Is Australia's digital infrastructure encouraging growth?
To encourage growth in today's economic landscape, a capable digital infrastructure is necessary for both companies and countries in order to compete with international demands.
A new report produced by industry analyst Ernst & Young (EY) has ranked the digital attractiveness of countries across the world, with Australia coming in highly in some regards.
Why is digital attractiveness important?
Australia excelled in some of the categories supplied by EY, which highlights the importance of digital attractiveness. The country ranked first overall for political stability and general risk rating, which is promising moving forward. These features are necessary for growing trends such as cloud computing, which rely on stable and secure services to operate effectively.
However, Australia will need to increase its ranking for 'ease of doing business' to really start making waves, as currently it is ranked only tenth.
If the country can foster its digital attractiveness there is the potential for recruitment within a number of industries as they grow. One of the main ones set to benefit, according to EY, is the media and entertainment industry.
"Opportunities for media and entertainment companies from this expanding wave of digital growth are clear – as are the costs of missing out. New and meaningful investments in all markets will be critical to the long-term growth potential, independence and success of global media and entertainment companies," said EY Media and Entertainment Leader for Oceania, David McGregor.
There is no room for Australia to rest on its laurels however, as the evolving nature of technology will require continuous investment to ensure digital infrastructure remains competitive.
"To succeed in securing Australia's status as a leading digital nation, we need to continue to improve cost, speed and access. This clearly involves continued investment in infrastructure but also improved and dynamic competition to stimulate innovation," said Mr McGregor.