Resilient, sustainable, equitable – our digital readiness opportunity

Read the Cisco Australia Digital Readiness Index 2022, a newly released report.

Australia’s Digital Readiness

The Cisco Australia Digital Readiness Index 2022 explores how ready each state and territory is in Australia to reap the benefits of future digitsation.

By measuring the factors that contribute to digital readiness, we can understand how different nations, states and territories are performing, and measure their progress towards creating a more prosperous and digitally inclusive society.

We can also understand the improvements that are needed to maintain or boost performance.

Cisco’s global Digital Readiness Index ranks 146 countries on digital readiness. Australia has dropped to 16th place in 2021 (from 12th in 2020), and falling behind New Zealand (8th).

The Australian Digital Readiness Index 2022 provides insights for how states and territories rank in digital readiness. 

The examination of digital readiness scores across each state and territory shows close groupings between them on many components, with one significant outlier.

The Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, and Victoria were in the highest digital readiness category, Amplify High.

South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania were all ranked in the Amplify Medium category.

The Northern Territory ranked in the Amplify Low category, reflecting recognised social and economic challenges within the territory. 

The results reveals that a digital divide continues to define Australia’s overall digital readiness.

These insights provide a sharp reminder that digital readiness is ongoing, and the effort required to maintain or boost a country’s ranking in one year may prove insufficient in following years.

The declines suffered by Australia can not be purely attributed to the Covid-19 crisis, as this was a global phenomenon. 

A holistic model for Australia

The digital readiness of a country is determined by examining seven components.

This allows us to measure key factors that paint a complete picture of a country’s digital readiness and isolate those changes that have led to an increase or decrease in overall score. 

Digital Readiness across Australia’s States and Territories

The Cisco Digital Readiness Index does more than just demonstrate a country, state, or territory’s comparative ranking. It provides a blueprint for the investments and interventions that can be made today to deliver the near and long-term impacts that will shape a prosperous digital future.

Ben Dawson, Vice President, Cisco Australia & New Zealand