2011 Australia - E-Health, E-Education, E-Government

Trans-sector concept for National Broadband Network

The National Broadband Network – based on structural separation of the infrastructure and service providers – is the ideal platform for a trans-sectoral approach to a range of services, including healthcare, education and other government services. However government policies are essential to enable these sectors to begin to deliver services such as health monitoring and trans-sectoral thinking. This will require a reallocation of budgets.

The Australian government is leading the world in trans-sectoral thinking. After the announcement of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in 2009 it introduced the correct policy initiatives to confirm its trans-sector approach. In order to build a sound business model for the NBN other sectors need to participate. The government indicated that the National Broadband Network is a nation-building project with a clear national purpose – it will become a social highway.

Initiatives are already being taken in the areas of smart grids, education and healthcare. Further action is anticipated, to ensure that the business that will be generated from these sectors can be taken into account within the NBN business plan.

E-Health

E-health may become an area for the emergence of key killer applications that utilise truly high-speed broadband networks. The Australian government is at the forefront, linking the strategic trans-sector e-health developments to the NBN. Early diagnosis, post-treatment patient monitoring and aged care services are fields in which significant synergies may be found using applications provided to users at home.

With the financing of the public health systems in Australia becoming increasingly costly more effective use of web services for healthcare consumers offers an opportunity to lower costs. Widely available and cost-effective high-speed broadband infrastructure enables e-health consumers to benefit from advances in medical technology and medical services.

New private and public industry initiatives were launched in 2010, based on good government policies.

E-Education

The digital world continues to influence the growth and development of e-education, with a number of trends emerging in this sector. Cloud computing is beginning to be implemented for use at an operational level, potentially reducing infrastructure cost and administration time. Mobile technology is also starting to be used as an educational tool, particularly by academic and healthcare organisations.

There is some evidence that, while the economic downturn has resulted in a decline in overall spending on enterprise training, spending on e-learning has grown, with more being directed towards this learning method than instructor-led training.

This report provides an overview of e-education and identifies key trends. A case study on Australia is provided as it demonstrates some interesting developments in relation to e-education and the NBN. The report also introduces the emerging concept of E-science.

Simultaneously, the capability of Internet services devoted to e-education is set to increase enormously over the next decade as well. With its large landmass and relatively small population Australia is an ideal market for remote education services. As such, Australia is home to many successful e-education service providers, as well as being a fairly important market for the services themselves.

E-Government

E-government services have been widely available in many countries for a number of years now and the sector is beginning to evolve, with attention turning towards cloud computing, green e-government, mobile services and citizen participation.

The Australian government already provides citizens with relatively sophisticated e-government services and, as with education, the establishment of a fibre-based broadband network may see the government improve and broaden the range of web services for which it is responsible. Australia, therefore, is a fascinating and relatively advanced market for both e-education and e-government services.

This report provides broad information on e-government development and identifies the governments around the world that are leading the way in the use of these services. It discusses common applications and the benefits and barriers to e-government.

The report is designed to provide current observations which may assist investors, analysts and industry participants in making investment and business decisions.

Market highlights:

• In mid-2010 the Australian government announced a $392 million plan for National Health Medicare rebates on online services and other projects that would help people who live outside capital cities in obtaining needed health care.
• Telstra signed a deal with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners that will allow it to build e-health services for 17,000 GPs.
• Global cost-savings through e-health are expected to be between 10% and 20% of total healthcare costs.
• Australia’s National Broadband Network will be a key enabler for e-health applications, and CDM-Net highlights the kind of services we can expect in the future.
• While broader economic conditions in Australia may be subdued through 2011, spending on e-health solutions is likely to be boosted as part of the larger economic stimulus packages the government is currently enacting.
• The global e-learning market is worth around US$30-50 billion worldwide and Global Industry Analysts (GIA) forecast that it will grow to almost US$110 billion by 2015.
• The use of IT and telecommunications technology within educational environments is set to increase dramatically over the next 5 years, as high-speed fibre-based broadband becomes widely available in Australia.
• Internet use as a means of contacting the government is well-established in Australia; it is now positioned as the main service delivery channel for Australians wishing to interact with government.

Note: all $ are AU$ unless otherwise stated.

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not include the current year.