IN a move that is expected to deliver significant capital and operational savings, four local councils have agreed to combine IT procurement efforts.
The WA Local Government Association is facilitating the project.
The Cities of Bayswater, Bunbury and Gosnells with the Town of Cambridge will collaborate on the Core Council Business Systems Group Procurement Project, launched earlier this month.
The project resulted from a need to replace current council systems.
The project is designed to deliver an aggregation of buying power by the councils.
It is expected to reduce capital and operational spending by 20 per cent of the cost of councils upgrading their IT systems individually.
Other councils are understood to have expressed interest in the project, which is also expected to deliver best practice processes.
“This project has already attracted the attention of both the Local Government sector and industry,” WA Local Government Association president Clive Robartson said.
“The association anticipates that participating councils’ costs should be significantly reduced by aggregation of demand, and ultimately for all councils in WA.
By purchasing as a group and negotiating with vendors, the councils expect their bargaining power to be significantly increased.
“The broader benefits for the local government sector are anticipated to be offered through the potential engagement of a preferred supplier for local government and the development of best practices specifications and models.”