[LINK] Young Aussies losing ground in digital economy

[Bernard Robertson-Dunn]

Young Aussies losing ground in digital economy
6:28pm, Jan 18, 2016
Frances Mao
The New Daily
http://thenewdaily.com.au/life/2016/01/18/aussies-least-prepared-new-economy/

Young Australians are falling far behind their global counterparts when 
it comes to the tech skills crucial to the rapidly digitising economy.

Young Australians are among the least prepared around the world for the 
digital economy, ranking last in a global survey of nine countries.

Australians were least confident of their technical abilities and job 
prospects in the innovation age, a report released at the World Economic 
Forum by IT consultancy Infosys said.

And while they’re highly aware of the need to learn new skills, 
Australians are also the least interested in improving their STEM 
(science, technology, engineering and maths) knowledge.

Less than a fifth wanted to develop data skills, build mobile apps or 
learn how to code.

And even fewer, just 3.41 per cent of survey respondents, had a desire 
to work for a startup over a large company.

The result puts Australians at the bottom of the heap compared to other 
young people surveyed in China, India, United States, UK, Germany, 
France, South Africa and Brazil.

Andrew Groth, the vice-president of Infosys Australia and New Zealand, 
said the Turnbull government’s focus on innovation had not come a moment 
too soon.

“Australia’s STEM skills gap is too large and we need to start closing 
it,” he said.

The survey of 9000 people aged between 16 and 25 showed that 40 per cent 
believed their current job could be replaced by some form of automation 
within a decade.

Those in developing countries like India and China were most optimistic 
and confident about their work skills.

The IT gender imbalance in those countries was also significantly 
smaller than Australia’s where the gap was highest with 48 per cent of 
men displaying IT competence compared to 28 per cent of women.

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Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Sydney Australia
email: brd at iimetro.com.au
web:   www.drbrd.com
web:   www.problemsfirst.com
Blog:  www.problemsfirst.com/blog