Government signs cloud agreement with Amazon Web Services

The Department of Internal Affairs has secured a pan-government agreement with AWS in one of the first all-of-government agreements the cloud services provider has entered into globally.

The cloud framework agreement is designed to help agencies accelerate the adoption of public cloud services.

Tim Occleshaw, Government chief technology officer, says the agreement is recognition of New Zealand's leadership in digital government.

"This agreement supports agencies as they use public cloud services to enhance customer experience to enhance customer experience, streamline operations and create new delivery models," Occleshaw says.

"More broadly, it supports the creation of a digital ecosystem as we continue to reinvent the way citizens interact with government.

The cloud framework agreement leverages the scale of New Zealand government agencies as a single customer, rather than separate entities, and supports the Government's cloud-first policy.

Agencies are not mandated to use the agreed companies, but DIA says they will save time and resources through simplified contractual processes when using the agreed providers.

AWS is one of 33 internationally owned suppliers on the DIA's supplier list, alongside 105 New Zealand owned organisations.