Enterprise software is Australia’s competitive advantage: Kate Pounder, CEO, Technology Council of Australia

One of Australia’s greatest strengths is its enterprise software industry according to Kate Pounder, CEO of the Technology Council of Australia.

Kate Pounder, CEO, Technology Council of Australia

Pounder spoke on a panel at the UTS Innovation Showcase last week and highlighted Atlassian, Culture Amp and Canva as success stories showcasing the value Australia has created in enterprise software over the last few decades.

According to Pounder, “Why were we good at [enterprise] software? Because we had the right skills base, because we had a really good R&D basis in our universities. We have about seven universities in the top 100 for ICT in Australia. Because it was easy for us to produce locally.”

Pounder believes that that Australia can leverage its competitive advantage in enterprise software in order to develop competitiveness in emerging industries.

“We can learn from that and say, for example, where the software now combines with another industry, we have strength. So, take agtech for example. What is it combined with energy tech or mining tech, and all these other things that we are already good at, when you combine software then it can be an amazing new industry. Quantum, is another.”

Panellist Petra Andren, head of innovation districts at the Greater Cities Commission asserted that while Australia’s digital ecosystem has become well-established since 2012, it's lacking when it comes to the convergence of technologies.

“We've done really well creating an ecosystem around digital, definitely. But not so much when it comes to agrifood tech, medical. The government needs to pull some heavy levers because if we're going to get into manufacturing it is a whole different game,” said Andren.

“The Atlassians, the Canvas – they fit into a service, it fits Australia, quite frankly. It's a global digital supply chain – that fits right in. If we're going to go into agrifood tech, if we want to get into these other emerging technologies, we're going to have to back them. We're going to have to have the capabilities.”

According to Andren, Australia’s technology readiness level is falling behind the rest of the world.

“I'm hopeful but at the same time, a little bit disheartened because I see that ecosystem was starting to form around these other technologies, and I know its Covid, but it's gone backwards,” she said.

Ed Husic, Minister for Industry and Science said the Australian Government’s $15 billion commitment to establish the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) is critical to revitalising Australia’s manufacturing capability.

“I would not want us to think at the point where we've got so much know-how and capability on quantum technology and particularly in computing, I don't want us to give it away so the NRF has got an important role to play in nurturing that,” said Husic.