Page 129 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 December 2016
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defence white paper allocated for the development of these capabilities. At that event it was particularly noted that this investment, coupled with partnerships with other investment, meant that UNSW Canberra and the ANU were able to attract highly skilled academics to come here because of the joint investment and the confidence that they have that the ACT government understands all the opportunities that their sector provides.
Canberra is already leading Australia in the development of the space and security industries and the potential for Canberra’s space economy is enormous. Estimates put the value of the global space economy at $314 billion. Canberra is perfectly placed to have a growing share of this enormous market. We have also worked with the Canberra Innovation Network and its chair Tony Henshaw to establish the Canberra cyber network as a collaborative approach to the development of the cyber industry in Canberra.
The network is now ready to take on the role of the Canberra node of the cyber security industry growth centre once the commonwealth finalises the nodes for the industry growth centre. We will also continue to support other key areas such as international education, Canberra’s largest export earner. A few months ago the Chief Minister launched our international education strategy Canberra: Australia’s education capital.
The strategy points out that, with at least one in nine people engaged with an education or research institution and a $2.7 billion value add to Canberra’s economy creating approximately the 16,000 jobs that have been mentioned, Canberra can rightly claim to be Australia’s education and research capital. Indeed, the growth in international student numbers is largely responsible for the ACT’s 7.5 per cent annual growth in service exports over the last five years.
Certainly, no conversation about our tertiary sector could be complete without a discussion about the important role of vocational education and training. Like our universities, they are employers and economic contributors in their own right. They also play a key role in facilitating our local economy and driving its growth.
The very infrastructure of our daily lives is all underpinned by the work of highly trained people who received their education from our many local RTOs, including the award-winning CIT. CIT is the ACT’s largest training provider and our only public provider. It is a significant contributor in the higher education, training and research sector, delivering around 85 per cent of publicly funded vocational education and training in the ACT.
Recognition nationally this year for CIT has been exceptional. CIT was the most awarded registered training organisation at the 2016 Australian training awards and we should all be proud of this achievement. The ACT government is committed to ensuring CIT’s success, which is why we introduced a CIT board last year. This was a key government strategy to combine public and private sector expertise to ensure the ongoing success of CIT.
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