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Saturday, April 30, 2022

Thursday, April 14, 2022

85% of Australians don’t feel “digital ready or capable



I read an interesting report based on a a Salesforce survey on Dec 21 on “digital readiness and capability” across 19 countries - with a view  to close the skills gap and succeed in the workplace. 

The IDC predicts that by 2026, Australia and New Zealand will have 130,400 net new technology jobs - and yet 85% of  ANZ workers don’t feel adequately equipped when it comes to digital skills! 


In Dec 2022 Salesforce surveyed people’s “

The  “digital readiness and capability” findings 

  • The global index score for digital readiness (the average) is 33 out of 100. New Zealand scored 28 and Australia scored 21.
  • Of the surveyed Australian respondents for the report, 55% are only somewhat digital ready and 19% are not ready at all. In New Zealand, those figures are 57% and 16%.


Digital reskilling and upskilling is clearly now a worldwide priority, particularly in ANZ - some say as important as reading , writing and arithmetic! 


Salesforce ANZ Sustainability, Skills & Reconciliation Lead, Alexandra McDonald points out that Australia has produced the likes of  Canva, Afterpay, Atlassian , MYOb , Referron , Redbubble, Aconex , myOB , my Recruitment Plus, Rhipe , Netreturn and Xero 


And yet 


The digital readiness of our workforce and the shortage of digital skills - has presented a big problem - and for those who are keen to reskill and upskill - this presents a big opportunity!


Alexandra says it’s time to take action with #digitallearning as the digital skills shortage takes hold !!!


According to the report the top five skills that are now most desirable for organisations are:

  1. Collaboration technology: Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat
  2. Digital administrative: Digitising and filing paperwork, virtual stakeholder meetings, digital-first processes, digitally presented pressing information
  3. Encryption and cyber security: Skills to protect data and systems from unauthorised parties
  4. Ecommerce and digital trade: Sales order management, payments to shipping and fulfilment processes
  5. Project management technology: Utilising project management software to manage projects, processes, people, timelines, and more


59% of Australian respondents and 64% of New Zealand respondents say digital collaboration skills are of the utmost importance now and will be over the next five years, yet only 17% (Australia) and 22% (New Zealand) rate themselves as advanced in that department. 


For a business and indeed our economy to survive and thrive in this  #nexttechrevolution  - a future-minded, digitally fluent workforce needs to be nurtured. 


  • How do we reskill and upskill our population to take advantage of these employment opportunities ?

  • How can we upskill and reskill our communities in the top 5  digital skills


In an all-digital world, we need to invest more in enabling our workforce to reskill - and University degrees won’t cut the mustard 


  • How can Schools, Governments and Organisations  in the Private and Public Sector train, reskill and upskill  our population to match the digital skills demand? 
  • How can we develop ‘real world’ digital skills in the workplace so we are ready for the #nexttechrevolution ?
  • How can organisations partner with learning facilities with a view to  develop internal upskilling/cross-skilling programs?
  • How can you as an individual or corporate - overcome digital overwhelm?

Maybe  - understanding the digital world through training and learning is part of the solution .


  • How can we get people to engage ?

- An increase in the number of digital skills-specific micro-credentials and courses .
An easy seamless way for people to do these courses - (maybe Duolingo or Nexttech for Digital Learning) 
- Broadening the awareness of training options.
- Supporting employers to create a portal to help provide a way for their employees in their quest for lifelong learning 
- Empowering them to drive digitisation within an organisation and
- Providing targeted support for underserved communities (Prisons maybe?)


Maybe Nexttech for the #Nexttech Revolution ?


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