CIO OPINION and that failure to do so will jeopardise AU $ 10 billion in economic growth .
But according to the Australian Computer Society ’ s ( ACS ) Digital Pulse Survey 2021 , a mere 7,000 students graduated with an IT degree in 2019 , and in the years since , international student enrolments and completions have decreased significantly .
The NSW and ACT Governments have also recently invested heavily in the development of cybersecurity hubs with the aim of creating a skilled talent pipeline .
Other voices have focused on the immediacy of the issue , suggesting that by attracting people from other industries today we can stay ahead of the technology game and allow businesses to reach their potential .
Beyond catapulting into the future to remain competitive on a global stage and nurturing a local digital workforce to kick-start our economic recovery , a steady supply of talent is needed to fend off cyberattacks .
Over the past year we have witnessed hacks against a hospital , food processing company and television network and the Australian Cybersecurity Center ( ACSC ) claims that over the period there has been a 60 % increase in ransomware attacks against Australian entities . According to AustCyber , we need an additional 10,000 new cybersecurity professionals over the next four years to mitigate these threats and protect our information .
What is the solution ?
This is the AU $ 10 billion question .
A number of initiatives have been rolled out to plug the digital skills gap , many of them worthy of our support and congratulation . The Australian Government has dedicated AU $ 20 billion towards higher education this year , which includes subsidised IT courses .
While we should certainly encourage those from other sectors to consider a career in IT , we should not be so heavy-handed that we leave a trail of gaps in other industries . Instead , we should strike a balance by increasing opportunities for those with transferable skills to lend their expertise to the sector while creating fertile ground for new talent to grow .
We recently saw mining companies pair with vocational centers in Australia to offer industry-specific training to those in the vertical industries of defense , agriculture , construction and energy , so that workers could easily transition to mining whenever there was a demand . It
In Australia , the tyranny of distance and collapse of immigration have meant that the lack of skilled digital workers reaching our shores has been acutely felt .
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