IT governance is not a readily accessible issue for consumers yet the decisions made by most organisations about information technology (IT) can have great later significance, as is evident in a number of Australian IT project failures. IT supports organisations’ core functions and so IT investment choices and the contribution of IT to business capability and performance often play a significant role for future success.
Standards Australia has published a significant New Standard for IT Governance to support governance leaders in guiding major IT projects. Organisations undertaking significant IT projects will find this the ‘go-to” document when it comes to linking governance and management. Consumers Federation of Australia (CFA) has a representative on the Standards Australia Technical Committee IT-030 IT Governance which was responsible for the development of the standard.
AS/NZS 8016:2013 Governance of IT enabled projects offers a model of engagement between an organisation’s governing body and management. The objective is to facilitate improved results for business projects that involve investment in new or changed IT capabilities (these projects are often referred to as ‘IT enabled projects’ or ‘IT projects’). To achieve this, this Standard proposes a framework, comprising definitions, principles and a model for effective governance of such projects. This Standard is based on AS/NZS ISO/IEC 38500, Corporate governance of information technology.
CFA provides volunteer representatives on Standards Australia Technical Committees as part of the CFA Standards Project; if you are interested in finding out more about the Project and/or becoming a volunteer CFA Standards Representative please contact the Standards Coordinator standards@consumeraction.org.