Lack Of Skilled Workforce And Unpreparedness Impedes IoT Adoption In Australia

The unpreparedness and insufficient skills among IT professionals in Australia might hinder the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technology in the country. IT decision makers are currently faced with challenges of IoT introduction with some of the primary concerns pertaining to security and network intricacies with the IoT, according to reports.

In a survey conducted by SolarWinds, an IT performance management software provider, 73 percent of the IT decision makers consider the current workforce to be ill-equipped to tackle the challenges and manage the challenges created by IoT, reports IT Wire. The publication also mentioned that insufficient skills are considered as the major hindrance to the understanding of IoT technologies. Besides that, staying current with technology is also seen as one of the major challenges.

The 2015 Crossroads report released on April 21 had revealed that Australia is currently facing shortage of skilled workforce in its ICT sector. While the demand for ICT workers has doubled from 1999 to 2012, the applications for tertiary ICT courses within the same period have slipped to about 60 percent. According to the report, demand for ICT skills is not only confined to the ICT industry as many other industries are also getting digitized or computerized and Australia can capitalize on the digital economy only if it has the required workforce to create products that can compete at the global level.

The SolarWinds survey also highlighted other challenges like the maintenance of security and growing network complexity. Alongside, IoT decision makers are also reeling under concerns related to network performance to back up increasing number of clients and faster internet speeds. As per the survey’s findings, IT departments in Australia are spending more than 10 hours a month on managing IP addresses, reports IT Wire.

SolarWinds suggested that necessary steps should be taken to prepare the IT workforce in Australia. The 2015 Crossroads report outlines that the Government has not been taking measures required to address the shortage of skilled workforce in the ICT industry. The shortage of skilled ICT workforce has been a serious point of concern for the ICT industry in Australia. Last year, in July, IT recruitment firm, Greythorn had presented a report which emphasized that the IT sector in Australia will face huge shortage in the next five years, as per a report on ZDNet.

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