Industry sectors

Sydney and NSW are at the heart of Australia's growing digital economy, providing a hub of sophisticated and innovative global businesses.

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ICT Sector Profile

Innovation is at our core. For example, it was Google’s Sydney office which developed Google Maps, and also a team in Sydney which produced crucial technology at the heart of WiFi.

Where it's @

NSW accounts for 43 per cent of Australia's total ICT businesses and almost 40 per cent of national industry value-added output.

In 2009-10, almost 160,000 people were employed in the ICT sector in NSW, representing 4.7 per cent of total employment in NSW and 37 per cent of Australian employment in the ICT industry.

Globally focused

NSW dominates Australia’s telecommunication, computer and information services exports. In 2008-09, NSW exports of telecommunication, computer and information services were valued at almost $1.1 billion, representing over 51 per cent of the national total.

The vast majority of Australia's ICT regional headquarters and operations centres are based in Sydney, given its global city status as a business capital.

Plug into opportunity

There are nine landings of international high capacity optic fibre cables into Sydney, linking Sydney to the US, Europe and Asia.

NSW's ICT industry is set to grow further and faster with the rollout of Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN), backed by our leading capacities in both ICT and creative industries.

For more information on broadband in NSW, visit www.broadband.nsw.gov.au. 

Our motivation for innovation

NSW leads all other Australian States and Territories in ICT research capabilities, being the headquarters of National Information and Communications Technology Australia (NICTA).

The State also has five national centres of excellence in ICT-related research fields, two cooperative research centres, four R&D facilities under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), and the Australian Centre for Advanced Computing and Communications (ac3).

Working smarter

In 2008, we had over 13,000 students studying information technology courses at the 11 universities in NSW. Almost another 14,000 students were studying in information technology fields at NSW TAFE Colleges and through other vocational education and training providers.