Change must start at the top, with upskilling of Australian executives and leaders. As consumers, Australians are world-leading in adopting new technologies. But our businesses, and their corporate boards, are often much slower and unprepared when adopting new and disruptive technologies. But technology is essential for Australia’s transition to become a more complex, high-value economy.
Australia ranks 93rd out of 133 countries in economic complexity, despite being the world’s 13th largest economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI).
Many countries with much smaller economies have much more diverse and sophisticated industries and export baskets, and Australia has been dropping in the rankings over the past 20 years. This means Australia is selling itself short in the global market.
But Australia is rich in natural resources. As a wealthy country, we do have an opportunity to increase our economic complexity by leveraging these. And there are many such resources, like iron ore, uranium, lithium and a range of rare metals, but also agricultural products.
All this could be used to develop and export high-value-added products. Australia could be influential in advanced materials, new energy technology, precision agriculture, or food processing, to name a few, rather than primarily exporting raw materials.
The fourth industrial revolution as an accelerator
Australia’s industry transition will take place against the backdrop of the fourth industrial revolution, the global transformation driven by rapid advancement and convergence of digital, physical, and biological technologies.
This revolution is characterised by the unfolding effects of technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and digital infrastructure on business operations.
This transformation creates both disruption and new opportunities for innovation and growth. It is compounded by the urgent need to address climate change, and with it the transition towards more sustainable practices and technologies.
This in turns creates new opportunities in renewable energy. As Australia navigates its own industry transition, it is essential for leaders to understand and respond to these broad global shifts and to develop fluency in key technology-related skills areas.
Only a proactive approach will allow Australian organisations to drive innovation, create new markets, and compete successfully in the global economy.
Industrial complexity requires technology adoption
To facilitate Australia’s industry transition, and with it unlock new growth and resilience in industries such as agriculture and manufacturing, we will require more widespread adoption of advanced technologies.
The mining sector provides a good case study of how this can be done. Over the past year the sector has demonstrated how the integration of modern technologies can transform an industry.
Automation, including autonomous vehicles and robotics, has improved mining operations’ efficiency and safety. Data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) support predictive maintenance, process optimisation, and exploration.
Sensors and remote sensing technologies, like drones, enable real-time monitoring and management of mine sites and their environmental impacts.
By applying similar technological advancements, agriculture and manufacturing industries would be able improve productivity, reduce costs, and enhance their competitiveness, enabling Australia’s industry transition.
But Australian businesses have been slower to adopt new technologies compared to their international counterparts. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, as of 2019-20, only 55.7 per cent of Australian businesses had a web presence and just 35.3 per cent had a social media presence.
A 2020 report by the Australian Industry Group found that Australian businesses’ investment in research and development (R&D) as a percentage of GDP was lower than the OECD average, indicating a lower focus on innovation and technology adoption.
One reason for low technology adoption in the data is certainly the high proportion of small businesses in Australia. According to the ABS, small businesses with fewer than 20 employees account for 97 per cent of all businesses. Yet, we see another crucial factor for lower rates of adoption in the limited digital and technical skills among business owners, executives, and corporate boards.
It is not always sensible to be very early adopters of technology, and it is certainly difficult to stay up to date given the recent pace of change in technology. But upskilling must precede the measured and strategic use of any emerging technology; leaders must stay more informed than in the past, given the complexity and transformational power of technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Increasing technological fluency
Skills gaps in technological fluency lead to a reluctance to invest in and adopt new technologies, which means that businesses often miss out on the benefits of more advanced technologies. Addressing this skills shortage through targeted upskilling will be essential for accelerating technology adoption and driving Australia’s transition towards a more complex and competitive economy.
Leaders and executives play a pivotal role in guiding their organisations through the necessary changes and investments required to adopt new technologies, to innovate and compete globally. By increasing technological fluency among leaders, Australian businesses will increase their capacity to identify new opportunities, create high-value-added products and services, make informed investment decisions, foster a culture of innovation, build strategic partnerships, and navigate the challenges associated with economic transitions.
Large-scale upskilling will thus accelerate Australia’s journey towards a more diverse and sophisticated economy, ensuring its competitiveness and resilience in the face of global economic shifts.
Four areas of leadership skills
Over the past months we have been interviewing leaders and executives in Australia and globally, regarding the emerging future skills they see as crucial for senior and emerging leaders to drive business success.
While the research is ongoing, we have already conducted interviews with C-level executives and senior leaders across a wide range of industries, the sciences, government and the arts. The list includes global CEOs, cultural leaders, Nobel prize winners and former heads of state.
While the research serves a larger agenda to identify future-focused leadership skills, we have analysed our data with a focus on the Australian industry transition specifically. We have identified four skills areas that stand out as important.
These areas represent forward-looking skills, those required for leaders to stay abreast with new technologies and rapid changes in the environment. These skills typically fall outside of traditional graduate programs. They are better suited for targeted upskilling initiatives.
1. Digital skills: AI fluency and digital work
As industries evolve, leaders must possess a strong foundation in digital skills, particularly in AI fluency and the ability to effectively navigate and manage digital work environments.
AI fluency enables leaders to understand the potential applications and implications of AI in their industry. This guides them in making strategic decisions about AI, and in integrating AI into their operations in ways that are both productive and responsible. This includes the use of internet of things, robotics and sensors to facilitate smart processes, relevant across various industries.
Leaders must balance the integration of AI-driven automation and augmentation with the needs of their human workforce. This involves creating and managing digitally-enabled communities that can productively collaborate across various contexts, including office and remote settings. This remains a relevant area of attention post-Covid for creating innovative and productive teams.
Leaders with these skills can foster a culture of digital collaboration, optimise workflows, and ensure that their teams remain connected, engaged, and productive in the face of changing work environments.
By embracing AI fluency, mastering digital work skills, and striking the right balance between AI and human needs, leaders can position their organisations at the forefront of industry transition, securing a competitive edge and attracting top talent in an increasingly digital landscape.
2. Contextual skills: geopolitics, net zero and provenance
Leaders must develop contextual skills to effectively navigate an increasingly complex global landscape, and emerging considerations for creating a sustainable future for their businesses.
Understanding geopolitics is essential for assessing risks and opportunities in an interconnected world, enabling leaders to make informed decisions about international expansion, supply chain management, and strategic partnerships.
This is particularly crucial in the context of global supply chains. Leaders must be aware of resource constraints, key dependencies, and potential disruptions that could impact the availability and accessibility of critical materials and components needed for Australia’s industry transition.
As the world transitions towards a net zero economy, leaders must be well versed in the implications of the energy transition and take this into account when building out their strategies. This includes knowledge of renewable energy technologies, carbon reduction requirements, and the evolving regulatory landscape.
Additionally, leaders must prioritise provenance – the tracking and tracing of origins of products and materials – as part of building sustainable and responsible supply chains. By ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the supply chain, organisations can mitigate risks, enhance their reputation, and contribute to a more sustainable future.
At the same time, the transition to net zero and the shift towards sustainable energy sources presents a significant opportunity for businesses to innovate, create new markets, and establish themselves as leaders in the green economy. By developing strong contextual skills in geopolitics, net zero and provenance, leaders can position their organisations for longterm growth and resilience in the face of climate change and evolving consumer preferences.
3. Strategic foresight: charting scenarios and managing future risks
To chart their path within the unfolding industry transition, leaders must possess strategic foresight skills to navigate uncertainty, anticipate potential risks, and make forward-looking decisions.
The ability to chart multiple scenarios is crucial for increasing strategic preparedness, to be responsive to changes in the emerging industry landscape. By exploring different plausible futures and identifying potential disruptions, leaders can develop contingency plans and invest in the right technologies and capabilities to hedge against future risks. This proactive approach enables organisations to quickly adapt their strategies and seize emerging opportunities.
Strategic foresight must become part of the leader’s skill set, not an activity that is sporadically undergone. Only by continuously monitoring trends shaping their industry, can leaders refine their scenarios and stay responsive to changing environments.
Strategic foresight not only helps leaders move beyond short-term thinking but also creates resilient, agile, and future-proof businesses that can thrive in the face of uncertainty. It sounds intuitive, but in our experience, is not practiced enough.
4. Mobilising skills: managing complex projects, leadership under uncertainty
Australia’s industry transition will involve investing in and undertaking complex projects, both in the public and private sectors, carried out under uncertainty.
To succeed, leaders must possess strong mobilising skills. Managing complex projects requires the ability to understand complexity, coordinate cross-functional teams, and drive execution while adapting to changing circumstances.
Leaders will require the commercial acumen to make sound investment decisions and understand the dependencies in project portfolios. This includes evaluating the financial viability of projects, allocating resources effectively, and managing emerging risks.
Leadership under uncertainty demands resilience, adaptability, and the capacity to inspire and motivate teams in times of change. Ideally, leaders will be able to adopt different mindsets, drawing from diverse fields such as the humanities, to navigate uncertainty and complexity.
Only by inspiring and empowering their employees, will leaders harness the collective intelligence and creativity of their organisations to navigate the challenges of industry transition.
Leadership upskilling must meet complex requirements
Executives and leaders have unique expectations which differ markedly from other audiences. Any upskilling initiative will need to take these requirements into account.
It’s widely acknowledged that executives and leaders are time-poor, but any initiative needs to consider their busy schedules which often also involves extensive travelling. Digital-first offerings with a strong self-paced, self-study component are best placed to cater to the needs of this group. Online delivery will allow location-independent learning.
But being time-poor also means that executives and leaders have little time for clunky learning systems or sub-standard online experiences. Digital experiences need to be high-quality, well produced, and well delivered.
At the same time, executives and leaders appreciate networking and the exchange with others who are in similar positions and face similar issues. Facilitating a strong cohort experience, with synchronous learning components and ample opportunities for social exchanges makes upskilling a memorable experience, and makes use of the expertise and input from the cohort itself.
Executives and leaders are highly skilled and bring a wealth of expertise in what they do. In our experience this cohort likes to engage in deep intellectual discussion and think deeply about the matters at hand. At the same time, they require useful and applicable frameworks, heuristics, and tools. They appreciate research insights, as much as highly practical case examples.
This offers important new opportunities for collaborations between academia and industries in tailoring blended offerings combining the unique expertise of each.
To serve these requirements, in Sydney Executive Plus we have developed the sprint format. Sprints offer a unique blend of digital-first delivery with high-touch live elements and a cohort experience. Each sprint is designed and delivered with a best-in-class industry or government partner and offers a micro-credential from the University of Sydney on completion.
Dr Kai Riemer, Professor of information technology and organisation and director, Sydney Executive Plus at the University of Sydney’s Business School. He has extensive experience with industry-funded research and is the co-director of the Motus Lab. Kai consults to executives and boards.
Dr Sandra Peter, director of Sydney Executive Plus at the University of Sydney’s Business School. She is also an Associate Professor at the university. Her research and practice focus on engaging with the future in productive ways, and the impact of emerging technologies and AI on business and society.
Dr Pat Norman, research and development lead for Sydney Executive Plus at the University of Sydney’s Business School. His doctoral research explored professional identity, ethics, and education policy enactment in the context of neoliberalism.
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