outstanding recommendation from the 2006 Australian Federal Police Security Risk Review.
A range of other projects linked to our strategic and business needs also commenced in the 2007–08 financial year and will be completed in the 2008–09 financial year. They include:
- Replacement of the Mint PABX and data communications infrastructure.
- Introduction of a new platform for our corporate intranet . This will provide electronic forms, collaboration and workflow functionality.
- Upgrade of server, data storage and desktop computing equipment to provide a suitable platform to operate the new IT Business system.
- Connection to FedLink to enable secure electronic mail at the In-confidence level with other government agencies.
- Development of a Mint Information and Knowledge Management Strategy and the introduction of electronic record keeping.