Analysis :National IT Strengths and Weakness

Strengths ¹³

Strong, stable economic growth

Australia is internationally recognized as a well managed economy with

strong economic fundamentals. With leading growth competitiveness and an

economic growth of about 4% in 2002 – 2003 , Australia has one of the lowest

inflation rate of 2 – 2.5%.

An information Economy

Excellent ICT infrastructure and high level of technological adaptability

exist. Australia is second in the world in e-readiness and has one of the

highest Internet and mobile penetration level.

Access to markets

Companies based in Australia are ideally positioned to do business within

the Asia Pacific – and worldwide.

Australia is home to the most multicultural and multilingual workforce

in the region. Speaking over 200 languages, Australians easily cover the

global language network.

Welcoming attitude to overseas Investment by the government

In Australia you will find an open and direct approach to investment.

There are no imposts on foreign firms seeking credit or loan facilities and

there are no restrictions on capital flows, profit remittances, capital repatriation,

transfer of royalties or trade-related payments.

Weakness¹⁴

Australia must focus on a solid pace of technology development and education

if it is to win and maintain a leading place in the world economy. There are minimal

Vocational training compared to other developed nations. Further The number of

people trained in technology is also less.

In January 2000 an Ernst & Young survey reported that Australians' biggest worry

about the Internet is credit-card security. More than 40% of Australian consumers

listed security as a barrier to e-commerce adoption compared with a mere 25% in

Europe. In the US security is ranked as fifth among consumer concerns.

High-speed access is being rolled out slowly particularly in rural areas and needs

to be quickened.

Government intervention on audio Video streaming hinders the development of

broadband communication.