[LINK] Australian Web Failing to Have Economic Impact

[Tom Worthington]

The World Wide Web Foundation, Established by Web inventor Sir Tim 
Berners-Lee, has issued a Web Index report, ranking 61 countries on web 
use. Australia ranks eight in the world overall, just behind New Zealand 
and ahead of Norway. Australia has a high score for Web Content (six in 
the world). However, noticeable are low scores for Communications 
Infrastructure (eleven in the world) and Economic Impact (fourteen): 
http://thewebindex.org/data/all/country/AUS

The National Broadband Network will rocket Australia to the top of the 
list for infrastructure, within a few years. But there are few 
government programs to address the use of the web for economic benefit. 
Some of the government programs for computers in schools should help 
future business, but more needed to be done to see the technology 
translate into economic development. The Australian Government could 
have a more business focused education policy, which specifically 
addresses economic development through on-line education. On-line 
education could address local needs, for regional Australia, providing 
quality education in remote areas where it is currently lacking, 
addressing the discrimination in education against indigenous people.

On-line education could train the workforce for current industries such 
as mining as well as the emerging renewable energy industry. On-line 
techniques could also could position Australia's tertiary sector to 
compete with e-learning courses from other developed countries and new 
campuses in developing countries. A blend of distance e-learning and 
on-campus programs would keep Australia's tertiary institutions 
competitive with increased international competition.

More at: 
http://blog.tomw.net.au/2012/09/australian-web-failing-to-have-economic.html


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards
Legislation

Adjunct Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/