Alam, Khorshed (2012) Productivity, national broadband network and digital economy: challenges for Australia. In: International Statistical Conference on Statistics in Planning and Development: Bangladesh Perspective, 27-29 Dec 2012, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Abstract
Although the Australian economy expanded significantly in terms of its market sector development over the past four decades, the productivity growth has been stalled since 2000. Productivity growth (particularly multi-factor productivity) is of interest to policy makers because it reflects improvements in efficiency which can be fostered through enhanced innovation capabilities. Although typically linked to structural adjustment and microeconomic reforms, development and diffusion of information technologies played a significant role in productivity gains in the Australian context. The Australian Government is currently investing $37.4 billion to build an open access communication infrastructure, National Broadband Network (NBN), to deliver high-speed broadband services at affordable prices to all Australian premises. This will promote efficiency, productivity and new opportunities for all Australians, irrespective of their residence location. By removing Australia's remoteness from major markets, an NBN-empowered digital economy is expected to improve productivity and efficiency in the use of resources. However, the NBN rollout presents challenges too for Australia. The NBN will help address the urban-regional digital divide, however, it will not close the gap. It leaves key question unexplored: whether another type of inequality is emerging within rural and regional Australia in the form of digital literacy disparity. Targeted strategies are therefore required to drive broadband deployment and adoption in regional areas.
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Statistics for this ePrint Item |
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Commonwealth Reporting Category E) (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Faculty / Department / School: | Historic - Faculty of Business and Law - School of Accounting, Economics and Finance |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Apr 2013 05:17 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Jun 2017 04:01 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | digital economy; National Broadband Network; NBN; productivity |
| Fields of Research : | 14 Economics > 1402 Applied Economics > 140202 Economic Development and Growth 14 Economics > 1402 Applied Economics > 140219 Welfare Economics 10 Technology > 1005 Communications Technologies > 100502 Broadband and Modem Technology |
| Socio-Economic Objective: | B Economic Development > 89 Information and Communication Services > 8901 Communication Networks and Services > 890199 Communication Networks and Services not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/23200 |
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