Multimedia Vic report says Australian ICT lacks direction

Stan Beer
Thursday, 02 June 2005 10:55

IT Industry - Development

A report called the ICT Skills Snapshot, produced under the auspices of Victorian Government agency, Multimedia Victoria, concludes that ICT in Victoria and Australia is currently lacking direction.

As one participant at the workshop run by the Centre for Innovative Industry Economic Research (CIIER) said, "ICT in Victoria is currently in a hiatus,
waiting for the next paradigm to emerge."

The report states that a number of features appear to typify ICT in Victoria at present. These include:

· a predominance of contract workers in the industry (one estimate suggested that 80% of ICT placements are contract);

· fragmented employment'”to such an extent that a very substantial majority of ICT businesses have fewer than 20 people working for them;

· very low participation by women in the ICT industry. This is seen to be to the detriment of the industry given the different contributions that can be made by men and women in ICT;

· an unwillingness by the ICT industry to employ those over 45 years of age even though these people are qualified and have abundant experience;

· competition from overseas ICT industries '” a challenge that the Victorian industry is yet to properly address;

. the lack of an Australian or Victorian niche in global ICT; a contribution that it can strongly and sustainably make both on its own benefit and for that of the rest of the world;

· an apparent anomaly is that at times there are too many people with ICT skills who are unemployed and at other times, a deficit of ICT skills in the ICT industry. This was seen by the participants of the workshop to be more a mismatch of skills rather than a skills gap;

· a growing sense of confusion regarding ICT training, with evidence of:

· a major decline in numbers of students studying ICT in universities,
· a drop in internal ICT training budgets by employers,
· a strong, vibrant and diverse VET sector, and
· employers apparently seeking people for their skills and competencies
rather than qualifications or accreditation.