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Austrade Mission to GovSec Conference in Washington DC April 25-27, 2006 |
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Edition: February 2006 (Number 3) Welcome to our first newsletter for 2006. This month we bring you updates from Washington and some solid advice on business issues affecting Australian exporters to the US government sector. If you wish to follow-up on any stories or contact our team for export advice, email us at usgovaccess@austrade.gov.au. |
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| Two More States Sign on to AUSFTA Government Procurement Chapter |
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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile, recently welcomed the decision of two new US states - Tennessee and Oklahoma - to join the Government Procurement Chapter of the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement. Thirty-one US states have now signed up to the agreement, up from 26 at the conclusion of negotiations in February 2004. Those 31 include all of the major procuring states in the United States: Californa, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania. "Australian exporters and businesses now have access to the government procurement markets of 31 US states in addition to the US federal government procurement market which is worth in excess of $200 billion," Mr Vaile said. Read more
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| Homeland Security and Counter-Terrorism R&D Announcements |
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Austrade is assisting Australian exporters respond to announcements for homeland security and counter-terrorism R&D projects. The recent Department of Homeland Security's Rapid Technology Application Program (RTAP) closed on 3 January and received a strong response from Australian companies and development bodies. Further similar programs are expected.
Read more about the recent RTAP, an upcoming TWSG briefing and a DHS Offeror's Conference for Bioinformatics and Assay Development.Read more
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| Austrade visits Louisiana to identify Katrina Contracting Opportunities |
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Austrade recently sent two representatives to New Orleans to assess the damage from Hurricane Katrina and identify potential opportunities for Australian supply in the reconstruction efforts.
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| DHS US$2 billion Secure Border Initiative |
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a requirement for services to secure 's borders and reduce illegal migration currently known as the Secure Border Initiative (SBI), which was formerly known as the Shield Initiative.
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| Setting up US business entities - an introduction |
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Australian companies looking to penetrate the market by setting up a business entity are taking an important step in demonstrating their commitment to the market. This type of commitment is extremely important for building long term relationships with customers and/or partners. However, the decision to set up in the US is a complicated process that requires analysis on several fronts including entity selection, intellectual property, immigration and taxation to name a few.
This article is the first of a series of articles that will walk you through some basic legal issues that arise when setting up a business in the US. This article will focus on the basic types of business entities that are available in the US.Read more |
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| Teaming to enter the US government market |
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The federal government is a sophisticated buyer of goods and services. They are the largest buyer of technology in the world. The aggregate technology spending of the 50 states and their localities is even greater.
Teaming or subcontracting with a US-based federal, state or local government integrator is an ideal way for Australian companies to take a slice of this enormous market. Teaming offers advantages to Australian companies as integrators provide a fully integrated solution, they know the market, they understand the cultural nuances of the particular government market, they can minimize your risk, and they can offer the past performance so crucial to a government customer. Austrade can assist you identify appropriate integrators to team with for upcoming government projects. Read more |
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State, local outsourcing projected to grow 75 percent |
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Spurred by the need to replace outdated systems and to offset anticipated future government IT workforce shortages, state and local governments are expected to increase their spending on IT outsourcing from $10 billion in fiscal 2005 to $18 billion by fiscal 2010, according to a report released today by market research firm Input Inc. Aging IT systems and the nearing-retirement-age workforce will be major factors that drive growth as much as 75 percent over the next five years, according to Input of Reston, Va.
Spending should continue with moderate growth in fiscal 2006, after which pronounced growth will materialize as economic and workforce factors outweigh the political pressure and risk aversion of governments. At that point, state and local governments will outsource more work.
For the remainder of the story please visit http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/38085-1.html |
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| Webinar - Road to Government Business - Part One: The US Government Business |
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If you missed this recent webinar by CMA in Washington, you can view until late April on the CMA site. |