30 July 2025 – for immediate release

 

With digital technology now central to Australia’s economy, ACS (Australian Computer Society) has today launched the 2025 Digital Pulse report under the banner ‘Today, meet tomorrow’ — laying out a ten-point action plan addressing urgent workforce and innovation challenges to close the nation’s digital skills gap and boost national productivity by $25 billion before 2035.

 

A key part of the report is a survey of 300 Australian C-level executives and 1,200 workers on the use of technology in the workplace. The survey found skills gaps across the workforce are holding back the nation’s businesses from being competitive and there could be around 150,000 enterprises

currently experiencing significant or severe digital skills gaps.

 

This year’s report found digital technology contributes nearly $134 billion to the economy and supports more than a million jobs. It is no longer just the domain of tech professionals with the average Australian worker spending nearly three hours per day using digital skills, accounting for 39% of their working time.

 

“Digital skills are the foundation of Australia’s economic future,” said ACS Chief Executive Officer Josh Griggs. “To compete globally, we need to ensure every worker, from frontline staff to the executive suite, has the capabilities to work with and lead digital transformation.

 

“If we close these gaps, Australia stands to unlock billions in economic growth, improve cyber resilience, and position itself as a global tech leader,” Mr Griggs said. “Our plan is not just about fixing today’s problems, it’s about creating a future-ready nation.”

 

The ten recommended actions are:

 

Action 1 | Develop a national Sovereign AI Strategy

Australia should develop a clear and consultative national Sovereign AI Strategy that sets out a long-term vision for sovereign AI development, facilitating a coordinated national approach towards regulatory maturity and investment in critical infrastructure, talent, and innovation.

 

Action 2 | Develop an innovation strategy

Currently, Australia lags behind other OECD countries when it comes to the share of GDP spent on R&D and in FY23, 95% of innovation patents filed in Australia were developed by overseas businesses rather than local businesses.

The Australian Government is expected to release the Strategic Examination of Research and Development later this year. This document will be essential for aligning workforce readiness to innovation and should form the basis of a broader national innovation strategy that encourages entrepreneurship across the population and supports startups and scaleups.

 

Action 3 | Government co-investment in scaleups

Australian startups face a ‘valley of death’ when it comes to finding funding to scaleup their business. This is particularly true for founders who are women and/or identify as First Nations. With many startup and scaleup business supports closing after the pandemic, more could be done to revitalise the scaleup economy.

The Australian Government should establish vehicles for co-investment into scaleup businesses in priority sectors and support diverse founders. Returns from investments could then be used by government to invest in other scaleup businesses.

 

Action 4 | Greater incentives for R&D in AI and tech adoption by businesses

Australian businesses are lagging behind other markets when it comes to AI adoption and the largest skill gap revealed by our stocktake was in the use of AI. Agentic AI presents new opportunities and capabilities that may be missed opportunities unless more is done to encourage experimentation and adoption.

The Strategic Examination of Research and Development and the AI Capability Plan should focus on how to encourage greater R&D into AI, as well as promote great tech adoption across all Australian businesses.

 

Action 5 | Executives take a digital skills health check

Our research finds nearly half (45%) of C-suite leaders only have ‘basic’ capabilities in one of five digital capabilities required for their role, including the ability to read a business case for a digital transformation project. C-suite executives should undertake a three-part digital skills health check to ensure their organisation and themselves are in a position to respond to the growing capabilities of technology.

 

The health check would include understanding their own digital capabilities to help identify any blindspots, the digital capabilities and gaps within their team and how the use of digital technologies fits within their current business strategy. Building the health check into planning would also strengthen organisation’s future strategy, technology governance, and security.

 

ACS offers a powerful platform, mySFIA, that helps executive teams map digital capability, identify gaps in real time, and align team development to business strategy.

 

Action 6 | Promote entry-level pathways for cybersecurity professionals

This research finds the cost of cyber attacks cost the Australian economy $63 billion per year. Australia will need 54,000 additional people skilled in cybersecurity operations and managed by the end of the decade to combat the increasing frequency and sophistication of attacks.

 

Currently there is a lack of entry-level roles in cyber, with most existing roles requiring experience in software development. Relevant industry associations should encourage organisations to create more entry-level roles to support specialised career development in this field.

 

Action 7 | Fast track a national framework for tech skills

With 39% of working hours involving digital competencies across the workforce, a national skills taxonomy can aid workforce planning and promote skills development. Jobs and Skills Australia is currently developing a national skills taxonomy and this should be prioritsed and promoted once released. This skills framework should align with globally recognised tools like the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA), which ACS delivers via its national mySFIA platform — enabling real-time visibility into team capabilities.

 

The skills framework should be adaptive to effectively measure and keep pace with the rapidly evolving skill needs in digital occupations. When the framework has been completed, a portal should be built that enables employees across various career stages to identify the skills in need of development.

 

Action 8 | A national commitment to alternative tech pathways

Despite our survey of C-suite leaders executives showing high levels of trust in industry certifications and VET qualifications as a reliable indicator of digital talent than university degrees, 88% of tech job ads require a degree. While degrees may be required for some tech roles, the wide use of requirement is likely preventing businesses from accessing the talent they need.

 

The NSW Digital Skills and Workforce Compact exemplifies proactive change, with partners pledging that 20% of all entry-level tech hires will come from alternative pathways by 2030. This pledge should be adopted at the national level and other jurisdictions around Australia to help promote change.

 

Action 9 | Implement an ‘earn while you learn’ scheme

The share of workers engaging in reskilling or upskilling drops for mid-career workers. The most common barrier is a lack of time and cost associated with undertaking reskilling and upskilling.

 

An earn while you learn scheme could ease this barrier by paying workers a wage subsidy to gain technology skills while working, with the costs shared between business and government.

 

Action 10 | Develop a sovereign system layer for government

Government should fund the development a sovereign system layer for government. Development could be aimed at enhancing reasoning, task orchestration, and safe deployment of globally available models within Australian contexts, and design-led UI/UX improvements to public-facing AI systems

 

The ACS Digital Pulse report continues to serve as an essential resource for policymakers, businesses, and educational institutions as they shape the future of Australia's digital economy. Copies of the report can be downloaded from www.acs.org.au/digitalpulse.

 

-ENDS-

Further information

Troy Steer

Director of Corporate Affairs and Public Policy

M – 0417 173 740

E – [email protected]

About ACS

ACS is the voice of Australia’s technology sector, representing over 41,000 technology professionals across all industries and across the nation.

 

Our members work in industry, education, government, and the community delivering the digital services that drive the nation and provide the high-skilled jobs of today and tomorrow.

 

ACS works to grow the technology sector while making sure IT professionals act ethically, responsibly, and in keeping with the best interests of not only their employers, but the wider community.

 

Through our network of branches in every state and Territory, our innovation labs, education programs and our history of over fifty years, ACS works to help all Australians be part of the nation’s highest growth sector. Visit www.acs.org.au for more information.

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