NZ Transport Agency (MIS100 2011)

Reports to: Allan Frost, group manager, organisational support
Size of IS shop: 104

PCs: 7125
Mobile PCs: 577
Terminals: 853
Hand-held devices: 142
Total screens: 8697

Industry: Government and defence
PC environment: Windows XP, 7; Lenovo; Toshiba
Server environment: Unisys, Linux, Sun, Windows 2008, Unisys, IBM
DBMS: Unisys, Oracle, SQL, MySQL
Address: 44 Victoria Street, Wellington
Website: www.nzta.govt.nz
Key IS projects this year: Has 40 to 50 projects across three portfolios: State Highway (for maximising safe throughput of people and freight); Registers (for managing access and use to the network including managing changes to motor vehicle, drivers licence and related external systems); Enterprise (for improving the effectiveness of public transport and reducing compliance costs).

Now in his second year as CIO for the NZ Transport Agency, Craig Soutar will lead the IS team on 40 to 50 projects, across three portfolios — State Highway, Registers and Enterprise — in 2011. ICT projects have increased from last year, up by 10 percent, and budgets are down due to operational savings now being realised from the initial merger of its two legacy organisations (Land Transport NZ and Transit New Zealand).

The complex systems merger is now in the final phase after two-and-a-half years, and the focus is now switching to planning for the future. This includes delivering an updated Information Systems Strategic Plan to support and enable the longer term outcomes and strategic priorities for the NZTA, including a number of significant investments in enabling technologies. One early initiative will be modernising the Drivers Licence and Motor Vehicle Registers. It is an early adopter of All of Government shared services. “It’s about understanding our customer needs — both internal and external — and providing them with the best service possible,” says Soutar.
Recent projects completed include implementing service management tools through software as a service; replacing a legacy traffic management system; uplifting the capability of existing geospatial information systems; and finalising plans based on a proof of concept project for iPad deployment to replace up to 130 laptops.