Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy

Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE

Roadmap to advance Australia's digital economy

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today released a consultation draft on the future directions of Australia's digital economy.

"The digital economy promises many opportunities for raising productivity and driving efficiency across all sectors of society," Senator Conroy said.

"The Rudd Government is laying the foundations for our digital economy and it is important that we act now to ensure we make the most of those investments."

Senator Conroy called for contributions on the Digital Economy Future Directions Paper consultation draft. The draft follows discussions with industry, business and other stakeholders throughout 2008 and a series of workshops and a forum in September.

"This draft paper identifies the themes and suggestions to drive Australia's digital economy raised through our initial consultations," Senator Conroy said.

"The Rudd Government wants to engage with all interested parties on the future of Australia's digital economy."

"We are currently conducting the Government's first trial online consultation via the Digital Economy Blog and I now welcome contributions on this draft paper as the next step towards publishing our final directions paper in 2009."

"The Digital Economy Future Directions Paper will outline the opportunities and challenges posed by the digital economy and the potential roles of government, industry and others in ensuring Australia gains maximum benefit."

The consultation draft for the Digital Economy Future Directions Paper is available from: www.dbcde.gov.au. Contributions should be sent to DEFutureDirections@dbcde.gov.au by 11 February 2009.

The Digital Economy Blog is online: www.dbcde.gov.au/digitaleconomyblog.

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Date: 19 December 2008
Contact: Tim Marshall 0408 258 457