• All News
• CeBIT
• Technology
• Business
• Government
• eHealth

Senator Stephen Conroy: Address to the CeBIT AusInnovate Conference 2009

12 May 2009

It is great to be here and always a pleasure to take part in CeBIT.

This is a key annual event for Australia’s digital communications and innovation sector.

The discussions that take place here always provide a valuable snapshot of our industry.

As with its parent in Germany, CeBIT Australia is a great opportunity for the exchange of ideas, the formation of partnerships and the development of strategies for our digital future.

CeBIT is a showcase of world-class business innovation.

It provides a glimpse of what Australia can achieve when it comes to leading-edge technologies.

CeBIT also highlights the importance of commercialisation and unleashing the potential of innovation in the world market.

Today is actually the first day of the winter parliamentary sessions and of course the Budget will be handed down this evening.

As a result of these events, my visit here will be short, however I’m sure the conference will live up to its reputation for robust discussion and discovery over the remainder of the program.

In recent years, broadband and connected digital technologies have changed the face of business and trade around the globe.

They have raised new opportunities for improved efficiencies, for effective partnerships and the ability to tap markets previously unavailable.

Further advances in technology, and increasing broadband speed, capacity and availability, mean these benefits are becoming accessible across the economy.

It also means that there is an expanding array of opportunities to meet the needs of businesses and other organisations embracing these technologies.

I was in Europe earlier this year and had the pleasure of visiting CeBIT in Hannover.

I saw first hand the massive strides that Europe and other parts of the world are taking in the digital economy.

This includes investments in high-speed broadband infrastructure such as those being driven in the UK, Japan and Singapore.

It includes the development of digital technologies to improve efficiencies such as teleconferencing and smart grids.

It includes global partnerships to enhance the way digital products are developed and distributed.

It includes applications to enhance the delivery of vital public services such as health and education.

Clearly, businesses and Governments today are negotiating a starkly different operating environment than one year ago.

Significantly though, there is a growing view that technology will play a substantial part in the world’s recovery from economic recession.

This much was clear from my visit to Germany.

Intel CEO Craig Barrett gave an assertive review of the situation in his opening remarks to CeBIT in March.

A month previously, Intel had announced a $7 billion investment over the next two years to build advanced manufacturing facilities in the United States.

Barrett said the world should “innovate and invest” its way out of the global economic recession.

Innovation and technology are “the backbone of the modern economy,” he said.

The Rudd Government is strongly committed to preparing the foundations for this recovery and Australia’s participation in the digital economy.

We understand that connected digital technologies are a key factor in the stability and growth of our nation.

They will increasingly drive business productivity, support new jobs growth and provide opportunities for innovation and trade.

These are some of the reasons why we are investing to create an environment for Australia to thrive in the digital economy.

This includes investment to ensure that Australia has the best possible high-speed broadband to support future digital services, applications and innovation.

This is relevant in the current economic environment but also vital for our future prosperity.

The National Broadband Network will be the single largest nation-building infrastructure project in Australian history.

It will drive competition by providing Australia’s first truly national wholesale-only network.

It will employ an average 25,000 workers each year over the eight year rollout, peaking at 37,000.

In the short-term it will create opportunities for local civil works contractors, for network engineers and designers, for technicians, and for suppliers of technology and hardware.

Already, some home-grown technology businesses are building their resources to meet demand as the National Broadband Network is rolled out.

We also have evidence from industry about the positive attraction of this investment opportunity.

In addition to short-term stimulus, the National Broadband Network will provide a vital platform to support growth, productivity, innovation and trade for Australian businesses in the future.

It will create opportunities for regional economies to tap distant resources and new markets.

It will provide new ways for old industries to become better and more efficient at what they do.

It will allow companies to become more efficient, to develop new products and services and to deliver them in new ways.

I recently spoke in Canberra about some of the diverse economic benefits of the National Broadband Network.

There is substantial potential for high-speed broadband to support smart grids to improve energy efficiency and support carbon emission reductions.

We have the potential to improve health and aged care with telemedicine and by managing patients in their homes rather than hospital beds – offering a better quality of life for the unwell and an aging population.

We have the ability to revolutionise education by providing access to world-class teaching and resources, wherever students happen to live.

There is also the potential to secure our long-term investments with smart infrastructure that helps owners to manage and maintain their assets.

Broadband presents the opportunity to bridge geographic and social divides, providing improved access to services and tools for people currently isolated by location or circumstance.

The 2008 OECD Information Technology Outlook report highlights broadband as an enabler of structural change in our economy.

It notes that broadband supports the creation of new digital services and spurs ICT innovation.

It also motivates ICT‑enabled innovation.

For those here at CeBIT, the National Broadband Network represents the foundation for the future of your businesses.

It opens new markets for products, services and applications that improve the efficiency and productivity of the things we do today.

It also opens the potential to develop new products, services and applications not yet conceived to further improve business and life in the future.

Companies and other organisations across the economy will increasingly demand new connected digital technologies – and here lies the opportunity for innovators.

The Government has a strong resolve to implement this essential enabling platform and I encourage industry to grasp this opportunity with both hands.

Already today the ICT industry employs over 400,000 Australians and clearly the demand for new services delivered over the National Broadband Network will drive an increase to that number.

We need only look at the explosion in applications online as broadband speeds have advanced from dial-up in the past decade.

The business processes, education, health and entertainment services online already far exceed what people could have imagined at the start of the decade.

The iPhone is another example that highlights how enabling platforms create a powerful drive for ICT innovation.

Today iPhone users have access to applications that meet their needs in thousands of different ways.

Apple established a platform, supported by 3G mobile operators, and innovators have moved quickly to capitalise.

There is a major opportunity for increased innovation output to realise the near-term benefits of the National Broadband Network.

We need:

• The tools to enable effective decentralised workplaces.
• The tools to enable power companies and consumers to use electricity more efficiently.
• The tools to improve our transport and distribution networks.
• The tools to link school students with specialised resources in distant locations.
• The tools to monitor patients and support the independence of our ageing population.
• The tools to support smart infrastructure and to improve the return on our long-term infrastructure investments.
• The tools to enable regional economies to do business in the broader commercial world.

As was the case when electricity was made widely available a century ago, broadband will also support a whole range of applications we can barely imagine today.

These examples help demonstrate the market and opportunity for innovators working in the ICT sector.

They also highlight the potential for flow-on benefits from ICT innovation across the economy.

Evidence shows that ICT-enabled innovation, supported by high-speed broadband and emerging applications will lead to significant productivity gains.

A 2008 study commissioned by the Australian Business Foundation found that ICT in business part of the transformation of sectors contributing most highly to Australia’s productivity growth.

This includes sectors such as wholesale trade, financial intermediation and agriculture.

The study found that sectors using high technology applications were the key drivers of productivity growth, both in Australia and the United States.

Access Economics predicts that a national high-speed broadband network would mean economy-wide productivity growth 1.1 per cent higher after ten years compared to if the network was not built.

It is worth noting that Access Economics views this as a conservative estimate.

The Rudd Government is already working to ensure that Australia is best positioned to make the most of our investments in foundation broadband infrastructure.

Some of you may already be aware that we have partnered with industry and other stakeholders to map the future development of our digital economy.

Through consultations and discussions we have identified themes and priorities to drive Australia’s digital economy

This includes key considerations around digital capabilities, confidence and content.

The road-map will guide Government, businesses and innovators, to:

• develop new business models and services;
• address ongoing social and economic challenges;
• build skills and capabilities for effective participation;
• deliver productivity and social benefits; and
• improve living standards.

It will also consider emerging issues and trends in the digital economy.

The paper will canvass our ability to gain the economic and social benefits from investments in the National Broadband Network.

Among other things, key areas of discussion to emerge from our consultations have been:

• access to public sector information;
• environmental and social opportunities;
• developing our national digital skills base;
• e-security;
• regulatory frameworks; and
• using digital technologies to benefit the environment.

By considering these and other important issues, the roadmap will help increase online participation by Australian businesses and citizens.

With your help we can ensure that Australia is ready to take advantage of the economic and social benefits made possible in the digital economy.

We will also be well-positioned to utilise our investments for productivity and ensure we don’t fall behind the world.

Innovation in the field of connected digital technologies is also a focus for the new IT Industry Innovation Council unveiled last week by the Innovation Minister Kim Carr.

The council will create links with stakeholders to identify opportunities for innovation, wealth creation, capability and business expansion across the sector.

It is designed to advise Government on innovation issues and, importantly, help the sector to champion IT innovation in the wider community.

In addition, the Rudd Government is providing a response to the Review of the National Innovation System as part of the 2009 Budget.

In March, Minister Carr announced that the Government will provide up to $83 million to support the Innovation Investment Follow-on Fund.

This fund will support early-stage, start-up companies to bring promising new technologies and services to market.

Another important part of our innovation stimulus and digital economy policy agenda is NICTA.

With Government investment of more than $385 million over 10 years, NICTA is addressing our strategic ICT innovation needs and capabilities through high-quality research, training and technology transfer.

NICTA has become a national asset driving ICT innovation and commercialisation.

It is lifting Australia’s ability to generate breakthrough technologies, and is growing ICT businesses through research, training, commercialisation and collaborative activities.

In less than seven years of operation, NICTA already has launched four spin‑out companies.

Another great contributor to our national innovation base is CSIRO which for many years has played an important role fostering Australian science, research, development and technology.

I note that with a recent court settlement in the US that CSIRO will soon be getting the recognition it deserves for patents it has for technology supporting so many wireless systems around the world.

These are examples to innovators that there are great opportunities to take on the world market and to raise Australia as a global leader in connected digital technologies.

All of these activities link clearly with the goals of the Government to ensure Australian businesses and citizens have access to world-class broadband.

Investing in this vital infrastructure, supporting ICT innovation and fostering the influence of connected digital technologies will help our businesses and citizens maximise their participation in the digital future.

It will ensure jobs growth, productivity and efficiency gains, and improved public services.

The Rudd Government is determined that Australia thrive in the emerging digital economy.

To achieve this we are investing in the vital foundations and helping to encourage innovation to spread the benefits across society.

This event is a great opportunity to sample some of the innovation already on hand and to create partnerships to take that innovation to the next level.

Those here today have the chance to help Australia lead the world when it comes to connected digital technologies.

I am excited about the prospects for the future and feel confident we are on-track for Australia to succeed.

Congratulations to Hannover Fairs – CeBIT Australia is now into its eighth year and it has become the largest exhibition and conference event of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region.

From my experience in Hannover earlier this year, I encourage Australian innovators to make the trip to explore the international opportunities on offer.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today and may I wish you all the best of luck with the rest of this event and in mapping the future for the digital economy.

Thank you.

Recent CeBIT News

• 

  CeBIT Australia 2010 reunion leads to eVideo Alliance

  13 Jul 2010 CeBIT proved its business worth to a reseller and US wholesaler. Reported by CRN writer Nate Cochrane today [EXCERPT] A chance reunion at this year's CeBIT IT trade fair in Sydney led to an alliance between one of Australia's biggest videoconferencing resellers and a global supplier of meeting services. Reseller eVideo Communications will rebadge... read more

• 

  CeBIT highlights the geospatial sector, presenting spatial@gov 2010

  5 Jul 2010 The 2010 spatial@gov conference will offer an opportunity for interaction between business and government. The convenors of the highly successful spatial@gov conference, held in Canberra in June last year, are gearing up for spatial@gov 2010. This year’s conference will be held at the National Convention Centre in Canberra from the 5 to 7 October.... read more

• 

  CeBIT Australia 2010 closes a regional success

  10 Jun 2010 CeBIT Australia 2010 closes a regional success. SYDNEY, Australia – May 2010: CeBIT Australia 2010, which was held from May 24-26 at the Darling Harbour Sydney and Exhibition Centre, closed its doors having surpassed all expectations. The CeBIT Exhibition and Global Conference Series is the largest event of its kind in the Asia-pacific region,... read more

• 

  CeBIT contributes $160m to NSW ICT Industry

  2 Jun 2010 The leading business and ICT exhibition and conference event in the Asia-Pacific region, CeBIT Australia, closed its doors on the 2010 event having generated almost $160m for the NSW economy. As the Australian Financial Review reported, the CeBIT Australia 2010 Exhibition and Global Conference Series listed $31.4 million worth of direct economic impact-... read more

• 

  Korea wows at CeBIT Australia 2010

  26 May 2010 Korean business and ICT companies are out in force at the CeBIT Australia 2010 Exhibition and Global Conference Series event. The DaeJeon TechnoPark Pavilion, located at Stand E10 in Hall 3, boasts nine Korean companies all keen to make their market on the Australian market. Teltron Telecommunications and Electronics are currently showcasing their... read more