ITEE College Chair Blog: ICT at the Centre of Political Debate
It would be hard not to have noticed the attention that the National Broadband Network received in the election campaign. That the debate should be so focused on the technology and the bits and bytes rather than the services (noting there was some commentary on eHealth and education) is perhaps missing the point.
Put simply the national imperative is to be part of the digital revolution and understand the importance to the economy of being able to play in the digital world. It’s about smart grids, smart water, smart infrastructure and so on: apart from points of health and education delivery and for businesses, the need for high information rates rarely exists other than for entertainment purposes. This is not to undervalue the importance of entertainment (which can be educational in its own right) but the really significant economic benefits don’t seem to require 100 Mbps to over 90% of the population, at least not until it’s affordable and/or productivity benefits are clear. Smart deliverables can be achieved generally at information rates readily available to most of the population today.
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