$200 million Digital Economy Strategy to fast-track Queensland’s growth

• $200 million investment over three years to grow the state’s digital economy
• Minister has launched new digital economy strategy and action plan
• Strategy includes a Digital Infrastructure Plan and Cyber Secure Plan

The Palaszczuk Government will invest $200 million over the next three years to grow the state’s digital economy and improve digital connectivity throughout Queensland.

Digital Economy Minister Leeanne Enoch today launched Our Thriving Digital Future: Queensland’s Digital Economy Strategy and the three-year Our Thriving Digital Future: 2023-26 Action Plan.

 As part of Our Thriving Digital Future: Queensland’s Digital Economy Strategy the Queensland Government will deliver a range of plans to accelerate Queensland’s digital economy, including the Queensland Digital Infrastructure Plan, and state-wide plans for digital inclusion and cyber security and a First Nations digital strategic plan.

The strategy will help ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are engaged, connected and included through digitally-enhanced businesses and communities.

The strategy will also set out how the Queensland Government will support businesses across the state to maximise opportunities that digital technologies present.

Quotes attributable to Digital Economy Minister Enoch:

“The digital economy is the single most important driver of innovation, competitiveness, and growth,” Ms Enoch said.

“In particular, COVID-19 has shown us just how important digital technology and the digital economy are in our everyday lives.

“During the pandemic, digital technology and the digital economy enabled working from home, online shopping and internet banking and supported virtual healthcare and contact with our family and friends when we couldn’t meet face-to-face.

“That’s why I’m pleased to launch this important strategy today to deliver a range of social and economic opportunities to ensure Queensland will always be a place where we love to live, work, play and conduct business.

“The strategy will improve access to digital technology and power everything from commercial opportunities to social connection, education, employment and accessing healthcare.

"This is a significant investment in a better connected and more inclusive digital future for all Queenslanders.

"This investment is about boosting our regions through better digital infrastructure and improving the digital experience of businesses, their customers and residents across the state.

“We want to ensure all Queenslanders - including those who are more vulnerable or isolated - can access the digital services they need to be connected, independent, and engaged in all aspects of their community.

“This is about increasing quality connectivity by working with other governments and industry to deliver more reliable infrastructure.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for Queenslanders and businesses to interact with our government.

“This includes improvements to government services and streamlining priority life events.

“For example, we are progressing efforts to make it a more streamlined process when Queenslanders have a baby. 

“It’s about a more seamless experience for Queenslanders and reducing the duplication across the processes involved in priority life events.” 

Explainer/fast fact and or further information:

For more information, visit www.qld.gov.au/DigitalEconomy

Our key priorities:

• Close the digital divide: Promote access, affordability and ability so that everyone can enjoy the economic and social benefits of a digitally-enabled economy
• Contemporary digital government services: Put people and businesses at the heart of government service, program and policy design so that services are trusted, easy to use and get the best outcomes.
• Improved connectivity for regional communities: Regional communities have better, more reliable digital infrastructure so they can connect, grow and prosper. Connectivity improves access to education, innovation, healthcare, employment and goods and services.
• Industries and businesses excel: Existing and emerging businesses and industries will have access to, and support to adopt, digital technologies to help them adapt, grow, compete and innovate.
• Pipeline of talent for digital careers: Develop a pipeline of digital talent to grow good, secure jobs for Queenslanders, boost the economy, and ensure businesses and industry have the digital skills they need to be competitive in the marketplace.
• Digitally enabled government: Ensure the Queensland Government is digitally adept and enabled, continuously adapting and transforming the way government operates, manages its data, and invests in digital technology to shape and lead the progression of a thriving digital economy.

Stats:

• Digital activity accounted for 5.9% ($109 billion) of total economy value added ($1,857 billion) in 2019-20, compared to 5.6% ($101.5 billion) in 2018-19 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021).
• In August 2021, nearly 40% of employed Queenslanders were working from home - up from 5.3% in 2011 (ABS, 2021).
• Queensland’s technology workforce is more than 114,000 people strong - more than half of those people work in non-digital industries (Deloitte Access Economics, 2022).
• An estimated 70 per cent of new value created in the global economy over the next decade will be based on digitally-enabled platform business models (World Economic Forum, 2020).

ENDS

 Media contact: Martin Philip 0407 675 008