What direction for Australia's digital economy?

By Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 14 July 2009 15:01

Opinion and Analysis

Communications minister Stephen Conroy has released a report on the Future Directions of Australia's Digital Economy, following a consultation paper issued in December. While it is full of good information, it is far from clear exactly what it is meant to achieve.

When Conroy issued his consultation paper on the future directions of Australia's digital economy last December I expressed serious reservations about the whole exercise. I fear release of the final report after six months gestation has only confirmed my fears.

It's full of motherhood statements, case studies on successful Australian digital entrepreneurs that are without doubt inspirational and it repeats ad nauseam the importance of the digital economy and the need for all sections of industry to get on board.

That said, I am seriously at a loss to understand exactly what it is designed to achieve other than to catalogue the government's current initiatives and achievements in the context of the digital economy. A strategic document with vision, goals and a strategy and specific actions to achieve those goals it is not. Here are the only commitments I could find to specific action by Government.

The Government wil:
- Work with the independent Government 2.0 Taskforce on a range of issues that relate to the emerging government 2.0 agenda;
- Explore practical strategies to showcase the digital economy and innovation benefits that open access to public sector information can produce, which may include conducting contests similar to the Show Us A Better Way competition in the UK and Apps for Democracy contest in Washington DC;
- Conduct information awareness raising throughout Government to highlight digital economy trends;
- Implement its Innovation Agenda, as laid out in Powering Ideas;
- Support NICTA and CSIRO to promote a strong culture of commercialising digital innovations;
- Promote IT-enabled innovation within the wider community through the Information Technology Industry Innovation Council.

In search of enlightenment as to the reasons for creation of the report, I turned to Conroy's foreword. He tells us that the report "outlines the areas of focus for government, industry and the community to maximise the benefits of the digital economy for all Australians"; that it "explains how government, industry and the community can work together to improve Australia's international standing"; that it "provides the rationale for government taking strategic and enabling action now to ensure all parts of Australia benefit fully from the digital economy"; and that it "outlines those issues on which we must direct our attention today and in the near future to ensure that we are able to fully engage in the 21st century."

There are lots of case studies - a third of the report's 94 pages are devoted to them - and Conroy concludes by saying: "I invite us all to feel inspired by the case studies and excited by the possibilities the digital economy offers us all." He adds: "Government, industry and our community must now work together to harness these opportunities."

The final document has also failed to live up to the promises of the consultation paper about which the Department's web site said "[The consultation paper] seeks targeted input on specific implementation steps for maximising the benefits to Australia from the digital economy...[It] aims to identify the themes and suggestions that will inform the action plan of the future directions paper."

There is no action plan other than the one reproduced above. However this was a rather more ambitious promise than that made by Conroy when he announced the initiative and I feel that my expectations for the final report have been realised. I said: "The Future Directions Paper as Conroy has described it will be only a first step towards shaping Australia's digital future."

It is certainly an inspirational document, but those who are shaping Australia's digital economy - the entrepreneurs detailed in the case studies - have no need of such inspiration. Will it inspire others? Perhaps but surely all the effort that has gone into it should have produced something more specific. And it does not make clear exactly what the next steps should be to shape Australia's digital future. Or indeed what steps it should be incumbent upon government to take.
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