$79 billion is the estimated amount that digital workforce economy contributed to the Australian economy in the 2013-14 year reported from Deloitte Access Economics.
Now representing 5.1% of the Australian gross domestic product (GDP), the digital technology now includes cloud platforms, smart hand –held devices and social networks that are changing how consumers interact with businesses, but also how businesses are organising themselves.
The report titled The Connected Continent II: How digital technology is transforming the Australian economy, Deloitte Access Economics was commissioned by Google and follows up from a similar report in 2011.
Reporting in 2011, the digital industry was estimated to be at $50 billion or 3.6% of GDP, in real terms there has been a 50% jump with the forecast to grow to $139 billion or 7.3% GDP by 2020.
To place these figures in perspective, if the digital economy was classified as an industry, it would be larger than Australia’s agricultural, transport or retail industries. The mining industry currently represents 8.3% of the Australian economy, manufacturing is 6.4% and construction is 8%.
The technology changes are sparking from the growing demand to now reach new customers and the response for business to go online and use social media. The digital economy is changing from being a standalone industry to one that is being embedded in everyday part of life. Traditional forms of business such as manufacturing or retail are now finding themselves online selling directly through their websites. The growth of digital technologies has allowed manufacturing and retail suppliers to streamline their production process and communicate more efficiently.
As an indication on the breath of these digital impacts on the wider economy, the report found that there were around 2.5 million IT specific users in Australia over the 2013-14 year, representing 22% of total employment. The largest occupations in this board group were accounting clerks, advertising, public relations and sales managers. Less than 3% of Australia’s workforce is directly employed in specialist information and communication technology (ICT) roles.