You may have heard and read about that couple of times, but then it is what it is!
With the automation of erstwhile manually done tasks with artificial intelligence technology, advancement in medical and physical technology, the concept of innovation do not seem to out.
Nations of the world do not want to be left out as many of them struggle to outdo one another in investments in research and technological development.
Australia, the sixth-largest country in the world has in recent times be lagging behind in having the avowed push to invest in digital technology-based research, IT professionals, and workers.
In a new report published by the Australian Academy of Science (AAS), a non-profit organization, in collaboration with the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, Australia which boasts of the world’s twelfth-largest economy may be having a downward spiral in its tech industry as its digital innovative earnings is beginning to shiver.
The report may also act as a wakeup call to the Australian authorities to take a definite stand in ensuring that digital technologies and innovations are given core priority in the government’s agenda.
AAS also warned that the country which as at 2020 boasted of being the eighth-highest Human Development Index, and also the ninth-highest ranked democracy globally has its tech industry seriously lagging behind other global countries like Canada, France, United Kingdom, and the United States of America, noting that these countries have gone a long way to invest enormous resources in their tech industry and had given digital technologies their core focus, to make them increasingly competitive in the committee of nations, with constant innovation.
“Australia’s digital innovation earnings relative to its GDP was almost four percentage points lower than the OECD average of 11.2 percent,” the organization explained.
But it’s not all gloom for Australia as the organization believes there a ways to halt this downward trend. The report recommended a number of steps to taken to help elevate the tech industry in Australia to be able to effectively compete with other global nations.
The report opined that the first way to do this is having the tech sector in Australia get recognized by the government as an independent growth sector.
It also suggested that research and innovation should be part of the Australian government’s 2012 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap.
The report hampered on the effective utilization of innovations from Artificial Intelligence (AI), the blockchain, the 5G technology, citing instances of how these tech innovations has helped other nations who had hitherto made research in technology their priority, suggesting that these moves can be put to use by the Australian authorities.
The Chairman of the Australian Academy of Science’s national committee for information and communication, Shazia Sadiq in an interview with InnovationAus, opined that though the present authorities in Australia are making moves to build a digital economy, while creating advanced manufacturing strategies, much more needed to be done to ensure full implementation.
“Our key message is that we need to be more than ‘smart users’ of emerging technologies,” Sadiq told InnovationAus.
“It means that we need to have the scientific expertise, our sovereign capability, through which we can help and create and foster those opportunities that come from these emerging digital technologies, but also help with the vulnerabilities and limitations and dangers and do it at a national level,” she added.
She further stated that the nation’s authorities should ensure that scientific experts in the science and engineering field should synergize more with technology professionals, to bring about a more result-driven collaboration.
While these measures are being taken, it is hoped that the Australian tech industry will rise back and take its place in the committee of global nations who are technologically driven.
Ayoola Faseyi, an Abuja based Journalist with interest in Technology and Politics. He is a versatile writer with articles in many renowned News Journals. He is the Co-Founder of media brand, The Vent Republic.
