The Federal Government has released its new digital economy strategy, which outlines the next steps towards making Australia one of the leading digital economies by 2020.

In releasing the Advancing Australia as a Digital Economy strategy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy’s aid that the plan sets Australia on the path to secure an economic future beyond the resources boom, underpinned by the National Broadband Network.

“Becoming a world-leading digital economy by 2020 will not just happen by itself. That’s why the Gillard Government has a plan to make sure we get there,” Senator Conroy said.

The 2011 NDES set eight goals, which together form a vision for Australia to be a vibrant, thriving, world-leading digital economy.  The Update outlines 24 actions the Government will take to work towards the achievement of those goals.

These actions include:

  • Digital First – a plan to have the vast majority of government services entirely online by the end of 2017.
  • Digital Careers – a development program for school students to help increase the number of Australians who have a career in information and communication technology.
  • Promoting the adoption of cloud computing by government agencies and ensuring Australia is a trusted hub for data storage and processing.
  • Reviewing the regulations around Employee Share Schemes and consulting on crowd-sourced equity funding to boost support for Australian tech start-ups; and
  • Expanding the Digital Enterprise and Local Government Programs to support small businesses, not for profit organisations, and local governments to better engage with the digital economy.