"Last night I had the privilege of attending the iAwards, which were held in Victoria this year... I have to say I was very impressed by the fact that there were nearly 800 people present at the awards last night. I understand that that is a record for the AIIA," Minister Theophanous said.

“This industry is really important to Victoria. It is growing at a significant pace. Australia-wide it delivers 6 per cent of gross domestic product... Its economic contribution is bigger than those of the agriculture, defence and education sectors combined. It is almost as big as the mining sector. This is a huge industry and it is important to have these kinds of awards to recognise it."

Minister Theophanous went on to outline the special awards made on the evening by the Victorian Government to national winners who are based in Victoria. During the ceremony the Minister had announced that $10,000 dollars would be given to each of the Victorian companies taking out a major category on the night - a list that ultimately included IP Payments, iCare Solutions and Stop Motion Pro. Caulfield Grammar School, who won the secondary school category, was awarded $5000.

AIIA made a detailed formal submission to the Independent Review of the Australian Government's Use of ICT (also known as the Gershon Review) on Friday 13 June, 2008.  This Review has the potential to significantly change the environment in which the ICT industry does business with the Australian Government. AIIA devoted substantial effort to ensure that views representative of all members (including large multinational companies, major Australian organisations, SMEs and startups) were communicated to the Review; consequently, the submission was based on extensive industry consultation and feedback from members.

AIIA's submission is underpinned by three main themes:

• the government will gain significant benefit from the consistent application of best practice in the acquisition, implementation, governance and use of ICT
• best practice in all these areas should be developed through consultation with industry
• central coordination of government ICT will deliver benefits in effectiveness, cost reduction project outcomes.

Details of the AIIA submission will remain in-confidence while the Review considers all submissions made as part of the consultation process; the written submission is the first part of this process. Next steps will include AIIA CEO Ian Birks and members of the AIIA Board of Directors meeting with Sir Peter Gershon next month in Canberra to provide additional context to the submission.

For more information about AIIA's response to the Gershon Review, contact Alastair James on 0408 165 953.