Australian governments must support Australian e-business enterprise

4. IP Australia should establish a campaign among corporates to promote awareness of business process patenting.

The campaign should focus on education to assist businesses; an awards program to raise the public profile of those that are successful in commercialising innovations; and monitoring the progress of IP activity and the extent to which IP-protected innovation is commercially successful.

Developing Australian e-Business Technologies and Services

An ICT sector capable of developing e-business technologies and services will be an important source of growth and value to the Australian economy.

5. Government and business should work together to improve international perceptions of Australia’ s ICT sector with a ‘ rebadging’ campaign in target overseas markets.

Rebadging involves a coordinated set of activities to promote Australian e-business technologies and services to target markets, complementing and expanding existing work in this area. The campaign would increase the visibility of Australian e-business innovators to global buyers and potential partners of Australian innovators.

6. Invest Australia should aggressively target ICT multinationals to undertake R&D in Australia in order to achieve scale in the sector.

The focus should be on building critical mass in value-added R&D intensive activities. Greater coordination of federal and state campaigns to attract multinationals should form part of the undertaking.

Creating an Abundance of People with Relevant Skills

An appropriately skilled workforce is critical to Australia’ s e-business agenda.

7. The Federal Government should fund an additional 10,000 specific ICT undergraduate places per year.

An additional 45,000 ICT undergraduate places over the next 5 years would help stem the shortfall of these skills that Australia now experiences.