ICT industry thanks Kevin Rudd and welcomes Julia Gillard
What do the recent dramatic political changes mean to the telecoms industry in Australia? The former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was most notably the first Prime Minister with a strong affinity to ICT. He was an active user and had a very good understanding of its strategic value. On a government level he clearly saw ICT as a tool that could be used as a horizontal strategy across the various departmental sectors.
Kevin Rudd supervised a trans-sector team that examined the multiplier effects of his policies across various government departments, and this approach attracted the interest of the USA and New Zealand governments.
There is no doubt that Kevin Rudd’s leadership resulted in the creation of government policies for the National Broadband Network (NBN). Minister Stephen Conroy noted this on many occasions. These policies have allowed the NBN project to become an international benchmark for similar developments across the world.
It was also Kevin Rudd’s personal interest in smart grids that led to the Smart City and Smart Grid Project. Just a week before he stood aside, he elaborated extensively on the value of e-health in the NBN and BuddeComm believe he came very close to announcing high-level government coordination to maximise the value of trans-sector policies. It is to be hoped that the new Prime Minister Julia Gillard will execute this.
Thank you very much to Kevin Rudd for his strong vision and leadership behind the NBN, as well as for his support for a more strategic role for ICT in government policies.
Welcome to Prime Minister Julia Gillard. On her first day in office she has already expressed her support for the NBN and the government policies so far, including the Heads-of-Agreement with Telstra.
The Digital Economy Industry Work Group (DEIWG) also met with Prime Minister Gillard during its CEO Forum round of visits when she was Minister for Education. No explanation was needed for her of the importance of a trans-sector approach to the NBN, and she was very much aware of its strategic value to education.
This is also reflected in the leadership role that the Department of Education has taken in ICT. Laptops for all students, broadband to all schools and her commitment to the Myschool website, all clearly show her understanding of the issues.
The Department of Education is also demonstrating leadership in strategic thinking within DEIWG, and the lessons which will be learned here may perhaps also filter through to the departments which are still lagging behind.
With these strong credentials to her credit, BuddeComm welcomes the new Prime Minister Julia Gillard to the exciting world of ICT, with the NBN as the key facilitator to delivering very significant social and economic benefits to the nation. We look forward to working with her and to progress from where Kevin Rudd has led us.
Paul Budde
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Tagged in: Australia, NBN, NBN Co, New Zealand & South Pacific
