Adelaide Falls Short in New CSIRO Report on Australian Digital Technology Clusters
Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, has missed out on being classified as one of Australia’s top digital technology clusters in a new report released by the CSIRO. The report identified four geographic super-clusters that represent the largest and most significant agglomerations of digital companies and workers in the country: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Canberra.
Unfortunately, Adelaide was not included in this elite group and was instead placed in a lower tier, labeled as a greater capital city cluster. The CSIRO’s assessment of the Adelaide cluster encompassed areas such as Mawson Lakes/Globe Derby Park, Payneham/Felixstow, and Adelaide City. Notably absent from this consideration was the Tonsley Innovation District. As a result, Adelaide finds itself placed alongside Perth, Darwin, and Hobart in terms of digital technology activity.
To determine the classification of these clusters, the CSIRO analyzed data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) regarding the number of digital industry workers as a percentage of the total workforce in a given region. This was then compared to the proportion of Australian digital tech workers in the overall workforce, resulting in a location quotient (LQ). Adelaide City achieved an LQ of 1.98, while Mawson Lakes reached 2.08 and Payneham scored 2.9. Although these values indicate significant specialization, they fell short compared to the super-clusters.
The report highlighted the outstanding performance of the designated super-clusters, with their LQ scores surpassing those of the rest of the nation. In Sydney, Lavender Bay emerged as the top performer with an LQ of 5.2, closely followed by Redfern at 4.8. Meanwhile, Docklands in Melbourne achieved an impressive LQ of 4.8. In Brisbane, six regions formed the Brisbane corridor, while Canberra boasted nine regions meeting the CSIRO’s criteria for national significance.
Additionally, the report delved into the top regions in Australia for specific digital technology professions. Adelaide suburbs managed to secure only two spots on this list. Salisbury North ranked 10th nationwide for the concentration of database administration professionals, while Norwood secured the 19th spot for the number of graphic designers based there.
Moreover, the report revealed that South Australia lacked major tech investors, with all the top 15 backers being located interstate. This finding suggests that Adelaide may be missing out on crucial investment and support for its digital technology sector.
Overall, Adelaide’s exclusion from the top-tier super-clusters identified in the CSIRO’s report highlights the need for further investment and development of its digital technology industry. By attracting more tech investors and fostering growth in specific digital fields, Adelaide has the potential to elevate its position in the Australian digital landscape. However, it must address the shortcomings identified in the report to compete with the likes of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Canberra, which currently dominate the country’s digital technology clusters.
