The Victorian government in Australia has signed a State Purchase Contract (SPC) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to accelerate the delivery of AWS’ newest cloud-based services to Victorian government departments and government-owned entities.
This agreement replaces a 2014 enterprise agreement, and provides standardised terms and conditions which enable the Victorian government and its associates to use AWS’ 200 cloud services.
Smaller government entities, such as administrative offices and local councils, stand to benefit most from this arrangement, because they are now able tap into the same services and standardised conditions as larger organisations, through a reseller.
Supporting Victoria’s Digital Strategy for a Future-Ready Victoria
Earlier in April this year, AWS had signed a comprehensive whole-of-government deal with Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency, allowing all federal, state, and territory agencies and departments and associated organisations to access AWS cloud services.
This latest agreement will bolster the Victorian government’s digital strategy for a future-ready Victoria with a strong digital economy and public sector. Government departments in Victoria may incorporate AWS’ cloud services to streamline their machine learning and artificial intelligence projects and automated processes.
AWS A/NZ Public Sector Country Director Iain Rouse announced the deal in a blog post for AWS, saying that “this agreement helps accelerate delivery of digital strategy outcomes by enabling Victorian government customers to innovate faster on behalf of citizens of Victoria.”
Rouse also affirmed that AWS would continue to “strengthen our relationships with local AWS Partners and Indigenous-owned businesses,” and support cloud training programmes for Victorians, such as the Victorian Digital Skills Program which trains and reskills mid-career Victorians.
In addition, Rouse expressed his hope that “our collaboration with the Victorian Government will help us bring the transformative power of the cloud to more Victorian public sector organisations, enabling them to more easily develop effective, reliable, secure, and cost-effective cloud-based services that benefit the people of Victoria.”
Beyond this SPC agreement with the Victorian government, AWS also affirmed that it planned to deepen its commitments in Victoria and Australia. Notably, AWS announced that Victoria will be home to the new AWS Asia Pacific (Melbourne) region, and will consist of three separate AWS Availability Zones.
AWS’ addition of a second cloud Region in Australia would not only bolster Australia’s digital transformation efforts, but also provide Australian customers with more IT architectural options and space to store backup data for security reasons.
The contract between AWS and the Victorian government began on November 23 2021, and is currently set to end on November 23 2024.
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