The last few years in Australian politics have been characterised by a startling lack of vision and imagination across the entire political spectrum. It is as if all the leading politicians want to do is to win government - with no idea of what to do if they ever actually get there. It was not always like this, but it is like this no and I see few hints that this lamentable state of affairs might change for the better. I have written this book to show that government, with brave, thoughtful leadership can achieve much and can create an environment in which individuals, businesses and communities can achieve even more. If nothing else, I hope that this book kick-starts a debate about what kind of Australia we want for ourselves and for the generations that follow us. We can't change history, but we can create the future we want, if we stop pursuing the lowest common denominator and instead start to build the hard and soft infrastructure we need to succeed. The hallmark of success in the 21st century, especially in a troubled world economy, remains competitiveness. Competitiveness depends on productivity - the value of output produced per unit of labour or capital or, to look at it another way, innovation plus process efficiency. The continuing challenge is to grow productivity, but the growth in productivity must be sustainable, factoring in externalities such as environmental degradation. This is true for economies, industries and enterprises. The purpose of this book is to start and to inform a discussion on how to increase productivity in Australia, across all economic sectors, including the public sector. There are more questions asked in this book than there are answers, because this is a beginning and not the end of the process of change we need to kick off - and soon. Soon, because the clock is ticking and with every tick of the clock, as we have seen for the last few years, our relative productivity performance against the rest of the world deteriorates. The chief ingredients of the recipe for success are connectivity, interoperability, predictability and security. Connectivity to enable speed and ease of connection, to create a space for entrepreneurship and the ingredients for social cohesion. Interoperability to cut costs, to generate synergy and to accelerate the process that brings innovations to market. Predictability and security to give individuals, families and communities the confidence, to plan, to invest, to take calculated risks. This is what is needed to have peace, order and good government, noting that the same few ingredients can be mixed in many different ways that would deliver the desired result. These are the areas where government should focus all its efforts, to generate economic and social capital and to enhance competitiveness in a globalised economy.
About the Author: Patrick migrated to Australia in 1969 from Italy, aged fifteen. He has degrees in Arts and in Law and is a Barrister, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, a founder of the Society for Knowledge Economics, a Senior Member of the Australian Computer Society, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a certified ICT practitioner. Patrick is a Senior Member of the Veterans' Review Board, a director with Southern NSW Medicare Local Ltd, Katungul Aboriginal Community Corporation & Medical Service and with the Southern NSW Local Health District. Patrick retired from the public service in 2008, having held several senior executive positions since the 1980s. His last role was as Deputy CIO for the Australian Government, where he advised the Government on how to make best use of information and communication technology and started the Standard Business Reporting initiative and the re-engineering of the Australian Government's online gateway, among other things.