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Monday, 27 February 2012
Page: 945

Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

(Question No. 1465)

Senator Ludlam asked the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, upon notice, on 14 November 2011:

In regard to Australia Institute's research and survey of July 2011 ('What you don't know can hurt you' - Institute Paper No. 6) on public attitudes about online competition:

(1)   How is the department promoting a competitive online market place.

(2)   What stakeholder engagement has it undertaken to examine how vertical search engines are able to compete on an equal basis.

(3)   What consideration has the department given to the need for network neutrality in ensuring effective growth in the digital economy.

(4)   Has the department encountered concern from stakeholders regarding transparency of search engine rankings and how is this likely to influence their position in the digital economy.

Senator Conroy: The answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

(1)   How is the department promoting a competitive online market place.

The department is responsible for three government initiatives that promote an informed and competitive online market place:

Digital Enterprises program

Digitalbusiness.gov.au resource

Digital Hubs program

Digital Enterprises

The Digital Enterprise program is designed to help small-to-medium enterprises and not-for-profit organisations better understand how they can maximise the opportunities from greater digital engagement enabled by the NBN.

The program will provide group training seminars as well as one-on-one advice on how participants can use the NBN to make greater use of online opportunities to conduct their existing processes more efficiently and better achieve their organisational goals.

The program was established to contribute to the Australian Government's vision for Australia as a leading global digital economy by 2020. In particular, this program is designed to contribute to the Digital Economy Goal that by 2020 Australia ranks in the top five OECD countries in relation to the percentage of businesses and not-for-profit organisations, using online opportunities to drive productivity improvements, expand their customer base and enable jobs growth.

The Digital Enterprise program will provide $10 million in grant funding over three years from 2011-12 to the first communities to benefit from the NBN.

Digitalbusiness.gov.au

Digitalbusiness.gov.au provides small and medium businesses and community organisations with up-to-date information and advice about establishing or enhancing their online presence.

A regularly updated blog provides ongoing information about issues in the field and new Government initiatives, while case studies provide users with practical examples of businesses and community organisations that have already found success online.

The website provides practical instructions on what people can do to go online and access the benefits and resources of the internet.

Digital Hubs

Digital Hubs will provide training to narrow the gap between those Australians who engage online and those who do not. Digital Hubs will enable local residents to increase their online engagement and better understand the opportunities presented by the NBN by demonstrating applications enabled by high-speed broadband.

This training will include advice on performing operations online such as using a search engine effectively.

(2) What stakeholder engagement has it undertaken to examine how vertical search engines are able to compete on an equal basis.

The department is aware of the Australia Institute's report's concerns that Google is used for the vast majority of searches in Australia. The department is monitoring this issue, however it notes that Australians are free to choose between search providers on a case-by-case basis.

(3) What consideration has the department given to the need for network neutrality in ensuring effective growth in the digital economy.

The government considers its role in the development of the digital economy as an enabler, as this transformation is very much a market-led phenomenon. Much of the network neutrality debate has occurred in the US where there is wide use of unlimited data broadband plans and associated network congestion. The Government is seeking to avoid congestion by building ubiquitous, high-speed bandwidth across the nation.

(4) Has the department encountered concern from stakeholders regarding transparency of search engine rankings and how is this likely to influence their position in the digital economy.

The department is aware of industry concern surrounding the transparency of search engine rankings. The department notes however that consumers can choose from a range of search engine providers to access information. There are no plans to regulate the algorithms used by search engine providers to generate their rankings.