Smartening the Australian Economy

Glen Boreham, Managing Director IBM Australia and New Zealand addressed the National Press Club Wednesday on "Towards a smarter economy". He later have an interview with ABC Radio covering many of the same topics: "Smart technology linked to economic recovery" as well as the transcript, an MP3 audio file is available.

MARK COLVIN: The technology company IBM says Australia should buy more 'smart technology' as a way of beating the global financial crisis.

The head of IBM's Australian arm, Glen Boreham, says the Federal Government could grow the economy by 1.5 per cent in ten years.

How? By making sure computer chips and wireless devices are embedded in the nation's infrastructure.

Mr Boreham says getting infrastructure to work together well could bring big economic and environmental gains in managing electricity, irrigation, health and broadband communications.

And Glen Boreham told PM's Ashley Hall that putting smart devices into cars could solve a lot of traffic problems.

GLEN BOREHAM: If we were able to look at a network of understanding where cars were on a road. That filtering into computers that could analyse data and do predictions. So that they could say well if there's a breakdown here, it will have this sort of flow on affect, we could then actually get information to people in real time. ..."

From: "Smart technology linked to economic recovery, Ashley Hall, ABC Radio PM, 10 June 2009

Making a smarter economy

Greetings from the National Press Club in Canberra, where Glen Boreham, Managing Director IBM Australia is speaking on "Towards a smarter economy". Glen started by explaining he would be talking about social, economic and environmental issues, as well as technology. He touched on the global financial crisis, water shortages and Australia's economic ranking in the world.

IBM has a "Smarter Planet" initiative, with at its core the idea that with more information smarter decisions can be made. I would argue that better information is needed, not more, but IBM is generally on the right track. Many of the examples Glen gave about using information for traffic congestion, electricity and water use require very small amounts of information and do not require broadband systems. Many of the examples would work well with a low bandwidth ubiquitous wireless network.

Mr. Boreham pointed out that the federal government is investing heavily in physical infrastructure in transport, buildings and utilities. These investments would deliver a far higher economic and social return with the application of ICT to optimise their use.

The Australian government, through AusAid, is funding Australian academics to help the governments and industries of other countries build smarter government and commerce. I suggest it would be a good idea to put some of the infrastructure investment into improving governance and business processes in Australia through ICT. This is only in part about technology, it is mostly about management skills in how to make effective use of the technology.

Even technology companies need to learn effective use of technology. IBM should lead by example by using smart systems, not just talk about them. Having the Managing Director of IBM Australia talk to a room of people in Canberra does not communicate the information very effectively. Even the live TV broadcast does not reach many people. It is disappointing that IBM did not offer any web pages or multimedia to complement the presentation. This would not be new to the Press Club as I gave the first multimedia address there in 1996 on: "Australia's 'Net Futures".

ps: Thanks to IBM for the lunch.

IBM's smarter economy

Glen Boreham, Managing Director IBM Australia and New Zealand is speaking on "Towards a smarter economy" at the National Press Club of Australia, Wednesday 10, June 2009. I assume he will be discussing IBM's "Smarter Planet" initiative, with Smart Utilities, Smart Traffic, Smart Infrastructure and other examples of dematerialisation. I will try to do a live blog report from the event. I made a press club address on "Australia's 'Net Futures" in 1996.

When people have more information, they make smarter decisions.

In Germany, 6 million households are reducing their electricity bills, because an intelligent energy grid gives them enough information to do so.

In Sweden, an intelligent road system gives Stockholm’s commuters enough information to reduce traffic congestion by 25% and carbon emissions by 40%.

If Australians had more information about the impact of their decisions – on their pocket, on the environment, on their quality of life, on GDP – they would act very differently.

Glen Boreham will contend that – as we invest billions in building infrastructure through the stimulus package – Australia has a unique opportunity to embed intelligence into every road, building, city and utility grid.

In his view, the information this would generate would empower our citizens, businesses and governments to get behind the issues that affect us all.

Mr Boreham will look to a future where the sum of millions of smarter decisions help us to use less energy, make far more efficient use of our water resources, unclog our congested cities and boost our GDP – creating a smarter, sustainable economy.

Glen Boreham is the Managing Director of IBM Australia and New Zealand having been appointed to this role in January, 2006. He manages a business of nearly 15,000 employees and annual revenues of $4 Billion.

Mr Boreham began his career in 1986 in Sydney, Australia. Since then, he has held senior positions in IBM across sales, general management, business development and operations. Mr Boreham has substantial global experience having worked for two years in Japan and over six years in Europe.

He holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney, and completed a Managing Director’s programme from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

In June 2008, Mr Boreham was appointed to serve as the inaugural Chair of Screen Australia. Screen Australia is the Australian Government’s agency responsible for developing a competitive film and television industry while providing support for projects of cultural significance.

In addition, Mr Boreham is a member of the Business Council of Australia and is Deputy Chairman of the Australian Information Industry Association. He serves on the Board of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and is a Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia.

In 2007, Mr Boreham was named by the Australian Financial Review in the top five most powerful leaders in information industries. In April 2008, Mr Boreham participated in the Australian Government’s 2020 Summit, working on the future of the Australian economy. ...

From: Towards a smarter economy, National Press Club of Australia, 2009