Australia also tops the list of users and owners of internet, personal computers, e-commerce facilities and mobile phone users. The information and technology industry of Australia contributes about 4.1% of the total of GDP. Australian information and technology market has witnessed a steady growth in the past few decades because of a favourable environment as well. Australian IT industries have developed technologies and software which are being used by 60% of the total mining industries in the whole world. Moreover, Australian government also provides major incentives for investing in Australian information and technology sector. These facilities have lured many foreign investors to invest in the Australian IT market. The government is also coming up with different strategies to make government services available on the internet.
According to the survey conducted by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts in the year 2004, Australia ranked 6th out of 12 countries. The study revealed that internet access is available to 84% of the total Australian population, aged 16 and above. 36% of the population who used home Internet services accessed the government websites and Australia was one of the leaders in promoting the use of Internet by people of all ages. According to other market surveys, internet commerce has grown by 37% and reached A$33 billion by the end of June 2004, as observed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The number of online buyers has also increased from 3.5 million in September 2001 to 6.3 million in April 2005.
The Australian government has released a report on behalf of the Australian National University�s National Centre for Information Systems Research named, �Achieving Value from ICT-Key Management strategies� which shows the steps to be taken by the government in future with regard to the development of IT sector. Another way of increasing the revenue earned from IT firms is through the successful management of e-business options. The government has set up a special committee to investigate about the future of e-business or electronic payment markets in Australia.
The biggest IT firms in the Australian market are IBM, CSC, HP and EDS and other consulting firms. These information and technology industries together contribute to about 65% of the total outsourcing market of Australia. The Australian healthcare market is also largely making use of IT services. This is expected to rise in the coming years and government is taking definite steps towards this.
Thus, the information and technology industry in Australia is making its presence felt in all spheres of the Australian economy and the government is taking all steps to promote this sector.
