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Information and guidance for projects preparing a final report to the Networking the Nation Secretariat

Networking the Nation (NTN) funds projects across Australia, with varied objectives and of varying sizes. NTN funding support for your project has concluded, or will do so in the near future, and you will shortly be submitting a Final Report on your project to the NTN Secretariat. The following pages are provided as a guide to the type of information the Secretariat considers should be included in that report if the knowledge gained through your project is to be shared with other communities across Australia who may be considering undertaking projects of their own.

Your Deed of Agreement contains a reference to your project's Final Report as being a stand-alone document. You should read item 3.4 of the Schedule to the Deed. The Final Report is intended to provide a document that can be used for publication purposes, in part or otherwise, by the Secretariat. It will serve as both a promotional tool for the program and an information resource for parties considering similar projects in their region. The Report therefore needs to present the story of the project from start to finish, including a report on the project's activities in recent months. You may chose to provide material on a confidential basis and such material will not be published. In all cases, you will be consulted about any material we propose publishing about your project.

The following guide is provided to assist you in this task. Not all items listed will necessarily be relevant to your project. While you are not obliged to address every point, the Secretariat seeks to share the experience of projects to the maximum benefit of regional and rural Australia and has developed this guide with that in mind. We are seeking frank comments because negative experiences can be just as instructive as positive ones. Think about what you might do differently in any future project.

Your report should include the following sections

• Title page
• Executive summary
• Introduction
• Objectives
• Strategic approach
• Implementation plan
• Implementation issues
• Outcomes / factors for success

The contents of these sections are described below. In all cases your starting point should be the Schedule to the Deed of Agreement between your organisation and the Commonwealth.

If you need assistance or clarification on any point in this document, please contact the Networking the Nation Secretariat on freecall 1800 674 058 or email ntn.mail@dcita.gov.au

We look forward to receiving your report and to sharing it with regional and rural Australia!

Title Page:

This page should simply include

• Name of project
• Project organisation
• Contact details
• Logos
• The URL or web address of your project

Executive Summary

This should be two pages maximum and provide a short, comprehensive overview of the Report and its findings. It should include details of the actual start dates and the total cost of your project, including NTN funding.

Introduction

This should describe the background to your project up to the point of NTN funding. Tell us the story of your project. Include discussion of

• the geographic and demographic characteristics of your region
• the background to the genesis of the project-what prompted your project in the first place?
• the primary driver for the project's development? Who was it? Include their details if appropriate
• the existing communications infrastructure and service environment of the region when your project commenced
• the need(s) that prompted the development of your project and any early consultation with stakeholders and the community that was undertaken
• any similar activities in your region prior to your project. Include description of their influence on your project, if any

If desired, briefly describe your experience of applying for NTN funding, and your dealings with the Secretariat up to the time of funding. Do you have any suggestions for streamlining processes?

Objectives

Networking the Nation aims to assist the economic and social development of regional, rural and remote Australia by funding projects which:

• enhance telecommunications infrastructure and services in those areas;
• increase access to, and promote use of, services available through telecommunications networks; and
• reduce disparities in access to such services and facilities.

How does your project, as now implemented, contribute to this objective?

Consider what it was your project was intended to accomplish, not only in terms of physical infrastructure or direct services, but also in terms of broader social/community/regional development benefits for your community?

Strategic approach

Describe the strategic approach taken by the project in achieving its objectives-in other words, how did you plan to get your project up and running, and to continue operating it successfully?

Describe the organisation that developed the project, including

• Its formation
• Its key members and their roles
• any partner organisations
• Its legal structure

Describe any funding assistance that has been received or sought by the project from

• NTN
• other Government sources
• the private and community sectors

In each case, include any in-kind support from your organisation or elsewhere.

Describe the involvement in your project of

• community members or groups
• consultants engaged for any purpose
• industry partners
• Local, State and Commonwealth Governments and agencies
• Others

Implementation plan

Describe the way in which you planned to implement your project at the time of funding by NTN.

If possible, include a step-by-step diagram of the project's implementation plan. And identify any points of variation with the original concept.

What did your project achieve, both in terms of direct services delivered and benefits for the community? Was this in line with your original intentions or objectives?

If the project is ongoing, indicate what the next steps for the project will be.

Implementation issues

Describe and discuss all strategic and implementation issues faced by the project. In particular, describe how you resolved inherent tensions faced by the project. For example, you may have faced and resolved some of the following issues and they should be discussed in your report:

• Competition issues: have commercial players entered your project's region with similar offerings, or did your project have unforseen (positive or negative) impacts on other providers
• Dealing with partners
• Dealing with your local management
• Dealing with unexpected developments, delays etc.
• Was the original budget sufficient? What caused any shortfall?
• Management and personnel issues
• Sustainability, including managing service levels and costs/profit
• Establishing and ensuring adequate sources of financing
• Undercutting by a monopoly provider
• How to best attract and select a carrier partner/provider
• Deciding the best options for contractual relationship with preferred partner
• Choosing whether to buy or build your own infrastructure or service, and timing your decision to do either.
• Choosing from among a range of product/service offerings if your project was the only group in your region seeking products or services from providers - were you able to avoid missing out on some attractive offerings from the unsuccessful tenderers?
• Making an appropriate selection of directors, management, and staff;
• Ensuring appropriate access to technical information and assistance
• Determining and maintaining an appropriate service mix

What key advice or information would have helped in these decision-making processes?

Activities and outputs

Starting with the Activities and Milestones described in your Deed, describe the activities you have undertaken to develop your project to its current state. Move on to what your project does today: what services it provides, who it provides them to, how you promote the project, how you recoup costs etc.

If your project has evolved beyond that envisaged in the Deed, describe how today's project continues to contribute to the Networking the Nation program's objectives

Has the project led to any ideas for new projects?

Outcomes and factors for success

Your Deed specifies key performance indicators. Describe the outcomes of your project against these indicators.

In doing this, identify and discuss the key factors that led to your project's success, or otherwise, and describe the positive aspects that that could be replicated in other projects and regions.

Equally, please frankly discuss the negative aspects and how you avoided or minimised their effect.

Financial information

As with each report, an acquittal of funds expended to date should be provided. For guidance on formatting it is suggested that the table outlined in Item 4.3 of the Deed of Agreement or MOU be used. A more detailed breakdown of expenditure under each cost item may assist the Secretariat in assessing your acquittal in some circumstances (e.g. where cost items are broad-'equipment', 'operating expenses' etc.) Details of interest derived from NTN funds and other revenue generated should also be provided.

Other material

Your Deed of Agreement may stipulate that your final report should deal with activities conducted over an identified period from, supplemented by 'a summary statement of the extent of achievement of Project objectives' specified elsewhere in your Deed. This material should be provided in an attachment to your final report and will generally not be published.

If you need assistance or clarification on any point in this document, please contact the Networking the Nation Secretariat on freecall 1800 674 058 or email ntn.mail@dcita.gov.au

• Document ID: 6332 |
• Last modified: 6 February 2008, 1:34pm