National Digital Economy Strategy for Education

Senator Stephen Conroy launched the National Digital Economy Strategy at CeBIT in Sydney on 31 May 2011. The strategy includes eight goals for 2020. The wording of these goals is, if anything a little conservative. The effect of widespread access to high speed broadband will be more profound for Australia industry and culture. As an example, this could transform the way education is provided, at all levels from pre-primary to post-graduate. Rather than just an enhancement of traditional classroom teaching, in the next few years we will see a paradigm shift. The normal mode of education will be online, supplemented with classroom instruction, where necessary, feasible and cost effective. The National Digital Economy Strategy for Education is well thought out. But some of the investments made so far have been less than optimal. There has not been sufficient spent on teacher training and curriculum, whereas too much has been spent on buying hardware. PCs and laptops for students are a very short term investment, with the equipment quickly becoming obsolete, whereas training for teachers has a long term benefit.

To measure our progress in realising this vision by 2020, the government has set the following goals:

1. Australia ranks in the top five OECD countries in the portion of households that connect to broadband at home. ...
2. Australia ranks in the top five OECD countries in relation to the percentage of businesses, and not for profit organisations, using online opportunities to drive productivity improvements, expand their customer base and enable jobs growth. ...
3. The majority of Australian households, businesses and other organisations will have access to smart technology to better manage their energy use. ...
4. As identified in the National eHealth Strategy endorsed by the federal, state and territory governments, 90 per cent of high priority consumers such as older Australians, mothers and babies and those with a chronic disease, or their carers, can access individual electronic health records. ...
5. Australian schools, TAFEs, universities and higher education institutions will have the connectivity to develop and collaborate on innovative and flexible educational services and resources to extend online learning resources to the home and workplace; and the facilities to offer students and learners, who cannot access courses via traditional means, the opportunity for online virtual learning. ...
6. Australia will have at least doubled its level of teleworking so that at least 12 per cent of Australian employees report having a teleworking arrangement with their employer. ...
7. Four out of five Australians will choose to engage with the government through the internet or other type of online service. ...
8. The gap between households and businesses in capital cities and those in regional areas will have narrowed significantly. ...

From: "National Digital Economy Strategy", Australian Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, 31 May 2011