KEY POINTS:
The Australians are having exactly the kind of debate (www.itwire.com.au) about the long-term future of their IT industry and broadband infrastructure we should be having right now.
The National IT Alliance, which groups together 20 Australian IT bodies, has put forward a ten year plan (www.acs.org.au) for the development of the Australian tech sector, focusing on areas that require development - such as the domestic and international marketing of Australian ICT industry, the need for a decent high-speed national broadband network and a regulatory and policy framework that encourages investment in the industry.
Much of the 24 document is a bit vague and general in nature but I like "vision statement 9":
"A high speed, affordable national broadband infrastructure and complementary e-security network that puts Australia amongst the leaders in the OECD in terms of its broadband capabilities."
The report states:
"If left to industry alone, consensus amongst key industry players is that it is likely to take 10 to 15 years for the appropriate broadband infrastructure to be in place. Regrettably, by then Australia may well have missed the opportunity to be at the forefront of software and content development for communications based industries."
The exact same can be applied to us, just change "Australia" to "New Zealand".
These well-meaning plans often come to nothing, but at least the IT industry in Australia has got together, decided what things are important to its future and committed to pushing a plan to address them. Some of this stuff has been covered in our Digital Strategy (www.digitalstrategy.govt.nz) but that's a Government paper, what does the IT industry need and want? Where's the vision and leadership we need to avoid being left behind by the Aussies?
