ACS supports NICTIA strategy

Stephen Withers
Monday, 21 May 2007 14:15

Your IT - Home IT

The Australian Computer Society has come out in favour of the National ICT Alliance's ten year vision.

That's not surprising, as ACS President Philip Argy conceived the NICTIA initiative. "We've asked for some ambitious targets, which we believe are appropriate if we are to shift out of mediocrity and towards greatness as a nation," he said.

Pointing to the Apollo program as an example, Argy said "History demonstrates that clearly defined outcomes and timeframes provide the greatest framework for success."

"Australia has an enormous opportunity in front of it today to occupy new territory as a global technology leader and we are striving to create an environment that is conducive to energising innovation, which will ensure our economic prosperity as a nation."
 
Whether the vision statement - which iTWire's Stan Beer described as "long on rhetoric and short on substance" - can be turned into more concrete and actionable plans remains to be seen, especially in the light of the Federal Government's apparent willingness for Australia to be a nation of IT consumers, not producers.
 
ACS CEO Dennis Furini noted "To be successful, [the vision] will require a whole-of-government approach with all relevant portfolios contributing to an integrated and coherent strategy that transcends the boundaries of individual departmental and ministerial responsibilities."
 
Is an IT industry strategy going to become an issue in the forthcoming federal election? The provision of affordable nation-wide 'high-speed broadband' (yes, that is a tautology, but a necessary one in a country where 256kbps can be described as broadband) might differentiate the two major parties' platforms, but it would be surprising if anything else on the NICTIA agenda gets a look-in.