Silicon Valley trip for Qld minister

Queensland's information and communications technology minister Robert Schwarten has scheduled a trip to the US and Canada to meet with global tech giants and top-ranking public sector technology officials.

Robert Schwarten
(Credit: Queensland Government)

Schwarten said in a statement late yesterday that the ICT industry was fast-paced and constantly evolving and was of "vital importance to Queensland" as the state attempted to build the nation's strongest economy.

"The Queensland government spends around $1 billion annually on ICT and we want to ensure we get value for money," he said. "Continuing innovation in ICT will be the key to addressing some of the biggest challenges facing Queensland in the future."

During the US trip, which starts today, Schwarten will meet with Dell, IBM, HP, Microsoft, Cisco and Google.

In addition he will meet with staff from the US state of Texas, which he said was a "recognised leader in ICT consolidation across government", as well as Canada's national chief information officer and technology staff from Boeing.

Along with a number of other officials, Schwarten will take his ICT policy advisor, Chris Cummins on the trip, which will also encompass discussions with US officials from housing departments, one of his other portfolios.

The news comes as Queensland has over the past several years outlined a number of large initiatives to boost efficiency in the state government's use of technology, such as centralising up to 200,000 email accounts in one system and consolidating procurement activities.