The Internet of Things is taking over the developed world by storm and IT experts in Australia thinks that the country should act on it now — and fast.
The Internet of Things Hub reported that Australia has the potential to become an IoT hotbed, if only it increases its industry collaboration and gains more governmental support, according to a panel of experts.
According to the experts, Australia is in a position to take advantage of the opportunities brought by the Internet of Things, but said that the country still has a long way to go when it comes to being globally competitive.
Despite the country’s potential, Ros Harvey of The Yield, an agricultural tech start-up, said that commercial-grade IoT solutions in the country are still lacking.
Harvey also mentioned that there are a lot of companies in Australia claiming to be doing IoT, but is generally misinformed about the subject.
But according to IoTAustralia.org, the country’s private industry seems to be apathetic regarding the development of Internet of Things in the country. The report said that when the Australian Communications and Media Authority or ACMA, released an issue paper back in November, it came back with almost zero response from the Internet and Communications industry.
In the paper, ACMA stated the areas that need immediate attention and factors that are important in facilitating IoT developments in the country.
The paper stated as follows:

• Any proposals from industry around the need for the designation of a discrete numbering range for M2M or IoT applications.
• Views from industry about future spectrum requirements to support M2M and IoT applications.
• Input from industry as to how cooperative models of information sharing and action by industry, citizens and regulators might be adapted to address newer forms of digital information harms.
• Any additional issues that should be included as priorities for the regulator’s attention that have not been identified in the paper.
• Whether the ACMA correctly identified the near-, medium- and longer-term priorities for attention by the regulator.

The paper just received a handful of response from Telstra, the nbn®, and a short statement from Kevin Cox of welcome.me, a web site that promotes open source software.
When compared to other countries such as the U.S., when the government encouraged debate about IoT issues, it got an overwhelming response from the community.
The experts commended the government’s effort when it comes to encouraging innovation in the field and said that it’s up to the private sector to develop Australia’s IoT industry.
According to A/NZ CTO Kevin Bloc, “It’s up to industry, academia, research, and more businesses to make it happen, and to make it happen quickly.”
Moreover, the experts believe that the country should capitalise on its advantages in the mining, agriculture and food, and freight and logistics industry when it comes to developing IoT.
Furthermore, the panel of experts also concluded that there’s an apparent shortage of people in the industry and thinks that the country needs a more robust STEM curriculum.
They said that, “If you don’t have a basic understanding of STEM, I think your career is going to suffer. 75 percent of existing jobs will disappear in 20 years, and most of the new ones are going to be littered with STEM-based capability.”
They concluded that the IoT is complex and can be a little difficult to practically apply in the real world, but can be made possible if different teams work together and communicate effectively.
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