Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the good senator for his question and for his interest in the impact of the digital age on Australian society and our economy. The digital revolution is transforming every part of the economy—24,000 users and growing every single day. No sector is immune from these changes. Deloittes have estimated the impacts of these changes in their recent report Digital disruption: short fuse, big bang? and they noted that the digital economy is 'changing the very nature of consumption, competition and how markets work'. They went on to say:

More profoundly, it is also driving a significant shift in the balance of power between organisations and individuals.

Last Friday the Prime Minister convened a forum with over 40 business leaders from across the economy, together with Minister Shorten and myself. We heard from successful new digital enterprises like bikeexchange and Shoes of Prey. We heard how large existing businesses like Australia Post, the Commonwealth Bank and Woolworths are changing their businesses. The Prime Minister has committed to a number of initiatives as a consequence of the reform and in particular I have been asked to develop a national cloud computing strategy. The Prime Minister also announced the development of a digital white paper. This will broaden the work undertaken from the cyber white paper and bring this together with the National Digital Economy Strategy.