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The digital divide between Australian small businesses and those in Asia is continually growing, and is having a severe impact on the growth of local SMEs, CPA Australia says.
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Digital transformation crucial for businesses moving forward
22 February 2022
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9 minute read
According to the professional accounting body’s annual Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey, a lack of digitalisation across Australian small businesses contributed to lower-growth rates across 2021, with only 32.2 per cent of Australian small businesses reporting growth last year, compared to the survey average of 47.3 per cent.
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In addition to this, the survey found that a lack of digitalisation has “contributed to Australia’s small businesses being the least likely in the region to have increased employee numbers every year since 2014 (only 7.1 per cent of Australian respondents reported that they increased employee numbers in 2021 compared with the survey average of 28.7 per cent)”.
These findings have resulted in CPA Australia offering three solutions to the federal government in their pre-budget submissions report.
The recommendations call for the federal government to significantly increase funding available “for programs that assist small businesses to improve their capability and capacity to digitally transform”, establish “a program providing direct financial support for small businesses to engage approved e-commerce”, and increase “technology training available to small business”, to include “cybersecurity and data privacy.”
For Gavan Ord, senior manager of business policy at CPA Australia, the government-supported training and funding for digitalisation assistance programs for small businesses are crucial for both the business and the economy.
“Australian small businesses are well behind their Asian counterparts on digital adoption. This is really impacting their growth. We [CPA] can see a very strong link between growth and digital adoption. We [CPA] believe Government can and should play a role in hasting digital adoption by small business,” Mr Ord said.
For Mr Ord, increasing the capacity of current government programs, such as the Australian Small Business Advisory Service, as well as the implementation of new systems to match what’s offered across Asia is crucial for government and small businesses alike.
“Part of our wish list is for a more ambitious program of incentives and support to encourage digitalisation. The size and scope of current programs provided by the Australian Government such as the ASBAS program is very small in comparison to what’s being offered in places like Singapore and Hong Kong. Further we see value in programs that direct businesses to particular technologies and products,” Mr Ord said.
Moreover, Mr Ord believes that a limiting the number of digital technologies and products available for businesses can aid small businesses.
“Sometimes the range of technologies and products can be overwhelming for small business, limiting choice down to a few proven technologies or products actually can help small business, not detract from it,” Mr Ord said.
“The Government should also commit to funding technology training for small business and we find that a lack awareness of the technology options is often a barrier to technology adoption.”
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