The Australian Government has announced plans to develop a national strategy to guide the uptake of the National Broadband Network (NBN) with the aim of making Australia a world leading digital economy by 2020.

 

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the roadmap will provide Australians with a clear vision of what an NBN-enabled world will look like and what steps the government, in collaboration with industry and the community, will take to get there.

 

The National Digital Economy Strategy, to be released by the end of May, will map key areas of focus and outline programs that will allow Australian families, not-for-profits and small and medium businesses to maximise the economic and social benefits that the NBN can deliver.

 

These programs will create digital hubs in local towns for use by people who are not online, and will provide training to local business and not-for-profits.

 

It is thought that the National Digital Economy Strategy is being developed by a unit within the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

 

Announcement of the strategy came during a bad week for the NBN Co, with its decision to indefinitely suspecd the tender process for construction of the network after the company rejected as too expensive proposals put forward by 14 shortlisted companies.  This announcement was followed by the resignation of the company’s construction head, Patrick Flannigan.