Skilled migrants have been an “overwhelming net positive” for the Australian economy and particularly sought after for filling skilled IT positions like developer programmers and ICT business analysts, according to a new report.

Almost nine in 10 (87%) Australian CIOs are motivated to become CEO/managing director of their company, according to new research that reveals that despite the level of ambition expressed by Australia’s technology leaders, finance is still the dominant background for almost half of all ASX 200 CEOs.

Australia’s peak national start-up group, StartupAUS, has lauded the federal government’s proposed introduction of a new visa scheme designed to help start-ups and business attract highly skilled global talent.