ACS releases annual Digital Pulse report

With digital technology now central to Australia’s economy, the Australian Computer Society (ACS) has launched its 2025 Digital Pulse report under the banner ‘Today, meet tomorrow’. The AC says it lays out a 10-point action plan addressing workforce and innovation challenges to close the nation’s digital skills gap and boost national productivity by $25 billion before 2035.

A key part of the report is a survey of 300 Australian C-level executives and 1200 workers on the use of technology in the workplace. The survey found skills gaps across the workforce are holding back the nation’s businesses from being competitive and there could be around 150,000 enterprises currently experiencing significant or severe digital skills gaps.

This year’s report found digital technology contributes nearly $134 billion to the economy and supports more than a million jobs. It is no longer just the domain of tech professionals, with the average Australian worker spending nearly three hours per day using digital skills, accounting for 39% of their working time.

“Digital skills are the foundation of Australia’s economic future,” said ACS Chief Executive Officer Josh Griggs. “To compete globally, we need to ensure every worker, from frontline staff to the executive suite, has the capabilities to work with and lead digital transformation.

“If we close these gaps, Australia stands to unlock billions in economic growth, improve cyber resilience, and position itself as a global tech leader,” Griggs said. “Our plan is not just about fixing today’s problems; it’s about creating a future-ready nation.”

The 10 recommended actions are:

1. Develop a national sovereign AI strategy.
2. Develop an innovation strategy.
3. Government co-investment in scale-ups.
4. Greater incentives for R&D in AI and tech adoption by businesses.
5. Executives take a digital skills health check.
6. Promote entry-level pathways for cybersecurity professionals.
7. Fast-track a national framework for tech skills.
8. A national commitment to alternative tech pathways.
9. Implement an ‘earn while you learn’ scheme.
10. Develop a sovereign system layer for government.

The ACS Digital Pulse report can be downloaded from www.acs.org.au/digitalpulse.

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