❓ Analysis of a parliamentary question regarding the iThink platform, its cost, usage, and value for money. The government's response details the platform's purpose, cost, and usage, indicating no major issues or breaches.
AnsweredQoN 604Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the contract value of the State Government’s agreement with Crowdicity to build and operate iThink, and I ask: (a) What was the final cost of iThink; (b) Is the Public Sector Commission undertaking a
review of iThink and whether it was value for money? If not, why not; (c) Did Crowdicity seek to sign a new contract to deliver iThink; (d) Did the State Government seek to sign a new contract to deliver iThink; (e) What was the cost of the two one-year extension options? Please break down by each extension; (f) Did Crowdicity continue to meet core specifications of the contract during the two one-year extensions; (g) Was a new contract drafted for iThink and if yes, why has iThink no longer being used by the State Government; (h) Has the iThink platform delivered any ideas of use to the State Government? If yes, please detail; (i) Has the iThink platform been replaced with a similar system? If yes, please detail the name, cost of contract, and date operational; (j) Did the Cyber Security unit within DPC have any concerns about iThink? If yes, please detail the date the concern was first raised, the concern, the date the concern was resolved; (k) Were there any breaches of section 10 of the contract with Crowdicity? If yes, please detail; (l) By the conclusion of iThink, had any of the following signed onto the platform and if yes, please detail who and their role: (i) Ministers; (ii) Directors General; and (iii) Agency CEOs; (m) How many reports of misuse, abuse or inappropriate conduct have been received through the system? Please detail the nature of any reports; (n) Have all CEOs / Directors General had a briefing on the outcomes of iThink? If yes, when did this occur and please table the minutes from that meeting or feedback received; and (o) How many total users have signed up to iThink? Please provide the following in the same format as Legislative Assembly tabled paper 3168: (i) How many total users (Government and external) are known to be from regional Western Australia; (ii) How many are known government employees; and (iii) Of known government employees, how many are from regional Western Australia?
review of iThink and whether it was value for money? If not, why not; (c) Did Crowdicity seek to sign a new contract to deliver iThink; (d) Did the State Government seek to sign a new contract to deliver iThink; (e) What was the cost of the two one-year extension options? Please break down by each extension; (f) Did Crowdicity continue to meet core specifications of the contract during the two one-year extensions; (g) Was a new contract drafted for iThink and if yes, why has iThink no longer being used by the State Government; (h) Has the iThink platform delivered any ideas of use to the State Government? If yes, please detail; (i) Has the iThink platform been replaced with a similar system? If yes, please detail the name, cost of contract, and date operational; (j) Did the Cyber Security unit within DPC have any concerns about iThink? If yes, please detail the date the concern was first raised, the concern, the date the concern was resolved; (k) Were there any breaches of section 10 of the contract with Crowdicity? If yes, please detail; (l) By the conclusion of iThink, had any of the following signed onto the platform and if yes, please detail who and their role: (i) Ministers; (ii) Directors General; and (iii) Agency CEOs; (m) How many reports of misuse, abuse or inappropriate conduct have been received through the system? Please detail the nature of any reports; (n) Have all CEOs / Directors General had a briefing on the outcomes of iThink? If yes, when did this occur and please table the minutes from that meeting or feedback received; and (o) How many total users have signed up to iThink? Please provide the following in the same format as Legislative Assembly tabled paper 3168: (i) How many total users (Government and external) are known to be from regional Western Australia; (ii) How many are known government employees; and (iii) Of known government employees, how many are from regional Western Australia?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
29 November 2022
Responded by
Minister for Public Sector Management
Response time
7 days
(a) $495,000 (exc. GST).
(b) Contract evaluations, which include consideration of value for money, were undertaken at the end of each contract year in accordance with the Department of Finance’s procurement and contract management guidelines.
(c) No.
(d) No.
(e) Year 1 Extension: $160,000 (exc. GST). Year 2 Extension: $160,000 (exc. GST).
(f) Yes.
(g) A further contract was not drafted. The Commission continues to seek ideas and input into the development of whole of sector strategies and policies through other mechanisms.
(h) iThink was an ideas generation platform used to inform a range of business improvement initiatives at a whole of sector and agency level. As examples, external challenges included gathering ideas to informs the state’s first Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and 6 action plans for diverse groups, a recruitment challenge which sought ideas to inform and shape recruitment policies, 3 challenges seeking ideas to inform a new public libraries strategy, and 2 challenges that were available to the entire Western Australian population seeking ideas to support the state’s response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Agencies considered the ideas generated from iThink alongside other ideas received through stakeholder engagement and planning processes.
(i) The iThink platform has not been replaced, however the Commission is using an existing internal system, Qualtrics, to gather ideas from staff from those agencies reviewed as part of the Agency Capability Review program.
(j) No.
(k) No.
(l) (i) Nil.
(ii) former Director General, Department of Training and Workforce Development; former Director General, Department of the Premier and Cabinet; former Director General, Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries; former Director General, Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage; Director General, Department of Finance; former Director General, Department of Water and Environmental Regulation; former Director General, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
(iii) General Manager, Burswood Park Board; Chief Executive Officer, ChemCentre; Chief Executive Officer, Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia; Information Commissioner; Chief Executive Officer, VenuesWest; Chief Executive Officer, Western Australian Museum; former State Librarian/Chief Executive Officer, State Library of Western Australia.
(m) Nil.
(n) Agencies that used the iThink platform to undertake a closed challenge were provided regular updates on the ideas and comments received, with a final report summarising engagement at the end of the challenge. The State Recovery Steering Committee was briefed on the outcomes of the recovery challenges held May to June 2020 as part of regular meetings to manage recovery implementation. The minutes of these meetings are Cabinet in confidence.
(o) (i – iii) At the time of close, there were 5,627 registered users, all of whom were government employees except 11 staff from Medallia, the platform vendor. 606 of these identified as being from regional WA during registration. See tabled paper for breakdown.
(b) Contract evaluations, which include consideration of value for money, were undertaken at the end of each contract year in accordance with the Department of Finance’s procurement and contract management guidelines.
(c) No.
(d) No.
(e) Year 1 Extension: $160,000 (exc. GST). Year 2 Extension: $160,000 (exc. GST).
(f) Yes.
(g) A further contract was not drafted. The Commission continues to seek ideas and input into the development of whole of sector strategies and policies through other mechanisms.
(h) iThink was an ideas generation platform used to inform a range of business improvement initiatives at a whole of sector and agency level. As examples, external challenges included gathering ideas to informs the state’s first Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and 6 action plans for diverse groups, a recruitment challenge which sought ideas to inform and shape recruitment policies, 3 challenges seeking ideas to inform a new public libraries strategy, and 2 challenges that were available to the entire Western Australian population seeking ideas to support the state’s response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Agencies considered the ideas generated from iThink alongside other ideas received through stakeholder engagement and planning processes.
(i) The iThink platform has not been replaced, however the Commission is using an existing internal system, Qualtrics, to gather ideas from staff from those agencies reviewed as part of the Agency Capability Review program.
(j) No.
(k) No.
(l) (i) Nil.
(ii) former Director General, Department of Training and Workforce Development; former Director General, Department of the Premier and Cabinet; former Director General, Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries; former Director General, Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage; Director General, Department of Finance; former Director General, Department of Water and Environmental Regulation; former Director General, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
(iii) General Manager, Burswood Park Board; Chief Executive Officer, ChemCentre; Chief Executive Officer, Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia; Information Commissioner; Chief Executive Officer, VenuesWest; Chief Executive Officer, Western Australian Museum; former State Librarian/Chief Executive Officer, State Library of Western Australia.
(m) Nil.
(n) Agencies that used the iThink platform to undertake a closed challenge were provided regular updates on the ideas and comments received, with a final report summarising engagement at the end of the challenge. The State Recovery Steering Committee was briefed on the outcomes of the recovery challenges held May to June 2020 as part of regular meetings to manage recovery implementation. The minutes of these meetings are Cabinet in confidence.
(o) (i – iii) At the time of close, there were 5,627 registered users, all of whom were government employees except 11 staff from Medallia, the platform vendor. 606 of these identified as being from regional WA during registration. See tabled paper for breakdown.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.