A proven testing-ground for global projects
A significant research infrastructure, highly skilled and experienced workforce, and technology-hungry, solutions-driven customer base makes Australia a strategic location for a range of ICT activities with a global and regional focus.
There are many examples of world recognised brands taking advantage of what Australia has to offer in ICT. Global names such as Avaya, Canon and IBM have built product development (R&D) facilities in Australia; Google Maps and Warner Bros have used their bases in Australia to develop profitable international digital content for business and entertainment sectors; Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems and CSC run advanced technical assistance centres for operations around the world from Australia; and Logica CMG, Reuters and Infosys have made Australia central to their global risk reduction strategies.
The size of the market, its innovative outlook and a varied and sophisticated customer base combine to make Australia an ideal location to develop and test new ICT products and services. Software and processes that are built and adapted here are often rolled back into the global product development environment and subsequently used by customers worldwide.
Australia’s ICT market is worth nearly A$100 billion (Source: ABS, Cat. No. 8126.0, Information and Communication Technology Australia, 2006-07, October 2008). It is the fifth largest in the Asia-Pacific region, and the 14th largest in the world (Source: WITSA, Digital Planet: The Global Information Economy, May 2008). Between 2001-2008 the rate of growth in Australia’s ICT market was expected to be 13.8 per cent – faster than that of Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan’ (Source: WITSA, Digital Planet: The Global Information Economy, May 2008).
In 2008, the EIU ranked Australia’s IT industry the second most competitive in the Asia Pacific region after Taiwan and the seventh globally (Source: EIU: How Technology Sectors Grow. Benchmarking IT Industry Competitiveness 2008). It also benchmarked Australia fourth for e-readiness after the US, Hong Kong and Sweden (Source: EIU, E-Readiness Report 2008).
Approximately 400,000 Australians are employed in ICT occupations or specific ICT industry businesses (Source: ABS, Labour Force Survey, August 2008). There are around 30,300 such businesses (Source: ABS, Cat. No. 8126.0, Information and Communication Technology Australia, 2006-07, October 2008) and many industries employ ICT professionals – chiefly: property and business services, finance and insurance, government administration and defence, communication services, and manufacturing.
Australia’s ICT workforce offers extensive domain-level knowledge and quality technical expertise – particularly in architecture and integration. The result is targeted, clever and innovative ICT solutions for a range of companies across different industries.
The A$2.7 billion software industry has benefited from comparatively low development costs and a highly skilled workforce, and has consequently become a target for strategic ICT investment (Source: Microsoft Australia, Local Software Economy Initiative: Annual Report 2007). Companies such as IBM, Canon, Citrix, EDS, Fujitsu, Google and NEC have built major software development facilities in Australia.
Australia has also proved a particularly fertile domain for creative digital industries which generate in excess of A$23 billion per year (Source: ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology). The digital game development sector alone generated A$136.9 million in 2006-07, with 93 per cent derived from exports (Source: ABS, Cat. No. 8515.0, Digital Game Development Services, Australia, 2006-07). Working with the film industry, Australian digital content expertise has won global acclaim in productions such as the animated feature film Happy Feet.
Opportunities
Opportunities exist in:
- Product development (R&D) facilities
Avaya, Canon, Computer Associates, Citrix, IBM, NEC, SAP Research, and Unisys all have global research and development labs in Australia. They are productive and integral to the global R&D strategies of the parent company, developing core product offerings, and delivering global sales success.
Content development
From electronic games to mobile content, from simulation to mobile location tracking, from film production to curriculum development, Australia is the ideal location to develop digital content for both entertainment and business purposes. Andrew Corporation, Google Maps, Warner Bros, Fox studios as well as Australian companies Animal Logic and the ABC all develop profitable international content in Australia.
Technical assistance centres
Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems and Sophos all run advanced technical assistance centres for their global customer base from Australia. These centres take advantage of Australian IP, market maturity and high level skills to deliver advanced business functions on a global scale.
Global sourcing
Australia is central to the global risk reduction strategies of LogicaCMG, Reuters, IBM, Infosys and EMC. With a stable geopolitical environment, highly skilled business analysts, project management and systems architects, a large services sector, supportive regulatory and legal frameworks and reliable infrastructure, Australia delivers high quality service at a good price.
Find out more about Australia's ICT environment and Australia's strengths as a destination for investment in ICT:
Useful links
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