Economic Downturn a Golden Opportunity for ICT Industry
Friday 23 March 2001 - The President of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) John Ridge has told senior IT and business executives the current economic downturn represents an excellent opportunity for Australia to gain competitive advantage by investing in technology and ICT skills.
Speaking at the Australian Financial Review's CIO Conference in Sydney yesterday, Mr Ridge said the current spate of belt-tightening and lay-offs being seen in America was a knee jerk reaction to the slowdown and ignored the long-term implications of innovation, technology, the Internet and e-business.
"The question is how do we respond to the current economic climate? What are our choices from both a corporate perspective and a national point of view?" he asked.
"Do we adopt a siege mentality, reduce spending and lay off staff as we're seeing happen in Silicon Valley and elsewhere? Or, do we take the opposite tack and see this as an opportunity to train up our staff and invest in innovation and its commercialisation, systems and skills that will position us for growth when the economic climate improves?"
Mr Ridge called on Australian businesses and governments to take the brave option of putting resources into building our jobs and skills base and taking advantage of the slowdown to position Australia for maximum future benefit.
"Fortune favours the brave. While technology stocks might be out of favour right now, the reality is that e-business and the Internet are inevitably going to change the way we do business and live and the demand for ICT skills will continue to grow strongly in the medium to long term.
"We should use this time to build a surplus of skills and invest in innovation and its commercialisation to ensure we have solid offerings to take to the world as the recession begins to ease," he said.
This media release is available on the ACS Web site at http://www.acs.org.au/news/23a0301.htm
ENDS
The Australian Computer Society is the recognised association for information technology (IT) professionals, attracting a large and active membership (15,000) from all levels of the IT industry and providing a wide range of services to Members. A member of the Australian Council of Professions, the ACS is the public voice of the IT profession and the guardian of professional ethics and standards in the IT industry, with a commitment to the wider community to ensure the beneficial use of IT.See the ACS Home Page for more information. Media Enquiries:
John Ridge, ACS President, Tel: (02) 9223 9499 or (0407) 913 992, Email: jridge@mra.com.au
Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9980 8060 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au
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