Unlocking the Economic Impact of Public Cloud in Australia

Australia is one of the most advanced public cloud markets in Asia Pacific (APAC) but there’s still plenty of room to grow and benefits to reap.

A new Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report commissioned by Google Cloud examined the public cloud’s economic impact in six APAC markets including Australia, and it reveals that public cloud adoption locally has the potential to contribute:

• A sizeable US$108 billion of GDP between 2019 and 2023—that’s about 1.5% of GDP when annualised and equivalent to over half of the mining industry’s annual contribution to the overall economy 
• Public cloud deployments have the potential to create as many as 26,000 jobs with an additional 47,000 jobs influenced over the next five years. When combined, that’s equivalent to 0.6% of the current workforce. 
• BCG outlines that continued regulatory support and deployment of government applications combined with an increase in the pool of digital talent—the GDP impact could rise by another 20% to US$130 billion with 53,000 jobs created and another 59,000 jobs influenced 

The power of the cloud 

At a firm level, the benefits of the public cloud are numerous; from boosting internal productivity, to creating a robust security environment and reducing the time to market for new products and services.

Large enterprise across a range of sectors including financial services, retail and media and gaming have been quick to adopt the public cloud and are already reaping the benefits. Case in point - ANZ Bank has embraced the public cloud to develop data-driven business insights for its institutional clients, finding that the ability to offer instant insight allows them to expand its services.There is also strong interest growing among traditional industries such as manufacturing and mining.

Public sector is leading by example through its cloud-first policy and improving citizen services through the cloud. For example, Australia Post is improving customer experiences with smart data analytics. BigQuery has given it visibility into every stage of the mail delivery process. Operations managers can now see what’s happening in sorting facilities in real time, helping to identify flow blockages almost instantly. With near real-time data analytics, Australia Post can free up valuable resources, act quicker and provide better service to the millions of Australians that rely on it everyday.

The cloud is also fast emerging as a platform for business to develop AI-driven solutions. Using machine learning through Google Cloud, and its own artificial intelligence-based platform, Brisbane-based medical technology firm Maxwell Plus processes more than 1GB of data per patient — across tens of thousands of patients — to diagnose medical conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease quickly and accurately.

A driver of jobs 

As the public cloud gains momentum it is expected to contribute significantly to employment opportunities in Australia. This includes a combination of non-digital roles such as sales, marketing and human resources, as well as digital jobs such as cloud architects, developers, data and AI scientists. There is also incredible potential for additional jobs to be created as a result of second order effects of key industrial verticals that drive the economy.

With that said, when I speak to customers every day they tell me it’s no longer a question of whether the cloud makes sense, but how quickly they can move and access to skilled talent is critical. That’s why we’re committed to nurturing the next supply of cloud-savvy talent through our regularly Cloud OnBoard events which equip participants to thrive in a cloud-first workplace.

The fundamentals are set for Australia’s public cloud market to drive economic growth and advance digital transformation. Our Google Cloud Region in Sydney is supporting businesses to develop advanced digital capabilities and government agencies in enhancing citizen services - all the while providing these organisations Google Cloud’s world-class security. We look forward to working with Australian businesses and public sector organisations to drive the country’s economic growth and digital transformation.