Information & Communication Technology

Draft Australian Standard for the Corporate Governance of ICT

Marghanita da Cruz

Principal Consultant, Ramin Communications
Chair ACS Governance of ICT Committee

These slides accompany a talk on the draft standard for Corporate Governance of ICT, which was presented at the 2004 Australian Computer Society National Conference in Melbourne, 2-4 September 2004

About the Presenter

• Established Ramin Communications in 1996 www.ramin.com.au
• Government and corporate consulting
• Established ACS Governance Committee
• ACS representative on Standards Australia Technical Committee
• Coordinated Market Research for the standard

ACS Governance Committee

• Promote Governance of ICT amongst ACS members
• Engender Good Governance in the Community and Industry
• Co-ordinate ACS input for Governance Standards
• www.acs.org.au/governance

Why we need a standard

• Sydney Rail Network brought to a halt due to failure of computer system that controlled radio communication
• Failure at London Stock Exchange on last day of trading, required extended trading hours to deal with backlog resulted in biggest drop in 2 months.

Guidance based on experience - Audit Reports

• Water Board NSW Customer Information and Billing System - possible $61million write off and litigation.
• Parliamentary Administrative Services Victoria - high profile user dissatisfaction with roll out.

Market Research

• Ethical use of ICT
• Risk management role of steering committees and sponsors
• Risk Management AS/NZS 4360

ACS Seminars

• Socialise the work and seek feedback on the Draft.
• Boards are appointing ICT advisors.
• Issues in the Corporate Governance of ICT apply equally to the corporate governance of Innovation
• CIO/IT Staff are looking for a business engagement model.

Scope of the standard

• Compliance - SPAM,Privacy, Content Regulation
• Software Licensing - Open Source and more traditional licensing
• Security - Viruses, SPAM, Worms, Business Continuity
• Guidance to Directors on their duties
• Corporate Governance Standards

AS 8000 corporate governance:

• principles;
• fraud and corruption control;
• codes of conduct;
• social responsibility; and
• whistle blower protection
• ICT

ramin communications
Corporate Governance of ICT

The Standard for Corporate Governance of ICT: AS8015

• Short Readable Guide
• Intended for Directors of Organisations and advisors.
• Provides:
  • Definitions
  • Principles
  • Model

ramin communications
Corporate Governance of ICT

Draft Definitions

• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance of ICT
• ICT
• Investment & Resources
• Risk & Risk Management
• Director/Stakeholder
• System

Draft Principles

1. Establish responsibilities for ICT
2. Plan ICT to suit the organisation
3. Acquire ICT validly
4. Ensure ICT is of the required quality
5. Ensure ICT performs when required
6. Ensure ICT conforms with formal rules
7. Ensure ICT respects human factors

Draft Model for Corporate Governance of ICT

ramin communications
Corporate Governance of ICT

Where are we at?

Standards Australia Working Group and Technical Committee are currently resolving comments with a view to launching the Australian Standard in October 04 - new target, before end 04.

• more information: www.acs.org.au/governance
• contact: Marghanita da Cruz

Update: AS8015 Corporate Governance of ICT was published in January 2005