A new report from the Australian Industry Group and Deloitte has highlighted the gap that exists between many Australian business’ awareness of the benefits of broadband and their readiness to take advantage of new broadband networks and technologies.
The survey of 540 chief executives in manufacturing, services and construction industries asked about business investment in new technologies over the past three years, including questions relating to the R&D tax incentive and readiness to capitalise on opportunities from broadband.
The report, Business Investment in New Technologies, found that around 80 percent invested in new technologies over the past three years, with approximately16% of the productivity gains achieved by these businesses attributed to investment in new technologies.
The report also found that while businesses are preparing to train their workforce and recruit new staff as the network expands, only 30 percent report having a high or medium degree of information about the practical impacts of faster broadband speeds, and just over 50 percent reported they were adequately prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that may arise.
This contrasted with the finding that the value of Australian’s National Broadband Network specifically “will only translate into the projected competitive edge if businesses are ready to quickly and fully partake of the opportunities, applications and services once the NBN is in place”.