OzHub has called for Australian governments to set a goal of establishing Australia as the leading cloud-ready country in the region by 2020.
The opportunities from the massive growth in cloud have captured the imagination of countries and businesses throughout the Asia Pacific, with governments keen to encourage investment in their own nations.
However, while all countries are benefiting from investment as the technology shift gathers pace, some are likely to benefit more than others as they become hubs for regional activity.
“Research commissioned by OzHub in 2011 showed that Australia has the potential to become a hub for cloud in the region,” Matt Healy, chairman of OzHub and National Executive, Macquarie Telecom said.
“The coming Digital Economy White Paper represents an opportunity for such a national ambition to be declared.”
“The Federal Government has recognised the importance of national goals so we can measure progress with its 2020 Digital Economy targets, covering issues such as teleworking, e-health, education, and business and home connectivity,” said Kurt Hansen, OzHub Director and Managing Director, F5 Networks.
“Strong investments are being made in Australia’s enabling cloud infrastructure, such as the National Broadband Network, but what is absent is a strong statement of intent by governments about where we want to be as a nation in our adoption of cloud computing opportunities.” Tim Marshall, OzHub Director and External Affairs Director, Alcatel-Lucent Australia said.
“OzHub believes such a statement would send a powerful message to the region, the business community and to policy makers and regulators,” said Craig Baty, OzHub Director and Executive General Manager, Fujitsu.
“For example, it is very important governments become a model user of cloud services in order to demonstrate these practices to the Australian business community.”