Senator the Hon Helen Coonan

Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts

 Speech to the 2004 National Pearcey Medal Presentation Dinner

 Australian Technology Park -

4 November 2004

It's a pleasure to be here to present this significant award and to celebrate the considerable achievements of Professor John Bennett.

Professor Bennett's contributions to the local industry are enormous and it's a wonderful event to be able to reward one of the industry's real founding fathers.

I'd like to acknowledge Professor Bennett's many achievements and once again congratulate him on being a very fitting 2004 Pearcey Medallist.

Awarding the Pearcey Medal to Professor Bennett makes us realise how much this industry and many others owe to academia and University research.

Many of the IT innovations changing the way the world operates today are the result of research begun in Universities.

The Internet, Google and as Professor Bennett is well aware, the digital computer all emerged from University research.

With the increasing focus on commercial research it is always timely to remind ourselves that University and public sector research is still responsible for a lot of our fundamental breakthroughs.

I'd like to reassure you that the Government has not lost sight of this.

Tonight's event is also a wonderful opportunity to meet with the industry and to discuss the ways in which we can work together to build this important sector of the economy.

I have been energised by the enthusiasm in the ICT sector since becoming the responsible Minister in July.

Unfortunately we were rudely interrupted by an Election. But now that is done and dusted, I want to match that enthusiasm and there are a number of things that have been put forward by industry that I'm keen to start working on.

The Australian Government has strongly supported this nation's information and communications technology industry, building on ICT infrastructure and creating jobs.

This is not because we are merely enamoured with the new and novel or with the notion of research and development.

It is because the technology that our researchers, our universities and our industry are developing can and will transform our economy and transform our lives.

My vision is for an industry which grasps the opportunities thrown up by the continuing ICT revolution, drawing on a secure business environment, strong economy and skilled workforce to produce and sell high quality ICT products and services to the world.

I understand that ways of achieving this goal were considered during this afternoon's colloquium and that there was some robust, but constructive, discussions.

Beverly (Beverly Head, journalist and convenor of the Colloquium) has certainly presented some interesting findings - which I'll be looking forward to following up with industry over the coming months.

A Two-Pronged Approach to ICT

As Minister I will pursue a two-pronged approach to ICT.

I want to continue to build on Australia 's capacity as a developer and producer of smart, value-added ICT products and services.

And I want to continue to ensure that Australia is an early and widespread adopter of the ICT technologies that are transforming business and enhancing the nation's overall competitiveness.

Each benefits the other and I believe the sector should be able to better capitalise on our economy's record as an early adopter.

There's a ready local market there for the local industry - as well an increasingly hungry global technology market - the challenge for the local industry is to capitalise on it.

I'm keen to assist the industry to capture these opportunities. Through our increased funding for innovation under Backing Australia's Ability - the Government is keen to stimulate good ideas and help turn those good ideas into marketable technology.

Where the Government is the market - I want to ensure a level playing field that gives small companies a fair chance to compete for Government tenders but that doesn't in turn discriminate against existing players; and I will implement our election commitments in this area.

But there is also a major challenge for the ICT industry itself in Australia .

While Government assistance and opportunities can often stimulate a sector - it is ultimately the market and the industry's ability to appeal to that market that will be the difference between success and failure.

Australia does not need a Nokia

A comment that was often made during the years of the tech boom was that Australia needs a Nokia.

This acknowledged Nokia's continuing dominance of the worldwide mobile phone handset market - and for many the words Nokia and mobile phone became interchangeable.

But it denied Nokia's history. Nokia's success in mobile phones grew out of a long history as an industrial conglomerate - with its origins going back to 1865.

Nokia emerged from the merger of a forestry company, a rubber goods company and a cable manufacturer.

And it only became a dominant technology company through further acquisitions. In the 1980s it acquired Swedish concerns Mobira, Salora, Televa, Luxor and Ericsson's data systems division; the consumer electronics division of German company Standard Elektrik Lorenz and two cable companies in Switzerland and Holland.

While Nokia's success is undeniable - I would suggest that it is probably not the most appropriate example for us to follow - unless we're hoping for the likes of BHP Billiton to begin acquiring swags of technology firms.

What we do need to find is our 'Cisco' or 'Oracle' - companies that came to dominate what were initially niche markets that subsequently grew into mass markets.

That's what we'll be looking for when we start our IT Priority setting exercise - niches that Australia is already competitive in, that are deserving of greater focus because of their potential for growth.

I'm looking to improve the focus through the whole ICT innovation system - from research to commercialisation, export promotion and investment attraction.

Many of the pieces are already in place - it's a way improving its chances of success.

I'm very excited about the prospect of working together with many of you to achieve this aim and I look forward to rolling up our sleeves over the next few months to set priorities that will position Australia as a truly competitive and innovative country.

It has been an honour to be here tonight in my first official capacity as a National Patron of the Pearcey Foundation - a position that I am honoured to accept.

And once again, congratulations to John Bennett, you've done us all proud!

Thank You.