Sydney, 11 March 2009: New research commissioned by IBM and conducted by Access Economics has shown policy reform coupled with the adoption of ICT provides the greatest scope to improve the productivity of Australia’s economy. Complementing these findings, IBM today also announced its Smarter Planet vision to prepare Australia’s economy for the 21st century, calling for a transformation of the infrastructure and systems underpinning our national economy. To demonstrate the type of progress already underway in Australia, Country Energy and the University of Melbourne outlined details of new projects in the energy and water sector to make our country smarter and more efficient.
Key Points:
- IBM and Access Economics announced findings from new meta research on Australia’s productivity performance, and the role ICT can play in driving improved economic performance:
- Commissioned by IBM, Access Economics’ meta-research study was designed to examine the key drivers of economic growth in Australia, and the role ICT can play in economic productivity.
- Despite strong productivity growth in Australia during the 1990’s, the research shows that productivity growth has been weak in recent years, and since 2003-4 is estimated to have fallen 0.9%.
- Information and communication technology uptake played a significant role in productivity improvements during the 1990s. This occurred when microeconomic reforms from the government increased the uptake of ICT and enabled businesses to improve efficiency. These findings suggest the government should continue to prioritise investment in ICT to stimulate productivity growth in Australia, particularly in light of the current global financial crisis.
IBM’s Smarter Planet vision:
IBM argues that it is now possible and affordable to introduce intelligence into the systems we interact with everyday such as supply-chains, healthcare networks, cities and even rivers. These systems will be:
- Instrumented: by 2010, there will be a billion transistors per human, each one costing one ten-millionth of a cent.
- Interconnected: With a trillion networked things – cars, roadways, pipelines, appliances, pharmaceuticals and even livestock – the amount of information created by those interactions grows exponentially.
- Intelligent: Algorithms and powerful systems can analyse and turn those mountains of data into actual decisions and actions that make the world work better.
Country Energy discusses its plans to put the digital age to work for its network customers – the next phase of its Intelligent Network transformation supported by IBM:
- As a member of IBM’s Global Intelligent Utility Network (IUN) Coalition, Country Energy is developing solutions that are specific to Australian conditions and electricity networks – a focus is testing the intelligent network in real environments with real people
- Smart meters, new embedded generation technologies, and smart in-home networks to engage customers in more effectively managing and measuring energy consumption to improve energy efficiency
- Increased vision and control of the power network through near real-time data and information
Quotes:
“IBM's vision for a smarter planet is to bring a new level of intelligence to how the world works – how every person, business, organisation, government, natural and man-made system interacts. Each interaction represents a chance to do something better, more efficiently, and more productively. But more than that, as the systems of the planet become smarter, we have a chance to open up meaningful new possibilities for Australia’s progress.” – Glen Boreham, Managing Director, IBM Australia & New Zealand
“Country Energy’s focus is on developing solutions that are specific to Australian conditions and electricity networks. We’re preparing to put the digital age to work for our customers – through the adoption of intelligent network technology we’ll be able to better manage the grid infrastructure, improve customer service and the ability to source and deliver renewable power more efficiently.” – Ben Hamilton, General Manager, Corporate, Information and Technology Strategy, Country Energy
“As Art de Geus, Deputy Security-General of the OECD recently said, ‘a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.’ This report clearly shows that while Australia’s productivity growth in recent years has declined, the government should consider how policy incentives are encouraging business to adopt new ICT advances to help Australia respond positively to the current economic challenges it now faces.” - Ric Simes, Director, Access Economics
Contact(s) for the Press kit
Deepa Hammond
IBM Communications
0423 086 007
dhammond@au1.ibm.com
Additional resources
PDF documents
A transcript of Glen Boreham's speech at the launch. Outlining the research, what a smarter planet really means, and why Australia needs to be at the forefront of this evolution.
Smarter Planet International Example - Smarter Energy (25 KB)
IBM Point Of View - Energy (67 KB)
IBM Point Of View - Water (41 KB)
Country Energy Backgrounder (496 KB)
Access Economics Research Report (199 KB)
Access Economics Speech (37 KB)
Smarter Planet Backgrounder (71 KB)