Main Outcomes of the Consultation Processon Where Ballarat is Now

In-depth interviews
ICT Panel Series
Workshops
Briefings

The main issues that surfaced through the consultation process on where Ballarat is now, included:

A continuing need for better networks to facilitate linkages between organisations and for modernisation
The importance of embedding ICT to increase the competitiveness of local industry
The importance of fostering generational shift and good communications with the region's children and youth
Ensuring ICT is connected with diversity and social justice, e.g. acts to prevent a disenfranchised class
Infrastructure! Infrastructure! Infrastructure! Infrastructure! Infrastructure!

In-depth interviews

In-depth interviews were conducted to gain the view of media organisations and Local, State and Federal representatives with a number of consistent themes emerging. These included:

Positive perceptions of the University of Ballarat and UB's Technology Park together with recognition of the need to build on this base to further strengthen and grow Ballarat's ICT reputation and expertise.
The need to improve on existing ICT infrastructure, especially broadband to many locations.
The need to encourage and develop a wider cohort of ICT literate users, in both the business and domestic settings.
The need to stay 'ahead of the ICT game', with the recognition that this review is crucial to that outcome.
The impression that opinion makers (whilst supportive of an ICT agenda), do not possess a high degree of knowledge/opinion concerning likely technical advances in ICT technology and infrastructure except for a short term, narrow focus in their domain or area of particular concern.

ICT Panel Series

The Ballarat ICT Panel Series - 'Our Future ICT Needs' provided an opportunity for more than 50 individuals to come together over a four-week period to engage in debate and discussion around themes including infrastructure, services, and ICT adoption and innovation.

Infrastructure panel participants identified that a variety of matters will have to be considered in formulating the Ballarat ICT 2030 strategy. One goal must be to ensure that this strategy links to related initiatives being pursued under separate strategies. While fibre to every house was identified as our future, strategies for the short term could include:

Continue to address problems with last mile
Tackle the challenge of joining up all the breaks in the pipe
Ensure planning regulations support provisioning in new estates
Future proofing current infrastructure
Begin exploring opportunities for economies of scale
Use demand aggregation as a mechanism for opening up available pipes

Whether right or wrong many businesses still perceive they are disadvantaged compared to metropolitan businesses. Key observations relating to infrastructure included:

Infrastructure capacity alone does not address tyranny of distance - only when distance costs are removed will you get equality
Infrastructure is not only about data, it is also about governance - new people networks will be required to achieve future goals in areas such as enhanced infrastructure and shared services
Storage facilities may be a part of this but not enough on their own
Ongoing education for IT firms and others - Ballarat must become much more proactive in generating greater awareness and knowledge of what is possible through the adoption of new technologies

The Services Panel participants identified the importance of marketing and the benefits of Ballarat being an ICT Centre with a specific focus - Ballarat should focus on its strengths and turn these into internationally renowned and marketed features of the region. Key steps identified in maximising future opportunities included:

Find and focus on a niche market where Ballarat can be competitive
Market what we have locally, nationally and internationally
Optimise use of the University
Engineer and continually evaluate innovative and workplace relevant undergraduate courses in order to create industry ready graduates
Work towards changing the culture and developing young people so Ballarat develops a reputation for having a relatively high proportion of young entrepreneurs
Engage in cluster activities to fully utilise existing SMEs and generate 'big business' through cooperation
Undertake community consultation on a regular basis

The ICT Adoption and Innovation Panel participants identified that innovation should be promoted as something that Ballarat prides itself on:

There is need to recognise and communicate Ballarat's history of innovation, its importance and benefits, for example, its financial return to the City and the region
Ballarat has passion, parochialism, people, Universities, culture, manufacturing and service delivery among a long list of positive points, it is time to recognise and promote this as a driver of innovation, and a reason for adoption
Ballarat is the right size for innovation
Let innovation come from the business - provide opportunities for business to identify what they are already doing - get the IT professionals to provide feedback on opportunities to apply technologies to generate efficiencies and other benefits
Allowing staff to be innovative in their work places will not only boost innovation, it will help to retain employees and talent in Ballarat
Lobby the local media for at least one page a day on innovation/technology

In the final panel local experts discussed what technology would allow us to do in the future. Mobile offices, increased levels of working from home, virtual organisations and companies will create new demand for social infrastructure. Robotics and mechtronics will revolutionise manufacturing. Technology will become embedded in our homes and biological processes will be able to be controlled by technology. Standards will be increasingly used to dictate quality control for the ICT industry. Education will be crucial for creating the culture within which technology can operate.

Workshops

The University of Ballarat ITMS experts, City of Ballarat Major Business Units and Local Government Economic Development Officers and Regional IT Group Workshops all provided different perspectives, which informed the development and refinement of the Ballarat ICT 2030 Strategy.

The ITMS experts were best able to articulate the 'blue sky view' of possible ICT trends for the next 1, 2, 5 and 10 years. Key issues identified included technology convergence; data storage; processing power; bandwidth; knowledge engineering; adoption issues; social issues, trust, security and privacy. Fibre optics, server farms, quantum computing and a rapid increase in handheld device capabilities, were all potentially significant drivers of change.

Participants in the City of Ballarat workshop identified that ICT, particularly in the sense of online communication, is seen as just one part of the suite of tools Council should use to communicate with businesses and the community. Internal use of ICT is much more widespread, with staff and other management, finance, communication, planning, mapping and data storage all online. Some of the respondents wished for better technology to facilitate more work flexibility for their staff, usually related to mobility and information storage and organisation. Thoughts about the future were nearly all focused on making the move from communication to interaction, so that more of the community are able to both, access service information and use services online. Security concerns and a lack of (or the cost of) infrastructure were cited as the main obstacles to be overcome before this could occur.

The central message from the workshop with IT and Economic Development staff from neighbouring councils related to the need for infrastructure upgrades - particularly in terms of broadband connectivity in such a way that would ensure broad accessibility and cost effectiveness. Ballarat has the capacity to advocate and work with neighbouring councils. The smaller LGAs are interested and want to be strategic about the region as much as Ballarat does. Ballarat ICT 2030 and other strategies should be geared towards the broader region as opposed to being just Ballarat - in particular the focus needs to be broad enough to encompass those Shires that have a tendency to be lost between Melbourne and Ballarat, and Geelong and Ballarat.

Briefings

Briefings with key regional committees and networks provided opportunities to promote the Ballarat ICT 2030 Strategy. Attendees were able to learn about the key goals of the project; who was involved; the consultation activities underway and also find out how they could become involved.