Mar 08 27
Take off the blinkers
Posted by Sheryle Moon @ 15:22 3 comments
"IT is not the hub of all things, it is just another job type," commented one reader of this blog a few weeks ago.
Is this true?
I understand that no industry holds the answers to all the world's problems. I also know that every job — regardless of how meaningful or glamorous — involves some level of monotony. However, how many industries are enabling economic growth and prosperity on a scale never seen before?
In Forecasting productivity growth: 2004 to 2024, the Australian Government asserts that ICT has emerged as the main technological driver of national productivity growth, and that technological innovations are the main drivers of long-term productivity growth.
Indeed, according to the government, the introduction of new ICT technologies alone triggers a learning process that creates significant innovation across the Australian economy.
Improvements in productivity are widely agreed to be the fundamental cause of long-term improvements in a country's standard of living. One outstanding line of economic modelling (the Swan-Solow model of economic growth) suggests that productivity growth is the primary source of enduring growth in per capita incomes.
So, next time you relax in your media room, admire your iPhone or choose your next exotic holiday destination, consider the productivity gains that enabled you to enjoy these activities — IT. If you'd like to use your PC and Internet link to disagree with me in the Talkback below, please feel free!
Mar 08 18
Embracing the 'F' word
Posted by Sheryle Moon @ 12:44 5 comments
The new breed of Luddites, Facebook knockers, join an illustrious list of people who have tried to turn the tide, literally and figuratively, against progress.
One Melbourne café owner, for instance, asks anyone caught chatting about the social networking site to cease their conversation immediately. While slightly tongue-in-cheek, the restaurant owner does have a sign in his window warning patrons not to use the "F" word -- Facebook.
Let's not go into the civil liberty issues or freedom of speech; however it did get me thinking about other people in history who have unsuccessfully railed against progress or mis-predicted the impact that certain technologies would have on our society, such as the Duke of Wellington, renowned for defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, who observed somewhat short-sightedly that "railroads would only encourage common people to move about needlessly". ...Read more
Mar 08 11
Women in ICT a rare breed
Posted by Sheryle Moon @ 13:26 8 comments
Friday was International Women's Day -- a perfect opportunity to examine the appalling lack of women in ICT.
A quick scan of almost any ICT department, ICT conference or vendor environment -- from the trenches to the corner office -- confirms that women who embrace technology as a lifelong career remain a rare breed.
There is no doubt that the opportunities for women in technology have advanced in the past few decades, as have education initiatives aimed at levelling the playing field and attracting women into the industry. ...Read more
Mar 08 3
Turning the tide on skilled immigration
Posted by Sheryle Moon @ 15:37 34 comments
While we continue to talk about Australia's ICT skills shortage, more than 3,000 potential sponsorships are being blocked by impediments to the 457 visa scheme.
Sponsorship of skilled workers is an important source of workers for the ICT industry. In the past, 457 visa migrants help to bridge Australia's skills gaps, particularly in technical "hotspots" such as .NET, security, Java, C++, Siebel and SAP.
And yet, under regulations which took effect on 1 October, 2007, on-hire companies that seek to sponsor overseas skilled workers can only do so through labour agreements. ...Read more
