Thanks for your support of Government News in 2017. Our last newsletter for the year will be next Tuesday 19 December. We will be back on Friday 5 January 2018.

We have a lot planned for 2018. Not far into the new year we’ll be launching a new website and a new look newsletter. That will give us an opportunity to cover more material, in a more topical way.

It will allow us to introduce monthly features – more in-depth coverage of topics of interest to our readers. Things like fleet management, government procurement, digital transformation – the bread and butter of government administration.

We’ll kick this off in January with a detailed look at digital delivery in government, at all levels. This is probably the hottest topic in the public sector, as the digitisation of services accelerates.

Virtually all agencies, councils and departments have developed a digital strategy, though their level of maturity and the effectiveness of the efforts very enormously. This promises to be the biggest issue of 2018.

There are many other issues that promise to keep us busy next year:

Intellectual property: copyright laws are evolving, but technology is evolving quicker. Government users are often stuck in the middle. Some clarification would help.

Fleet management: The end of Australian vehicle production, the advent of electric vehicles, and the complications around salary packaging continue to make this a hot topic.

Procurement: Boring but necessary. There’s a lot going on – increased competition (from Amazon and others), shorter product cycles, decreased budgets.

Energy and the environment. It just won’t go away. The climate change wars are set to continue, with effects across the board, from council energy costs to water management to the problems of dealing with changing weather patterns.

Transport. Where to direct transport infrastructure spending is a perennial problem. There are many competing interests, and many demands.

Security and safety. Many believe the issues to be overblown, but there is no doubt people are concerned. That means government must be too.

And that’s just the short list. It’s not a destination, it’s a journey. And there is no end in sight.

In 2018 Government News will continue to travel that road. We hope you come along with us.

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If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@governmentnews.com.au.  

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