NSW is one of the most siloed state governments in Australia with an estimated 370 Web sites, 70 e-mail systems, and as many as 50 payroll systems. Consolidation will involve gradually "modernizing" older systems and integrating them between agencies. The intended result is fewer individual systems from a number of suppliers.

"There is always a project somewhere involving backend systems so we will use existing expenditure to do consolidation."

"Industry will know what our priorities are and have a single point of contact for NSW government ICT," Edgecumbe said. "The procurement strategy will allow industry to get access to our A$1 billion (US$761 million) per year faster and one would hope we get a better result."

The backoffice integration and standard operating environment development are being led by NSW Police, and the security requirements are being led by the government chief information office.

Edgecumbe anticipates once telecommunications convergence is completed, customer interaction will be easier and a new electronic response management system will allow people to communicate with the government regardless of which agency they deal with and the services they require.