Information and Communications Technology

Federal Government purchasing of ICT is estimated at around $2 billion per annum. The sheer size of this market, and the trend towards public sector outsourcing of ICT services, has encouraged many national and international ICT businesses to establish a presence in Canberra. In addition the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) accounts for 25% of the Federal Government's expenditure on ICT R&D.

Canberra is a genuine ICT industry cluster. It is home to nearly 1000 specialist ICT businesses (4% of Australia's ICT businesses) which together employ over 7,700 people (3% of total ICT employment). Canberra has also experienced the fastest ICT employment growth in Australia (8.3% per annum) and the highest ICT employment intensity of any Australian jurisdiction (25 ICT employees per 1,000 of population).

Organisations in Canberra hold more than 600 patents and other intellectual property rights. Of these the Australian National University (ANU) has 190, one of the largest of any Australian university, and the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has 380.

Canberra's ICT industry possesses a number of strengths, mainly the skills of the workforce and the industry's ability to forge close linkages with leading-edge customers such as Federal Government departments (in particular Defence), universities, national institutions and Geosciences Australia. In particular, the industry holds knowledge in the areas of:

The Computer Services sector is a particularly important area of the ICT industry in Canberra. It employs over 4,000 people and constitutes 10% of the ACT's Gross State Product.

Canberra is home to a number of multi-national ICT companies such as Raytheon and Computer Sciences Corporation. Many companies such as Protocom Development Systems, The Distillery, Electro Optic Systems and WetPC also use Canberra as the base for serving a global market and are examples of companies that are have found success in the word arena.

Canberra's already substantial ICT and e-government knowledge base has been significantly enhanced with the establishment of the Canberra node of the National ICT Australia Centre of Excellence (NICTA) , a collaboration between the ACT Government, the Australian National University, the University of NSW, and the NSW Government. The Centre received funding from both the ACT and Federal Governments to build Australia's ICT research capacity, with the aim of building the nation's long-term wealth with specific attention to the commercialisation of research and to developing industry linkages.

NICTA represents a unique opportunity for the development of the local ICT sector and Canberra's credentials in the global ICT industry. NICTA will provide Canberra's ICT industry with access to world-class skills and knowledge and will encourage differentiated product development enabling for our local sector to increase its global competitiveness. It will spawn a feedstock of new start-up companies that are "born global" in their product sets and outlook. In addition, NICTA further enhances Canberra's attractiveness and capacity to attract large multinational companies who are looking to locate facilities close to NICTA to capitalise on access to excellent people, research and commercialisation opportunities.

Canberra is one of the first cities in the world to introduce a broadband fibre-optic network that will reach the vast majority of households and businesses in the region. The ACT is now ranked alongside Singapore, Finland, Sweden and the USA as having one of the most IT connected communities in the world.

The Canberra Node of the National ICT Australia (NICTA) Centre of Excellence represents a unique opportunity for the development of the local ICT sector and Canberra's credentials in the global ICT industry.

NICTA will provide Canberra's ICT industry with access to world-class skills and knowledge and will encourage differentiated product development enabling for our local sector to increase its global competitiveness. It will spawn a feedstock of new start-up companies that are "born global" in their product sets and outlook. In addition, NICTA further enhances Canberra's attractiveness and capacity to attract large multinational companies who are looking to locate facilities close to NICTA to capitalise on access to excellent people, research and commercialisation opportunities.