专题口译教案.doc

Teaching Notes for Interpreting专题口译教案Unit 1: Information technologyFocus:IT-related knowledge and termsSkills:note-taking & memoryPreparation: background knowledgetechnical termsProcedures:1Warming-up: news report and discussion2Interpreting ExercisesMaterials: Speech to Australian Information Industry AssociationEU Policies to boost productivity using ICT惠普采购论坛会议演讲稿Teachers Comments: Remind students of the note-taking skills previously learnedPassage 1SPEECH TO AUSTRALIAN INFORMATION INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (NSWTHE HON. JOHN FAHEY, MP MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATIONBRADLEYS HEAD, SYDNEYI welcome this chance to speak to you today about the Governments IT outsourcing initiative.It is an area of immense importance to you from the IT industry, and to the Federal Government important, because it has the potential to save money for taxpayers at the same time as delivering great benefits to our growing IT industry. Benefits like investment and regional jobs.In other words, it presents an opportunity for each of us to mutually benefit.As I will point out, that mutual opportunity is strongly reflected in the Governments policy on IT outsourcing a policy I characterise as unashamedly interventionist.Some critics of our policy have called it rationalist. They argue that, far from benefiting the local IT industry, our outsourcing policy damages the industry.Others claim that it costs too much. They misrepresent the cost of the process, often simplifying the facts to support glib assertions without foundation.Today I want to tackle those arguments head on.I specifically want to address the industry development framework and opportunities that are such an active and important part of this initiative. There are opportunities the results have shown that.I would like to address this framework, its results, as well as the future opportunities in upcoming large groups and through the Small Agency Program.I will start by explaining the rationale for our policy, then look at the opportunities it presents. Finally, I will fast forward to preview future opportunities available to enterprises such as those you represent today.RationaleThere is a very sound basis for the general government policy of outsourcing a basis founded in good business sense.The Coalition took to the 1996 election a policy of outsourcing those government functions that could more efficiently and effectively be conducted by the private sector functions that could be better performed by any of the thousands of companies listed in the Yellow Pages.Upon coming to Government, we discovered inefficiencies beyond our expectations. The Government, for instance, used to run an interior decorating service something governments dont need to do.The provision of IT to government is not as stark an example, but it does fall into the same category something that can be done better outside government.In simple terms, our policy is about saving money for taxpayers, but also about using the Federal Governments sheer size as a vehicle to grow the local industry and create jobs, investment and exports on the way.Yes, it is economically responsible. It is also designed to benefit the Australian IT industry.BenefitsOne of my critics is the Oppositions spokesperson on information technology, and I am aware that a fortnight ago she addressed this Association down in Canberra.But Labors line is schizophrenic.On the one hand, Labor embraces the rationale for outsourcing and argues that we should use the policy more aggressively: to build small Australian businesses. It is "a sensible and practical policy tool," according to Senator Lundy.But on the other hand, she warns that outsourcing should be eschewed as a dangerous, laissez-faire policy:"underlying the private sector is always the profit motivation for private benefit. The public sector on the other hand has a perpetual commitment to the benefit of all."She also complains that technologists like you "lack the commercial acumen" to translate concepts into commercial opportunity and, on that basis, argues for a moratorium on outsourcing.In other words, Labor recognises the benefits of outsourcing and says it should be bolder and more aggressive yet Labor also promises to put a stop to it.That would mean no private sector jobs, no private sector investment, and no private sector regional development.Those are just some of the benefits of our policy, but there are plenty more.For a start, Government departments and agencies are rethinking how they use and manage their IT infrastructure. And that is proving very healthy for Government and, of course, the community.The bureaucratic and technical empires of yesterday are being shaken up and Government agencies are being encouraged to focus on their core business. They are being forced to look at what IT services they require to best deliver their objectives.In determining those basic needs, agencies are being assisted by OASITO to fully understand their own IT activities and to gain an insight into the true cost of their IT infrastructure and services.The results are very encouraging. IT used to be regarded as a curious novelty by bureaucrats who would think of The Jetsons whenever you mentioned technology. Today, IT is regarded as a flexible tool to facilitate the business of Government.Apart from this attitudinal change, our policy has many tangible benefits.The public and private sectors will develop strategic partnerships through outsourcing, something that has been an aim of the initiative from the beginning.The Australian IT industry gets a better chance at a much wider range of work work that used to be the exclusive preserve of government.IT personnel will have the chance to further their careers in the dynamic environment of the private sector where there is a critical IT jobs shortage.As I indicated earlier, one of our principal goals is the development of a healthy indigenous IT industry.From the very beginning, every effort has been made to ensure that industry development is a key objective of IT outsourcing.Heres how.The successful tenderers for any contract are contractually bound to significant industry development offerings, including new exports and investment, sourcing Australian content, small and medium enterprise participation, and regional development and employment.If they fail on any count, they meet significant penalties hardly the stuff of economic rationalism.But, importantly, our policy is not economically irrational, either.Our industry development framework is non-prescriptive. It seeks proposals that are commercially sensible, sustainable, and aligned to the corporate objectives of tenderers.The Government will continue to require from tenderers, contractual commitments to industry development that are commercially sensible and sustainable, and that contribute to the growth of the Australian IT industry.Another matter I want to address is the cost of outsourcing.Many critics point to the cost of outsourcing without paying regard to the complexity of the program, or to the specialist skills needed.Presumably, those would prefer us to outsource without the benefit of financial advice, legal advice, risk analysis, or probity checks.Presumably, they would ask experts like you to provide advice at a fraction of the market rate.The truth is that, without a range of expert advice, and unless you pay market rates, our desired outcomes will never be achieved. That means sub-optimal outcomes in terms of savings, employment, industry development and investment hardly the outcome expected by taxpayers or deserved by the industry.Before I move on, there is one other matter I want to address.There seems to be a misapprehension about the so-called media gag applied to IT enterprises in the outsourcing initiative.The so-called gag does not exist. Instead, I am concerned to avoid bids by media announcement a situation that would grossly disadvantage the smaller bidders without the time, resources and contacts necessary to win the media game.So, contrary to the impressions created by some, there is no gag, and never will be.ResultsNow I turn to the results.We have saved money and promoted cost-effective IT services to agencies and departments.Our policy has acted as a catalyst, attracting international operations to Australia; fostering relationships between the public and private sectors; encouraging SMEs to develop an international focus; and building internationally competitive capabilities within local companies.Let me deal with the results in more detail.So far, three tenders have been let - resulting in three different companies providing IT outsourcing services to the Commonwealth and consequently opening up opportunities for a diverse range of suppliers.These three tenders alone have resulted in:over $170 million in savings over five years;around $160 million worth of work for SMEs;over $500 million worth of products and services sourced in Australia;208 new jobs in regional Australia;around $150 million in new exports or import replacement activities; and$68 million in new strategic investment.These results are never given the prominence that is given to critics of the outsourcing program.Many of these results would not have occurred but for the governments policy.For instance, our policy has seen CSC establish two Technology Centres (in Canberra and the Hunter Valley, for training, software and applications development.It has prompted EDS Australia to establish an E-Business centre in Sydney, servicing the Asian Region.It has seen IBM establish a new, bilingual call centre in South-East Queensland - to service clients both here in Australia and Japan.But the results are not limited to IBM, EDS or CSC. Small and medium enterprises are winners, too.As I indicated, SMEs have already secured access to around $160 million worth of work over the next five years.Australian Companies like Ipex, Wizard, and others have been very successful in different areas across the breadth of these contracts.The list of SMEs goes on: Call Express, Randata, Execp, Century Software, Macro 4, CCA, SDA, CSS, Ubiquity, Tech Comm, Protech, Canberra Strategic Marketing, Salmat Holdings, Guardian Data, Fredon Industries.It puts paid to claims that outsourcing is only about multinationals.On the contrary, it demonstrates that outsourcing lifts the capacity of local industry to handle complex deals.SMEs that team with multinationals or larger Australian firms are able to transfer skills and knowledge by working with experienced large scale outsourcers.These experiences will only serve to improve the ability of SMEs in contracting and outsourcing and enable them to bid for even larger contracts in the future.Group 5Let me now address our latest contract for the government agencies known as group 5. The contract covers around 4,000 desktop computers in the Governments policy agencies.One or two commentators have criticised the result. They say it should have been won by an SME.While an SME did not win the Group 5 contract, one of the shortlisted firms, an Australian SME, submitted a very credible bid. Eventually, however, it lost to a superior technical and financial bid by Advantra.Advantra is a majority Australian owned company (70 percent owned by Telstra and Lend Lease and is a relatively new entrant into the IT outsourcing arena.While the Government has a strong commitment to support SMEs, we would not be helping build a strong, internationally competitive IT industry by awarding tenders which are not competitive and sustainable, having regard to technical, financial as well as industry development considerations.Otherwise why run a competitive process?(By the way, I note that the shortlisted SME in Group 5 is still showing considerable interest in the project, and has already secured some work from another contract, and is looking keenly for other opportunities including as a prime contractor.The Small Agency ProgramI want to turn to another of our policies designed to boost SMEs. It is the Small Agency Program, and it is designed entirely for SMEs.This involves outsourcing the IT needs of the Commonwealths smaller agencies - generally organisations of fewer than 500 staff.This will afford more of an opportunity for local SMEs to bid as primes for work totalling up to $50 million.Full outsourcing may not be feasible for very small agencies, particularly after taking account of tender and contract management costs. Very small agencies are therefore not required to conduct full-scope competitive tender processes for all their IT infrastructure requirements.Instead, these agencies may satisfy the Governments direction by testing the market for IT maintenance and support requirements using existing Commonwealth procurement and contracting out guidelines.This will allow very small agencies to achieve some immediate savings in IT maintenance and supports costs and, as the outsourcing market matures, move towards a full outsourcing strategy on a cost-effective basis.There are over a dozen agencies that fall within the "small agency" category andapproximately thirty five agencies that fall within the "very small" category.So the work is there it is becoming available, more so perhaps than ever before. And far from being shut out of the process, SMEs are being given every opportunity to participate in and benefit from the Governments IT Outsourcing Initiative.I encourage SMEs looking for opportunities to use the Small Agency Program as a good entry point from which they can develop the expertise and experience that they can build upon.There will be another twenty projects outsourced this year alone each of them sizeable in their own right.Australian contentOne of the final points I want to address is Australian content.The Governments preference for maximizing Australian value add has forced the multinational players to look for strong Australian content in their bids be it, hardware, software, or services.No longer can multinationals in the Australian IT arena rely on just their international alliance partners they must look for Australian product and services.This push has only been achieved by the stance the government is taking in the Industry Development framework of the initiative.Another example of our intervention in the market.The futureFinally, I want to talk about the future.There is a long way to go in the outsourcing journey we are not even a third of the way through yet.We are well progressed though, with a couple of tenders with the market at present, namely the Health Group where tenders have closed, and Group 8 where tenders close shortly.The large group