Closing digital expertise gaps may create a $25 billion financial enhance for Australia in accordance with the eleventh Australia’s Digital Pulse report, launched this week by the Australian Pc Society (ACS) — the skilled affiliation of the nation’s know-how professionals.
A survey commissioned for the report and carried out by consultancy agency Deloitte discovered 77% of practically 800 know-how employees who had been surveyed believed that they had inadequate expertise in at the very least one digital functionality required for his or her position.
Probably the most prevalent deficiencies amongst know-how employees had been discovered to be in synthetic intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics automation, and augmented and digital actuality.
Simply over half (51%) of the greater than 400 employees surveyed from different industries cited inadequate capability in at the very least one digital ability wanted of their work — predominantly in utilizing AI to analyse knowledge and write content material, cybersecurity, and digital dashboards.
A separate survey of greater than 300 Australian C-suite executives from numerous industries discovered 15% had been experiencing digital expertise shortages of their enterprise, suggesting round 150,000 Australian companies could possibly be dealing with comparable points, ACS mentioned.
Fixing these gaps may enhance Australia’s productiveness with a $25 billion financial uplift by 2035, in accordance with ACS’s evaluation, together with by serving to to mitigate prices from cyberattacks.
Picture: Australia’s Digital Pulse 2025
ACS CEO Josh Griggs mentioned Australia wanted to ensure each employee had “the capabilities to work with and lead digital transformation” so the nation may compete globally.
“If we close these gaps, Australia stands to unlock billions in economic growth, improve cyber resilience, and position itself as a global tech leader,” he mentioned.
“Our plan is not just about fixing today’s problems — it’s about creating a future-ready nation.”
Australia fell from thirteenth to 18th place within the newest World Competitiveness Rankings, launched in June by the Worldwide Institute for Administration Growth (IMD) — after averaging nineteenth between 2023 and 2018.
Uplifting digital expertise
Amongst 10 suggestions made within the newest Digital Pulse report, ACS argued C-suite executives ought to take a “digital skills health check”, after its survey discovered practically half (45%) of 310 executives who responded solely had ‘basic’ capabilities in certainly one of 5 digital expertise required for his or her position.
“The health check would include understanding their own digital capabilities to help identify any blind spots, the digital capabilities and gaps within their team and how the use of digital technologies fits within their current business strategy,” ACS mentioned.
“Building the health check into planning would also strengthen organisation’s future strategy, technology governance, and security.”
ACS reiterated its requires the federal government to fast-track the Nationwide Expertise Taxonomy being developed by Jobs and Expertise Australia and align it to frameworks resembling the worldwide Expertise Framework for the Data Age (SFIA), to minimise gaps between employees’ expertise and obtainable jobs.
The society additionally known as for the federal government to implement an ‘earn while you learn’ scheme to encourage extra mid-career employees to reskill and upskill in know-how.
The 2024 Australia’s Digital Pulse report recommended a million employees could possibly be reskilled for jobs in tech, which wanted extra individuals with the precise expertise in fields resembling AI and cybersecurity.
Employees had already begun responding to rising digital expertise necessities within the financial system, ACS mentioned in its new report, with 96% of surveyed know-how employees and 70% of different employees having undertaken coaching to keep up or enhance their digital expertise previously yr.
“Realising the $25 billion benefit requires addressing the digital skills gaps right across the Australian economy, from entry level roles to C-suite executives,” the report acknowledged.
“Addressing this challenge will require us to think differently about the pathways we use to source technology talent and how we upskill all workers across the economy.”
Vocational coaching vs uni diploma
C-suite executives noticed vocational training and coaching (VET) {qualifications} and trade certificates as extra helpful indicators of tech employees’ capabilities than college levels, in accordance with the survey.
Whereas 41% of surveyed executives mentioned related VET {qualifications} and trade certificates had been efficient indicators of possible efficiency, solely 34% mentioned the identical for college levels.
Regardless of their choice for trade certifications and VET {qualifications}, 88% of the surveyed executives mentioned their enterprise required employees in know-how roles to have a college diploma.
This mismatch was “likely preventing businesses from accessing the talent they need”, mentioned ACS, which urged federal, state, and territory governments to push corporations to permit extra entry-level hires to come back from various, non-university pathways.
The federal authorities’s fee-free TAFE program, launched in 2023, possible contributed to a recorded improve in enrolments in VET IT programs that yr, ACS mentioned.
The society’s 10 suggestions additionally urged the federal government to develop formal methods in sovereign AI and innovation, whereas additionally investing in native scaleup corporations and offering better incentives to enhance Australia’s analysis and growth (R&D) surroundings.
The 2025 version of Australia’s Digital Pulse may be downloaded from the ACS web site.
This story first appeared on Data Age. You may learn the unique right here.
