State and local governments may be poised to spend a significant amount of money on hardware and software in the near future, according to a new report.  Indeed, at least on a fairly short-term basis, it looks like a record or two might be set.

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Google’s products and services may soon become much more prominent in government offices throughout America.  A new edition of Google Apps called Google Apps for Government has been introduced, and it’s been specially tailored to meet certain regulations.

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Government IT professionals all over the world may want to keep a close eye on Australia in the weeks and months ahead.  Australia’s federal budget has allocated over $1 billion to public-sector technology projects, meaning it may be able to pioneer some advances, or at least set an example through trial and error.

An e-health records infrastructure and the tax system are supposed to be the two major focuses of this push, according to Fran Foo.

More specifically, she then reported, “Federal government chief information officer Ann Steward said most of the budget funds would be spent on applications development, as more than 15 agencies benefited.”  And storage and security are going to be something that everyone involved will keep in mind.

It should be interesting to see what results from this push.  So long as Australia’s policies and its size don’t prevent any of its solutions from being deployed elsewhere – and so long as its solutions aren’t extraordinarily expensive – this IT experiment should prove to be a learning experience.

Keep an eye out for employment opportunities if you live in Australia (or would be happy to move there), too, since many people may be hired as a result of all this excitement.