Budget for the future – down payment on ICT talent

 

Budget for the future – down payment on ICT talent

SydneyTalent was a major sponsor of CeBIT in Sydney from 12 – 14 May.

 

The Australian Government’s budget commitment to universities will help reinforce ties between business and education and increase Australia’s ICT capability in the face of a long term skills deficit. 

 

The Government’s four year $ 5.7 billion commitment to education and innovation will play a significant role in linking employment, skills development, research and innovation as Australia develops a capacity to meet its growth targets. The ICT industry will be in a position to take advantage of key components of this funding according to student recruitment specialist Anne Moore, CEO of SydneyTalent.

 

Moore highlights the drive towards a new technology era – the centrepiece of which is the $43 billion broadband network – as a key contributor to increased demand for ICT workers.

 

“The Government is fuelling a digital revolution through the national broadband network and complementary projects such as its $83 million boost to emerging companies involved in cutting-edge ICT, energy and  investment in education projects and a six-year $2 billion Digital Education Revolution.

 

“ICT is a pervasive driver of progress and impacts strongly on industry, infrastructure, hospitals and health.

 

“With 50,000 more students at university by 2013, education’s ability to feed into the digital economy will be increased.

 

Moore reinforces the growing need for long-term talent development for the ICT industry by urging the industry to look at high school student’s skills and capability, as these students will make up the talent that the industry needs to draw from in the lead up to the 2020 skills deficit peak period.

 

Moore said that the Government’s investment in high school education was all the more pertinent given rising youth ^[4] unemployment which threatens to exacerbate the ICT industry’s long term skills deficit - forecast to blow out to 25,000 by 2020.  However, the flow into ICT will be improved if the government’s target to have 40 percent of 25-34 year olds with a bachelor or higher level qualification by 2025 is met. ^[3]

 

 “The money invested in commitments to high speed internet access and technology funding for computers in high schools will contribute to a skills pathway into tertiary education and career opportunities in ICT.” 

 

Education organisations have a key role to play in feeding the talent pipeline, “At the tertiary level, we need to maintain and grow closer connections with industry and government to increase ICT capability. 

 

“Encouraging industry to employ undergraduate and post graduate students for work integrated learning will contribute to an involvement in the education process.

 

“Industry will be looking to institutions such as the University of Sydney and its Business Information Systems and Information Technologies schools for high quality recruits with contemporary knowledge to take the best advantage of the digital revolution.”

 

Although tech budgets are suffering through the GFC, Moore said that an aggressive and positive approach needed to be maintained, “The ICT sector is clearly not immune from the recession, but it is likely to emerge more quickly than other areas of business and it’s important to be prepared for recovery and to counter the longer term skills deficit.

 

The National Broadband Network alone will require 37,000 new jobs at the project’s outset.

 

Moore highlights key areas of the budget pertinent to the ICT industry’s ability to develop its critical talent pipeline.

 

Budget Factors Contributing to an increasing the capacity of Australia’s talent pipeline

-          An uncapped demand-driven university system from 2012

-          $491million investment enabling universities to pursue the best-of-the best students regardless of background to develop a sustainable talent pipeline

-          An additional 50,000 students to attend Australia’s universities by 2012

-          To support and attract top-quality researchers, the Government will increase the Australian Postgraduate Award stipend to $22,500 in 2010 at a cost of $51.7 million.

-          It will establish a three-year post-doctoral fellowship programme offering 100 places in targeted research fields to early-career scientists at a cost of $27.2 million. This will build on the Future Fellowships established for mid-career researchers.

-          An additional $512 million will be provided to universities for the indirect costs of research.  Funding will be progressively increased to around 50 percent of the direct costs. This will contribute to a world-class research system to boost productivity, create knowledge and adopt ideas from the rest of the world.

-          A record $47.4 billion investment in Australian schools delivers on the Government’s commitment to a world-class national schooling system. This is in addition to the $14.7 billion Building the Education Revolution commitment to school infrastructure over the next three financial years.

-          In response to the Bradley Review of Higher Education, the Government will invest $5.7 billion in higher education and innovation over the next four years to secure the jobs of the future.

 

SydneyTalent is the recruitment, workplace learning and development arm of the University of Sydney.  Its CEO, Anne Moore has worked in human resources and ICT industries for 20 years. www.sydneytalent.com.au   

 

Follow SydneyTalent www.twitter.com/sydneytalent

 

SydneyTalent is at CeBIT in Skills Alley – Stand K59

 

 

^[1] http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/DigitalEducationRevolution/FAQs/

Pages/DERFrequentlyAskedQuestions.aspx

 

^[1] The Digital Education Revolution has total funding of $2 billion over six years (2008-2013). $1.9 billion of this investment will be delivered through the National Secondary School Computer Fund. $100 million has been allocated to the Fibre Connections to Schools initiative to contribute to the provision of high-speed fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband connections to Australian schools. 

 

^[2] http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/0/FFEDA0779C20049DCA25732C00207383?opendocument

For both men and women, there were higher proportions of 25–34 year olds whose highest non-school qualification was a Bachelor or higher degree than in older age groups. For example, 26% of men and 32% of women aged 25–34 years held a Bachelor or higher degree in 2006, compared with 20% of men and 16% of women aged 55–64 years.

 

^[3] http://www.deewr.gov.au/HigherEducation/Review/Pages/FuturedirectionsforTertiaryEducation.aspx

In her speech to the Universities Australia Conference on 4 March 2009, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that: A target that by 2025, 40% of Australian 25-34 year olds will have a bachelor level or above qualification.

 

^[4]The OECD reported a rise in Australia’s youth unemployment from 8.7 percent to 9.7 percent between July 2008 and January 2009 as against the adult rate which grew from 4.2 percent to 4.9 percent.