Today, the information economy is no longer a concept; it is an economic and social reality affecting every aspect of our lives. Although ICT is an emerging sector, it is fast catching up and even exceeding the economic contribution of many traditional areas of our economy.
Last year, Deloitte used available government and industry data to calculate the value of Australia's internet economy at $50 billion. Building on that work and applying the same methodology, the ACS has released research (www.acs.org.au/2011compendium) that shows our digital economy, of which the internet economy is a subset, is worth at least $100bn and contributes 7.74 per cent of GDP.
This contribution is larger than the hospitality, agriculture, education and retail sectors combined -- exceeded only by finance and insurance, manufacturing and ownership of dwellings sectors and, just barely, by mining. The demand for ICT jobs is increasing with an expected extra 35,000 ICT roles by 2014.
As more Australian businesses and communities connect to high speed broadband, this demand will only increase and yet less than half the number of university students is studying ICT today than a decade ago. The number of ICT students as a percentage of the total higher education student body is also declining.
According to a University of Wollongong paper released this year, ICT undergraduate courses have one of the highest attrition rates with about one-third of students leaving for another field of study or, worse, abandoning higher education. VET tells a similar, story.
Meanwhile, skilled immigration has fallen, suggesting that the world's best are going elsewhere.
Alongside mining, education, financial services and other sectors, ICT is a sector in itself but it also underpins the value of every other sector.
How can governments and industry raise the profile of ICT as a profession to help attract students and older workers? How is ICT taught in our schools, colleges and universities? How can skilled migration be better focused on critical areas of our digital economy?
These questions are key to sustaining the digital economy that is now reality.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Nick Tate
Quelle/Source: Australian IT, 06.03.2012
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