The state government has replaced SAP Ariba with local tech company VendorPanel for IT procurement services.
Victoria-based startup VendorPanel has been appointed to manage the Victorian Government eServices platform, booting out SAP Ariba in the process.
The new contract with VendorPanel was announced by Special Minister of State, Gavin Jennings, late last week and will see VendorPanel replace the enterprise giant’s sourcing and procurement marketplace for all IT services procurement.
According to VendorPanel, the Victorian government makes approximately 900 purchases a year on eServices from almost 1,800 providers.
It is expected VendorPanel’s solution will open up more possibilities for small-to-medium enterprises and also increase the governance and transparency in the overall quotation process.
The company currently manages similar whole-of-government arrangements for the Queensland and Australian Capital Territory governments, as well as local governments across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia.
Victoria’s South East Water Corporation announced its intention to implement an Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics solution at the weekend, publishing a request for information (RFI) for its residential, commercial, and industrial services.
The state-owned water agency is hoping to gain a more detailed understanding of the supplier market for an enterprise-grade IoT suite and an advanced analytics or operational data store solution.
The water corporation’s IoT project, the Digital Information Platform, is expected to support current and future IoT initiatives.
South East Water provides water, sewerage, and recycled water services in Melbourne’s south east. With a service region covering 3,640 square kilometres, the agency serves over 1.7 million people and answers directly to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
“South East Water recognises that connecting devices across our network, and exchanging data with assets on a real-time basis has significant benefits for our customers and our organisation, and our use of IoT technologies across the business continues to expand, ” the corporation said in its RFI.
The RFI is expected to be the first phase of a multi-stage procurement process that will result in the delivery of the Digital Information Platform to support an initial proof of concept for IoT device usage.
The Australian government also announced it would soon be heading to market to find a provider to deliver a new Triple Zero Emergency Call Service that includes a GPS capability to allow those calling from a mobile phone to be located in emergency situations.
The tender will follow the Expressions of Interest (EOI) process conducted last year that called for carriers to provide an “enhanced” Triple Zero emergency call service to keep up with evolving technologies, as well as a second request for the location-based component.
Following feedback from the EOI, the federal government has decided to go to market asking for a single tender for both services.
A statement from Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said the EOI process identified Advanced Mobile Location (AML) technology standard as the preferred solution for providing the location-based data.
Fifield said AML delivers accuracy of up to five metres and automatically provides the caller’s location to emergency services, with built-in privacy safeguards that ensure only emergency responders have access to location data for the purpose of the Triple Zero call.
