NSW extends IBM contract for another three years

IBM has expanded its agreement with the New South Wales (NSW) government which will see the company continue offering services to its departments and agencies for another three years.

The vendor has revised the whole-of-government agreement, which was originally signed in 2019, claiming it would deliver cost savings to the NSW government over the next three years, according to IT News. It will also reportedly provide a more streamlined process for agencies to access emerging technology, including IBM hybrid cloud, AI, and security.

“When the agreement was signed in 2019, it was limited to IBM technology hardware and software, and has now expanded to include IBM professional services and IBM cloud services,” IBM said.

In addition, the NSW government can now use IBM Garage as part of the professional services offering, which is a network of physical hubs that aims to help customers quickly turn ideas into products

“With access to this, government agencies will be able to explore impacts of new technology such as blockchain, IoT and AI computing on government services,” the IBM spokesperson continued.

Furthermore, Katrina Troughton, IBM’s Australia and New Zealand managing director, said the partnership would create job opportunities and advance the skill profile of the state.

“After more than 30 years of working with the NSW government, this is an important milestone for our relationship and we look forward to collaborating on solutions that impact the lives of the more than eight million people who call NSW home,” she said.

In May, DCI Data Centers announced it would invest AU$70 million (£38 million) into South Australia and construct a new data centre to meet the needs of local business and government. The funds were destined to be used in the region’s first purpose-built Tier-Ready III/IV secure cloud edge data centre which came with defence-grade security requirements.

Moreover, the Australian government announced at the start of May it was investing $1.2 billion AUD (£670 million) in its digital future as part of a strategy to transform the country into a modern and leading digital economy by 2030. The investment included over $100 million to support digital skills and the launch of a $124.1 million National Artificial Intelligence Centre.