SAP to spend $150m on Canberra DC, institute

SAP will invest $150 million over the next five years towards opening a data centre and an Institute for Digital Government in Canberra.

The new data centre will deliver SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud services to Australian government customers. It is scheduled to open in the second quarter of next year.

Announcing the project, SAP said it is allocating additional manpower and infrastructure to help support the government’s objectives of implementing a cloud-first policy and avoiding duplication of services to improve efficiency.

SAP aims to assist the government in developing a platform to improve government processes including human capital management, finance and case management.

The SAP Institute for Digital Government will meanwhile employ around 250 staff including developers, solution architects and services professionals. The staff will aim to develop or improve digital services for citizens.

“Australian government agencies have recognised the need to adapt their services to the expectations of more informed, socially engaged and digitally enabled citizens,” said Andrew Barkla, president and managing director, SAP Australia and New Zealand.

“At the SAP Institute for Digital Government, SAP’s global technology leadership will meet the Australian government’s strength in public services to deliver more value to taxpayers and redefine the digital experience for citizens.”

The announcement was made on Monday at a reception for German chancellor Angela Merkel following her attendance at the Brisbane G20 Leaders’ Summit.

Image courtesy of aussiegall under CC