Digital Trade

E-commerce has disrupted a series of traditional markets and has become an increasingly important way for Australia to trade with the rest of the world.  Digital trade overcomes the ‘tyranny of distance’ which previously inhibited Australian exports to the rest of the world and opens up exciting opportunities for Australian businesses and consumers.

Around half of Australian businesses are already engaged in the digital economy in some way, and this number will only increase in the future.  However, while Australian businesses are taking advantage of the digital economy, their rate of adoption still falls short of many other developed nations.

Global Access Partners’ Annual Economic Summit on Digital Trade, held at NSW Parliament House in September, discussed the prospects for Australian businesses in e-commerce and the impact of this new digital era on society. The inaugural Pacific Connect Forum, hosted by ICDP and GAP on the eve of the Summit, addressed digital connectivity as an ‘enabler of opportunity’ in the Pacific.

To support these events and the activities which will flow from them, Open Forum is showcasing a series of articles examining the issues at hand and the prospects for Australia in this new era of digital trade.

Digital Trade Summit Keynotes

• Exploring the ethics of artificial intelligence – Liesl Yearsley
• The enduring fight for free trade – Dr Andrew Leigh
• Supercharging Australia’s digital trade through cyber security – Michelle Price
• Global trade digitisation – An opportunity for Australia – Michael Lim
• Data rights will empower consumers and business innovation – Peter Harris AO

Pacific Connect Forum Keynotes

• Connectivity is about people rather than technology – Peter Kenilorea Jr
• Forum Report of Proceedings
• Forum Communique

Blogs & Articles

• It’s time to step back from privacy paranoia – Alan Stevenson
• The universal acid of cyber – Lesley Seebeck
• Growing Australia’s ‘ESports’ industry – Pursuit
• Developing data rights for all Australians – James Arvanitakis, James Meese and Punit Jagasia
• A roadmap for reining in big tech – Fergus Ryan
• Taking on big tech: Where does Australia stand? – Caron Beaton-Wells