AIIA and ACS welcome Digital Economy strategy

Beverley Head
Tuesday, 31 May 2011 15:06

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

The technology industry's peak bodies have welcomed the release of the Digital Economy strategy - but warned there is more work to do to ensure the Government meets its stated goals.

Ian Birks, ceo of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), spoke to iTWire following the release of the Digital Economy Strategy at Cebit this morning.

'The AIIA believes that the Digital Economy 2010 vision is both bold and exciting. Industry welcomes this kind of leadership - setting clear high levels goals for it to deliver  on

'I note that Senator Conroy will need to use all his negotiation and coercion skills with other parts of Government to achieve many of the KPS he has put out there.'

Stephen Conroy, Minister for  broadband, communications and the digital economy, speaking at the opening of Cebit in Sydney this morning, released the Digital Economy Strategy saying that it was a key element in ensuring that by 2020 Australia would feature among the world's leading digital economies.

The National Digital Economy strategy features eight goals detailing the Government's ambitions for household, business, environment, health, education, telework, government and regional uptake of the NBN which would allow progress to be tracked through to 2020.

Optus chief Paul O'Sullivan also applauded the work of Senator Conroy and for creating the NBN as a wholesale only network and 'grasping the thistle' in terms of regulatory reform. But during a keynote address he called for more rigorous debate on applications, content and access.