The iAwards - the Australian ICT industry’s premier annual awards program and industry event was held on Friday 7 April in the Grand Harbour Ballroom, Star City, Sydney.

Hosted by MC, James O’Loghlin of the ABC ‘New Inventors’ program, the 2006 iAwards awards showcased an array of outstanding, innovative and thought provoking ICT products and services. Read more

The software industry is an important and integral part of the Australian ICT industry, but government and industry must work together to overcome barriers to growth, says AIIA’s Chief Executive Officer.

The Australian Government has released the first statistical analysis in Australia of specialist software firms, which estimates that the Australian software product industry employs 17,000 staff and earned $2.7 billion in 2004-05.

The report, The Australian software industry and vertical application markets: globally competitive, domestically undervalued, also reveals that specialist software development firms earned $934 million, of which 89 per cent, or $831 million, was earned by Australian-grown firms.

“The report clearly demonstrates that the software industry is a vital component of the Australian ICT industry,” says AIIA’s Chief Executive Officer, Rob Durie. “It is a substantial exporter of products and services, and is strategically important to the competitiveness and sustainability of many other Australian industries.”

The report outlines significant growth opportunities for the Australian software industry in niche industries such as education, energy, government, health, ICT, manufacturing, minerals, and trade and commerce.

Australian-grown specialist developers are aggressively targeting the export market and, according to estimates, account for $226 million of exports, or 27 per cent of their revenue. Export opportunities abound in New Zealand, UK, Singapore, India, Canada, Malaysia, the report confirms.

However, the report also highlights key barriers to growth, including gaining appropriate investment capital, maintaining domestic market share and developing supportive relationships with the public research base.

AIIA is committed to furthering the interests of AIIA’s local software industry, and has developed a number of initiatives to increase the opportunities available to Australian ICT companies, Mr Durie says.

“AIIA’s innovative new program, CollabIT, is already providing like-minded companies with the opportunity to form collaborative networks, or clusters, to source new markets and increase sales,” Mr Durie explains.

“CollabIT will help local companies – including software developers – to identify skills and synergies with other smaller companies, as well as to forge alliances with multinational corporations to tap into their substantial resources.”

AIIA has already launched CollabIT in Victoria, West Australian and New South Wales, with some other states to follow.

In another important initiative, AIIA has recently commissioned Realising the Potential of the Local ICT Sector; which will provide research and recommendations on emerging risks and opportunities for the local ICT industry. The findings from this research will be implemented in 2006, and will again aid AIIA’s vision to help local ICT industry companies achieve their growth potential.

“AIIA will continue to work with the Australian Government to ensure appropriate policies are in place, and will continue to develop supporting programs to improve the already significant contribution that the software industry makes to Australia’s ICT exports and to Australia’s overall economic growth,” Mr Durie concludes.

The Australian software industry and vertical application markets: globally competitive, domestically undervalued was produced by the Centre for Innovative Industry Economic Research with the support of AIIA, the Australian Computer Society and the Pearcey Foundation. It is published on the DCITA website.

GITC4 – the standard ICT contracting terms used by federal government agencies – is now being reviewed and rewritten. Read more

The 12th Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3Expo) from 10-12 May promises to be as lively as ever, with exhibition space in all five halls at the Los Angeles Convention Centre sold out by early February. Read more

AusIndustry is the Australian Government’s business program delivery division and provides a range of programs that support business innovation. Read more

The Institute of Arbitrators & Mediators Australia (IAMA) has embarked on an initiative to promote the application of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques within the ICT industry. This initiative has been endorsed by AIIA and members are invited to contribute via participation in an online survey.
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