The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will be kitting its staff out with a variety of interactive social media tools to improve the way it operates.

The organisation has announced that is adopting IBM social software to support the way thousands of employees connect and interact.

"ABS prides itself on a history of adopting cutting-edge software to bring speed and effectiveness to our organisation," said Dale Chatwin, Director, Knowledge Management Initiative, ABS.

"With Lotus Connections, ABS can use business-grade social software, straight out of the box."

According to a recent IBM survey, over five hours a week are wasted per employee due to inefficient processes, with two hours a week spent looking for the right information and expertise within an organisation.

ABS employees will get the latest internet offerings such as blogs, wikis, secure file sharing, profiling and tagging capabilities, task management, and community spaces, along with email, chat and social data components.

The ABS will use IBM’s Lotus Connections throughout its 3,200 workforce.