By Marqui Neder
Cairns is the gateway to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and is located in the Far North Queensland region where rainforest meets modern city. It also became the base for U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Papua New Guinea.
With the closest physical mission more than 2,400 kilometers away in Sydney, Cairns needed to assemble a team of professionals and host all services remotely, including IT services, a motor pool, and finance and management operations.
The Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM) team created a state-of-the-art control room that hosted 15 OpenNet workstations, a Dedicated Internet Network, secure Wi-Fi and a mobile digital video conference solution. Working with colleagues in the Office of Mobile and Remote Access, the IRM team field-tested the latest OpenNet Laptop proof-of-concept systems, the enterprise mobile desktop, also known as EMD. This system is the latest in providing mobile OpenNet anywhere an internet connection is available.
The finance team was able to process vouchers, procurement requests and agency reconciliations throughout the entire three-week event. Additionally, motor pool dispatchers stayed ahead of the many changes in vehicle requirements during the vice president’s visit due, in part, to control room resources.
Mission Australia’s experience in Cairns proved that working together with the right resources is fundamental to a successful event.
Marqui Neder is a deputy information management officer at Embassy Canberra.
