Hidden meanings in NSW's 'People First'

While some states boast about procurement plans and how much they'll boost industry coffers, the NSW government appears to be heading in the opposite direction.

At a media briefing last week, the NSW Minister for Commerce John Della Bosca and NSW government CIO Paul Edgecumbe unveiled a seemingly complex strategy for how they'll gain better ROI from the state's IT infrastructure over the next four years.

Browse through the People First strategy documents, and you'll see common infrastructure and system sharing as the main way the government expects to reap AU$565 million in savings.

As one wag remarked at the briefing, People First might have been just a thinly-veiled PR attempt to show the government's commitment to saving money with a state election creeping up.

But then Edgecumbe gave the clincher that showed the government's purported conservativeness was not just talk.

Asked whether there'd be a reduction in IT staff given the reduced number of platforms, Edgecumbe paused.

"There will be a reduction in IT personnel and IT contractors over time," he said.

"Ultimately it will be by about AU$20 million a year."

While he wouldn't elaborate on how many jobs the figure might amount to, it's nothing to be sneezed at.

Not only does the state want to reduce the number of systems, it wants to reduce headcount too.

Brings new meaning to "People First".