Productivity growth in the Australian economy will be increasingly driven by digital technology in the future according to a recent report conducted by Deloitte Access Economics (DAE).
The report found that 2014 saw a $79 billion contribution of digital technologies to the Australian economy, compared to $50 billion in 2011.
The report showed that over 10,000 temporary skilled migration (457) visas have been granted annually to ICT workers in recent years as qualifications within Australia have dwindled since the early 2000s.
Infosys vice-president A/NZ, Andrew Groth, claimed the Infosys Instep program can motivate Australian students to pursue a career in the ICT sector by giving them the opportunity to work on real technology projects for up to three months at Infosys’ innovation lab in Bangalore, India.
“The program gives students a taste of what it’s like to work for an innovative technology company. Similar to a real recruitment process, students must complete an application outlining their interests, skills and experience and explain why they are passionate about working on a specific technology project, “ he said.
“By providing on the job training, students are able to broaden their experience and hit the jobs market better prepared for a career in technology.”
According to the report, Australian students need to be both digitally literate and capable in building digital solutions to face the problems of the future.
Results from the 2011 National Assessment Program show that, currently, only 3 per cent of Year 6 students frequently use ICT in schools for technical tasks.
The report revealed that the Australian Curriculum is to include a new technologies learning area to step up the process of implementing the required ICT skills for the future Australian workforce.
The new curriculum is designed to address this by teaching primary school education level students technical capabilities such as programming, coding and computer science.
