Despite high government expenditures in science and technology, and a technologically sophisticated population; Australia has one of the worst trade performances ($A18 billion) in science and technology of the OECD countries in 1992. (Australian Computer Society) Although Australia's trade performance has seen some improvement in recent years, the country still maintains a deficit.
In comparison Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden are leading producers of value-added technology products and have a trade surplus where the UK, Netherlands, France, US, and Finland have all maintained a balanced level of trade. Surprisingly, Australia's public expenditure on R&D is ranked fourth with other OECD countries, yet their imports are five times the level of its exports.
Overall, the trade deficit for computer and communications hardware, software and services is estimated to be over $3.3 billion (1992/93) which does not include medical and scientific equipment and systems; transport equipment and systems; agriculture equipment and systems; and defense equipment and systems. When these IT components are added, the trade deficit could be as high as $7.2 billion (in 1992/93).
When broken down by hardware and software industries, Australia has a trade deficit of $134 million for computer services and over $300 million for packaged software (as reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Foreign Affairs). However, recent statistics of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) show a deficit of $1.4 billion for 1995/96 where imports of $3.3 billion were led by $2.1 billion in computer hardware. The discrepancy between the results lies in the way the two agencies define the information industry. The AIIA data does not include industry statistics such as telecommunication services, management, consulting and education.
Part of Australia's poor information technology trade performance is due to the government's failure to commercialize R&D and develop technology based products and services to international export levels. Future initiatives of the government should include collaborating activities between industry and the research base to foster innovation and entreprenuership.
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URL: http://www.http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/initeb/lk0767a/australi.htm
Author: Linda Kallmeyer
Last Update: May 6, 1997