IT&T growth to fuel State beyond 2000 - Brief Article

Business Asia, Oct 25, 1999

New South Wales' information technology and telecommunications sector will be the main driver of the State's economic and social development in the new millennium, the head of the newly formed Department of Information Technology and Management says.

Department director-general Warwick Watkins said IT&T would play as important a part in the State's economy in the next century as roads, rails and ports played in the beginning of this one.

"The rate of change and dynamic nature of the IT&T sector and the Internet economy in particular requires NSW to accelerate its efforts in on-line transactions," he said.

"The government has set an agenda of all appropriate services on-line by 2001. The action we're taking is to drive, coordinate and facilitate with other agencies to form a strategic partnership to make sure we meet that agenda."

The Department of Information Technology and Management was formed in April this year and combined several sections such as the Office of Information Technology, the Land Information Centre, the Surveyor General and more.

The department drives the policy actions and strategies for the broad aspects of IT&T, the policy framework for interaction between jurisdictions, both State and Federal.

It also has -- through the Land Titles Office, the Valuer-General's Department and the Land Information Centre -- the core responsibility for land information and spatial data.

Watkins said while NSW had so far been successful in terms of attracting large international IT companies and developing a diverse local industry base, more opportunities could be developed through strategic partnerships between the public and private sector, particularly with Asian countries.

Despite other Asian countries' efforts to become information economy centres, Watkins is confident NSW will not be left behind in the IT race.

"More and more in the future it is the nimble and the small that will beat the big and the slow," he said.

The New South Wales information industry at a glance.

* Generated revenue of A$21 billion in 1996-97.

* Earns nearly A$1.2 billion per year in export revenue from computer and software services.

* The world's 17th largest in terms of total revenue. It is larger than that of Taiwan and Hong Kong, and twice the size of Singapore, Israel and India.

* Employs more than 100,000 people.

CREDIT CHECKS

LONG-TERM CREDIT RATINGS -- STANDARD AND POOR'S 1999

COUNTRY           INTERNATIONAL CREDIT RATING   OUTLOOK

New South Wales              AAA                Stable
Australia                    AAA                Stable
Japan                        AAA                Stable
Singapore                    AAA                Stable
United Kingdom               AAA                Stable
United States                AAA                Stable
Hong Kong                    A                  Negative
Korea                        A-                 Positive
Malaysia                     A-                 Stable
Thailand                     A-                 Stable
Philippines                  BBB                Stable
Indonesia                    B-                 Stable

Source: Standard and Poor's.3