NBN in the Enterprise - Innovation & Business Skills Australia

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For further information about this report or any other work beingundertaken by Innovation & Business Skills Australia Ltd, please visitwww.ibsa.org.auInnovation & Business Skills Australia LtdLevel 11, 176 Wellington ParadeEast Melbourne Victoria 3002P: +61 3 9815 7000F: +61 3 9815 7001W: www.ibsa.org.auProject Contact:Rosalie StaggardGeneral Manager Industry ProjectsP: +61 3 9815 7000E: rosalie@ibsa.org.auProject Participants:Printing Industries Association of AustraliaNational Insurance Brokers AssociationAustbrokersIBSA wishes to acknowledge The Institute for Working Futures Pty Ltd,for undertaking this research and compiling this report.Dr. Marcus Bowles:Email: mbowles@workingfutures.com.auWeb: www.workingfutures.com.au©June 2012 Commonwealth of Australia
Executive summaryThis is the report to Innovation & Business Skills Australia(IBSA) on findings from research into the impact of the NationalBroadband Network (NBN) on enterprises in two industries:the printing industry and the insurance broking industry.Through a combination of foresighting methodology by industrymembers and a study of specific enterprises, it has been possibleto provide a reliable insight into current levels of information andcommunication technology (ICT) maturity in the two industries.This report will use the results from foresighting activities andcase studies to outline levels of ICT readiness (eReadiness) andICT skills (eSkills) of individual businesses, and then provide acomplete comparative analysis to provide significant insight intopriority workforce development strategies that may immediatelyimprove NBN adoption.This report and the underpinning research on enterprises in twovery diverse industries confirms that the success of Australia’sinvestment in the NBN will be heavily reliant on raising accessto high-speed broadband, as well as convincing businesses withshrinking margins and increased risk associated with operating ina volatile global economic environment that mechanisms existsto support the development of specific skills required to use theinfrastructure. This includes user skills as well as the skills formanagers and owners to forge business plans that will establishhow each business can best invest in ICT and seize commercialopportunities.1.1 Findings in summaryThe process of research and consultation in this project resultedin the following activities:• Three foresighting workshops were conducted. They wereseparately convened by Printing Industries Associationof Australia, National Insurance Brokers of Australia andAustbrokers.Consultations with business owners and senior industry leadersexplored the expected future impact of the NBN. In essence theNBN was believed to bring the promise of:1. Closer proximity to the customer on demand, anywhere,anytime. This also encompasses where businesses used theinternet to move down the value chain from manufacturing ormarketing to provide sales and service.2. ‘High touch’ services where customers can transact in realtime and seek, secure and track products or services.3. Process efficiencies and cost savings through automation,integration, streamlining and real-time processing.4. Opening new markets, local and global, through improvingthe connection between the business and their customersand vice versa.5. Improved internal communication and training capabilities.6. Flexibility in terms of worker location and decisions on officefacilities (telecommuting and decentralisation).7. Faster and more efficient data processing and sharing.8. Reduced capital expenditure and more rapid transformationthrough use of cloud-based and virtual infrastructure(e.g. software or platform as a service).The expected positive impacts were balanced with someconsideration of potential threats from:1. Labour supply and cost: Difficulty attracting or upskillingexisting staff with the appropriate ICT skills.2. Infrastructure cost: Difficulty securing the capital or knowingwhat budget would be required to transition to the technologyand infrastructure required to leverage the NBN connection.• Fifteen enterprise case studies involving surveys (eReadinessAudit and eSkills Training Needs Audit) were completed by sevenparticipants from printing and eight from insurance broking.3
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NBN in the Enterprise - Innovation & Business Skills Australia

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