The Australian ICT industry has a vital role to play in enabling and underpinning economic growth, Western Australian parliamentarians were told last week.

The overarching message was simple: it’s time to ValueICT.

“Western Australia, and our nation as a whole, faces many challenges, particularly in the areas of skills and education, security, water and energy management, health and an ageing population,” AIIA’s Chief Executive Officer, Sheryle Moon, told the audience of WA's key political decision-makers.

“The application of ICT is vital to enable solutions to these pressing issues. Western Australia’s industries must embrace ICT solutions and apply ICT products and services in order to continue growing.”

“ICT is a driving force of the Australian economy, contributing 4.6 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product – more than the contributions made by the agriculture, forestry and fishing, defence and education sectors and almost as much as the mining sector,” Ms Moon said.

Ms Moon told the audience that ICT generates an estimated $6.6 billion in revenue for the state, and directly employs more than 23,000 people in ICT related-companies.

Ms Moon urged the WA Government to work with industry to enhance local companies’ ability to compete in a global marketplace.

“Competing globally means ensuring that we have an ICT-enabled workforce,” she said, arguing that broadband connectivity, for instance, is not just a federal issue, but a priority for the state governments, including Western Australia.

“Importantly, we need to work together to enhance the perceptions of the industry to ensure we can attract and retain staff,” Ms Moon said.

“While there are over 1,800 specialist ICT companies in the state, ICT is also a fundamental driver of employment across other industries, and ICT is indirectly responsible for up to 161,000 jobs in WA,” Ms Moon explained. “Ensuring that we can capture the best young talent will be vital for our industry – and our economy – to continue to thrive.”

AIIA will continue to work with the Western Australian Government by providing briefings and education sessions to members of parliament, and has offered to act as a conduit between member companies and government to help transform the state into a knowledge economy.

On Monday 11 December, Telstra’s Chief Executive Officer, Sol Trujillo will be guest speaker at an AIIA luncheon in Brisbane.

Mr Trujillo will share Telstra's plan for Australia, including the recently-launched Next G network, Australia's fastest and largest mobile broadband network.

As Telstra CEO, Sol Trujillo is driving a multi-year transformation of Australia's leading telecommunications company into what he calls a ‘media comms’ company.

Each week, AIIA’s Bulletin will profile one of the members of our influential Board of Directors.