053/05
16 May 2005

Innovative e-business projects announced

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, today announced a further $683,000 in Australian Government funding for four new collaborative e-business projects under the Information Technology Online ( ITOL) program.

The ITOL program helps accelerate the national adoption of e-business solutions, especially by small to medium enterprises.

Since 1996, more than $12.5 million has been allocated under ITOL to 114 projects across sectors as diverse as agriculture, building and construction, health, environment, arts, manufacturing and community.

“The applications for this round included businesses from around the country and across a variety of sectors,” Senator Coonan said.

“The four new projects funded in this round are:

• Cancer Institute NSW Registry e-Notification, a project to operate across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory;
• Viewpoint, an e-business manufacturing management system pilot project, based in Sydney;
• an interactive website for scheduling and administering locum doctors in rural New South Wales; and
• improving procurement for independent retailers and wholesalers in Tasmania.

“These business-to-business projects will deliver benefits to the broader community, supporting systems that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of securing health services, particularly for rural communities, and improving supply chains for the retailing and electronics industry,” Senator Coonan said.

“ITOL particularly targets small to medium enterprises across a broad range of industries and geographic regions, and provides funding of up to $200,000 for each project.”

More detailed information about the successful projects funded under this round is attached.

For further information about ITOL, visit www.dcita.gov.au/ie/ITOL

Information Technology Online Program – Round 12 Projects

CANCER INSTITUTE NSW REGISTRY e-NOTIFICATION

The Cancer Institute NSW Registry e-Notification project will pilot a system which sends electronic notifications of cancer diagnoses from pathology laboratories to NSW and ACT Central Cancer Registries (CCR).

This system is expected to improve efficiency, timeliness and quality of notifications to the CCRs. The registry information is used for epidemiological research, to monitor NSW/ACT cancer trends, to evaluate cancer care programs, to support health policy in NSW, and to contribute to national and international benchmarking.

ITOL Funding: $198,000

Contact: Neville Board, Information Systems Manager, Neville.board@cancerinstitute.org.au

VIEWPOINT

The objective of this project is to develop, implement and demonstrate an e-business manufacturing management system, known as Viewpoint, which integrates business processes within a cluster of companies through a shared online database. Viewpoint will be implemented in a pilot cluster of electronics industry companies made up of original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers, and suppliers.

The project aims to increase competitiveness in the Australian electronics industry by providing a more efficient collaboration process in respect of way supply chain data. This approach manages all resources including labour, materials and completed components within and across the supply chain. It also provides best practice business solutions within and across the companies in the cluster, including inventory management, parts and process tracking, supply chain management, batch job management and activity based costing.

ITOL Funding: $200,000

Contact: Robert Peacock, Dayang Electronic Manufacturing Pty Ltd, robert@dayang.com.au

SCHEDULING AND ADMINISTERING LOCUM DOCTORS IN RURAL NSW

The aim of the scheduling and administering locum doctors in rural NSW project is to develop a secure, reliable, accessible locum booking service and administrative system.

It uses an interactive website and an open-source information system which will streamline the process of locum service recruitment, initial orientation, placement (locum booking system) and day-to-day operation of the GP locum services.

The website has the capability to display requests for locums from rural GP practices and then match these requests with confirmed bookings from the Rural Doctors Network, independent GP locums and commercial locum agencies.

ITOL Funding: $200,000

Contact: Mark Lynch, General Manager, NSW Rural Doctors Network, mlynch@ nswrdn.com.au

IMPROVING PROCUREMENT FOR INDEPENDENT RETAILERS AND WHOLESALERS IN TASMANIA

The key objective of this project is to develop a peer-to-peer supply chain information network for Tasmanian retailers and their suppliers. The solution will cut supply chain costs by improving procurement processes between independent retailers and suppliers, and will help these small firms to address inefficiencies in their current supply chain such as order errors, changing barcodes and out-of-stock products.

The supply chain communications solution will be low cost, quick and easy to implement, and will provide enhanced supply chain functionality.

ITOL Funding: $85,000

Contact: Chester Willcock, Tasmanian Independent Retailers Pty Ltd, willcock@tir.com.au