You can't pick up a newspaper these days without reading about the serious challenges facing our country's future. Climate change, the management of water resources, the financial crisis and the need for new high-speed broadband are big issues facing Australia right now.
Last week Telstra Wholesale sponsored a meeting of more than 140 key thinkers from business, academia and community organisations, who gathered in Brisbane for the Australian Davos Connection (ADC) Infrastructure 21 Summit 2008.
Invited by the independent leadership organisation ADC, participants were joined by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albenese, and attended over two days to discuss and debate some of the biggest infrastructure challenges facing the nation.
Telstra Wholesale GMD Kate McKenzie co-chaired the Institutional Arrangements Stream and Public Policy and Communications GMD David Quilty was a member of the Information, Communications and Technology stream.
Reflecting on the two days Kate said that now more than ever Australian business and industry need to stay competitive and improve productivity and investment in large-scale infrastructure projects is critical.
“The general consensus was that there has been a ‘drought’ in necessary infrastructure investment in the last decade,” Kate said.
In a week hit by a global financial market melt-down it was generally agreed that it was going to be harder to attract the level of investment for such large projects.
“It was generally agreed that we needed to have the right regulatory settings in place to encourage and attract large-scale investment.
“In our group we agreed - and it was accepted by the larger group - that access regimes need revisiting so that they can give greater certainty to investors. Planning processes need to improve so that investors know what is needed and what kinds of timeframes to work towards.
Energy, water, transport as well as telecommunications were the major areas of discussion.
“There was also a lot of discussion around the need to accept that our cities need to become more densely populated if they are to support a reduced carbon footprint and improved public transport.
David Quilty, who participated in the ICT Group said discussion was focussed on the importance of smart infrastructure and the fact that ICT is a transforming technology that will continue to drive business productivity and competitiveness, the delivery of sustainable environmental solutions and world-class health and education services.
“We looked at how ICT (smart infrastructure) can enhance the uses and the benefits of hard infrastructure investments, through applications such as smart water and energy metering, traffic management solutions, digital curricula and e-health. All of this must be underpinned by world-class broadband infrastructure.
David said that there was a need for greater leadership from government and the sector itself in understanding how the innovative use of ICT is central to Australia's future economic and social wellbeing.
An ADC Infrastructure 21 Summit report will be drafted and issued to federal and state governments and agencies.
Telstra Wholesale was proud to be a platinum sponsor of the event along with KPMG and nabCapital.