The Ballarat region offers a number of residential and business benefits. A recent survey undertaken by CRIC for Regional Development Victoria identified Ballarat as the most popular provincial Victorian location for Melbourne residents (refer Table 8). In contrast, Ballarat was also the least popular Provincial Victorian location to reside, which in some ways is reflective of its high profile. In particular, Ballarat provides relatively low cost of living, a strong labour pool, close proximity to Melbourne, quality education, health and transportation infrastructure, cultural and social amenities, a low crime rate and natural beauty and features.
Table 8 - Provincial Victorian locations with highest and least appeal (Melbourne residents)
Source: CRIC and ASCET Group (2006), Benchmarking Research for Make it Happen in Provincial Victoria
The Federal Government's ICT industry development framework paper, Enabling Our Future, addresses the need to brand Australia as a country with world-class ICT capabilities. The paper suggests that 'Australia is currently not widely perceived as having these characteristics, which makes the task of selling its ICT capabilities, products and services more difficult and undermines our investment promotion and embedding efforts'. The consultation process undertaken for the development of Ballarat ICT 2030 identified that the City's profile faces similar issues to the national industry. The newly adopted Come to Life destination brand for Ballarat is designed to position the City as a proud, progressive and pioneering region. In order to develop Ballarat's profile and identify Ballarat as a vibrant and dynamic ICT centre, it is important that this campaign highlights the quality, dynamism and innovativeness of the Ballarat community and its ICT sector.
An issue concerning regional centres, and in particular, Ballarat's ability to be a leading centre for ICT, is a relatively small population size. The City of Ballarat's current population is estimated at 88,968[vii] (6.4 percent of regional Victoria; 1.8 percent of Victoria). This population is expected to grow at 0.9 percent per annum over the next 24 years, resulting in a population of 110,631 in 2030 (6.6 percent of regional Victoria; 1.8 percent of Victoria). A relatively small population has three major impacts on Ballarat's ICT competitiveness - the need for businesses to have access to markets, access to new ideas and Ballarat's ability to attract skilled professionals. These impacts are discussed further in the following sections.
Although ICT has theoretically diminished the need for organisations to be in close geographical proximity to markets, a large part of the ICT sector can be considered as part of the general business service sector. Historically, regions with larger populations have attracted a greater demand of ICT products. Such demand has been driven by the growth of metropolitan markets, revealing the strength of large cities as drivers of ICT investment and innovation (Graham and Marvin, 1996). Although large cities are most likely to have a large ICT sector, a local economy’s composition is also influential. If Ballarat is able to attract an over-representation of ICT intensive sectors (e.g. ABS statistics identify utilities, cultural and recreational services, property and business services, health and community services) and maintain quality transport connections, then the City’s ICT sector is likely to be relatively large for its population size.
The second issue relating to a relatively small population is access to new ideas, which may lead to product developments and innovations. Urban diversity is considered an important attractor of innovative industries. The competency links between ICT and non-ICT companies leads to product development and innovation, as ICT becomes increasingly embedded in other sectors and products. High-density urban areas may therefore, be preferable locations for ICT companies, in which they can integrate and exchange ideas with other sectors. Therefore, in order to create an environment, which is conducive to innovation, Ballarat must develop, despite its relatively small population, a co-operative, creative and diverse city that fosters exchanges between ICT and non-ICT companies.
Attraction of skilled professionals
The quality of life provided by a region is a key determinant in its ability to attract or retain knowledge workers. The job opportunities provided by technological developments have resulted in a more mobile, international workforce. If Ballarat fails to meet the current and future locational demands of such professionals, it will be unable to achieve the position of a high-grade ICT centre. Large cities have traditionally offered a better supply of cultural amenities and have had a more favourable image among highly skilled workers. Although, the Ballarat region has certain advantages over metropolitan areas (e.g. cost of living, natural surroundings), in order to attract skilled professionals, it must develop its reputation on attributes which are considered salient by this segment of the workforce (e.g. culture, nightlife, music, art).
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