The internet has become much more than just a commodity for those who can afford it. Globally, people are isolating themselves and the internet needs to be more than entertainment but for communication to the outside. Australia has garnered a reputation for having less than satisfactory internet in comparison to the wider global community. The data shown by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) details the divide between Australia as a first world country to many other global communities.
When looking at the accessibility line graph, Australia was following with the United Kingdom and Germany from 2005 to 2010. But suddenly there is a noticeable diversion from the pattern. The UK and Germany kept improving their internet accessibility while Australia only improved very slightly over a similar period.
It is also interesting to note that some countries have similar progression in terms of internet access. The UK and Germany have almost identical rise and while the Netherlands had a slower start they almost overlap with Korea.
Australia’s Stand Still:
Why did Australia become stagnant? A big factor that may have contributed to this stagnation in internet access within Australia could in line with the year 2016 where the data provided by the OECD ends and in that year, a leaked National Broadband Network document was reported on by the ABC which indicated that “the NBN’s rollout of fibre-to-the-node has been well behind schedule” could have been why Australia dropped off in comparison to our UK relatives as well as Germany.
Impact on Australian Businesses:
The tree map tells us that industries like accommodation, food, postal and agriculture had 50 percent or less web presence. Covid 19 has made it so that workers must not gather in large numbers and has kept non-essential businesses shut. Businesses with no web presence will have no means of income or any communication with their customer base under lockdown.
Experts that spoke to the researchers at the Pew Research Centre in 2019 about the quality of life people will have as the internet advances said: “It will revolutionize the world and lead to groundbreaking changes in transportation, industry, communication, education, energy, health care, communication, entertainment, government, warfare and even basic research.” The internet has to become a universal tool for every citizen of Australia to allow these opportunities of revolution to come true. We need to be able to compete with other countries to offer everyone a decent standard of living.
References and data sources
- https://data.oecd.org/ict/internet-access.htm
- https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/8166.0Main+Features12016-17?OpenDocument
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-01/manning-what-went-wrong-with-the-nbn/7210408
- https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/10/28/4-the-internet-will-continue-to-make-life-better/
