ACS: National strategy needed to develop Australia ICT industry, government must act

Peter Dinham
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 08:31

IT Industry - Deals

Parakala said the ACS was calling on the government to address four key issues, which, he claimed, were currently limiting the future prosperity and growth of the Australian ICT industry and the national economy.

Parakala says the government must act urgently to deliver:

• Value added services for the Digital Economy – “Think beyond the pipe and focus on value added services, which are going to deliver a flourishing digital economy. This requires a national focus and investment in innovation.”

• Expedite national digital economy blueprint –“The digital economy has been estimated to increase GDP by 1.4% after five to six years - $15 billion in terms of GDP from 2007-2008 GDP figures.”       

• Greater investment in R&D and commercialisation centres – “reinvigorate innovation, we are a nation of inventors, history has proven this.”

• A National ICT Literacy curriculum – “Greater ICT literacy among Australians will enable us to leverage the future Digital Economy.”

According to Parakala, one of our main issues concerning the ACS is that Australia still does not have “clarity on where we fit in the global service delivery model of ICT.”

“We do not have a clear understanding of our core competencies. Yes we are very innovative, and we use technology in a great way, and we also have very successful industries, but we have never captured those successes and leveraged them to create more wealth and increase our standing with the rest of the world.”