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Here’s the plan to create 1 million tech jobs | ticker VIEWS

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The Tech Council of Australia is calling on Governments to help deliver one million jobs in the sector by 2025

Leaders in Australia’s technology sector including Google, Afterpay, Atlassian, and Tesla have banded together to create Australia’s Tech Council. The aim of the Council is to push for greater Government support and set Australia’s tech industry firmly on the global stage.

They provide a trusted voice for Australia’s technology industry, with an aim to advise and engage with Australian Governments, businesses, and the community. They’re endeavouring to support the ongoing creation, development, and adoption of technology across industries.

The members of the Tech Council have committed to work with Governments at all levels to ensure that Australia and Australians take advantage of the vast opportunities technology brings.

“We have released a roadmap to grow 1 million jobs in the tech industry by 2025”

Kates Jones, Executive Director, Tech Council of Australia

1 million tech jobs by 2025

The Council has launched its new roadmap to create 1 million jobs in the technology sector, by 2025. The Technology Council is working with Governments at all levels to create 1 million jobs, worth $250bn to the economy.

The technology industry is growing at a rapid pace, causing a demand for skill in the industry. The sector is looking for upskilling opportunities, more females and people who have never worked in the sector before.

The tech industry contributes approximately $167 billion to the national economy and employs about 861,000 people. This makes it equivalent to the economy’s third-largest industry, only just behind banking.

This will benchmark Australia against industries in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, which it has the untapped potential to do.

Breakthrough for the sector

This move represents a breakthrough for the sector with extraordinary technology entrepreneurs and heavyweights behind the Tech Council of Australia.

Technology has often been seen as a niche part of corporate Australia, with more traditional industries like banking or mining labelled as the pinnacle of financial success. However, that is not the case anymore.

Australia’s economy has historically relied on commodities, but tech is shifting this narrative. The Australian tech industry has struggled to get support, but with top technology entrepreneur putting their names on the line to back the industry, the Government is now listening.

Heavy hitters in the Australian tech sector have come together to create jobs and turn Australia into a global tech hub.

“The tech sector is going to grow,

what we want to see is Aussie’s working in those jobs and being able to keep those jobs here on Aussie shores.”

Kates Jones, Executive Director, Tech Council of Australia

“This is going to be the fastest growing part of our economy,

it’s a $250 billion industry right now and will continue to grow.”

Kates Jones, Executive Director, Tech Council of Australia

 

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What Saudi Arabia’s role in the Electronic Arts buyout tells us about ‘game-washing’

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What Saudi Arabia’s role in the Electronic Arts buyout tells us about image, power and ‘game-washing

Jacqueline Burgess, University of the Sunshine Coast

Video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA), one of the biggest video game companies in the world behind games such as The Sims and Battlefield, has been sold to a consortium of buyers for US$55 billion (about A$83 billion). It is potentially the largest-ever buyout funded by private equity firms. Not AI, nor mining or banking, but video games.

The members of the consortium include: Silver Lake Partners, an American private global equity firm focusing on technology; the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund; and the investment firm Affinity Partners, run by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of American President Donald Trump.

The consortium will purchase all of the publicly traded company’s shares, making it private. But while the consortium and EA’s shareholders will likely be celebrating – each share was valued at US$210, representing a 25% premium – it’s not all good news.

PIF acquiring EA raises concerns about possible “game-washing”, and less than ideal future business practices.

EA’s poor reputation

Video games are big business. The global video game industry is worth more than the film and music industries combined. But why would these buyers specifically want to buy EA, an entity that has won The Worst Company in America award twice?

It has been criticised for alleged poor labour practices, a focus on online gaming (even when it’s not ideal, such as in single-player stories), and a history of acquiring popular game studios and franchises and running them into the ground.

Players of some of EA’s most beloved franchises, such as The Sims, Dragon Age and Star Wars Battlefront II, believe the games have been negatively impacted due to the company meddling in production, and wanting to focus on online play and micro-transactions.

Microtransactions are small amounts of money paid to access, or potentially access, in-game items or currency. Over time, they can add up to a lot of money, and have even been linked to the creation of problem gambling behaviours. Unsurprisingly, they are not popular among players.

Current global economic stresses have affected video games and other high-tech industries. The development costs of a video game can be hundreds of millions of dollars. EA has reacted to its slowing growth by cancelling games and laying-off close to 2,000 workers since 2023. So a US$55 billion offer probably looked enticing.

Saudi Arabia’s investment spree

In recent years, the Saudi wealth fund has been on an entertainment investment splurge. Before this latest acquisition, PIF invested heavily in both golf and tennis.

It is a sponsor and official naming rights partner of both the Women’s Tennis Association rankings and the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings.

The wealth fund also helped establish the LIV Golf tour in 2022, in opposition to the Professional Golf Association (PGA). By offering huge sums of money, it was able to attract players away from the PGA. One player was reportedly offered US$125 million (A$189 million). This tactic worked; a merger was announced between LIV, the DPA (European golf tour) and the PGA (North American golf tour) in 2023, with PIF as the main funder.

PIF, via its subsidiaries, has also been acquiring stakes in other video game companies. For example, it is one of the largest shareholders in Nintendo, the developer behind Mario, and purchased Niantic (the company behind Pokémon Go) earlier this year for US$3.5 billion (A$5.3 billion)

Why does PIF want video game companies?

Live sport and video games have a few things in common: they are fun, engaging and entertaining. And being known for entertainment is good PR for a country that has been accused of human rights abuses.

PIF’s investment in sport has been called “sportswashing”: using an association with sport to counteract bad publicity and a tarnished moral reputation. Video games, with their interactivity and entertainment value, represent an opportunity for game-washing.

The fact EA owns many sports games’ franchises would also be a bonus, potentially allowing for further video game and sport collaboration. And the fact the video game industry is projected to keep growing globally makes it a good investment for an oil-rich nation looking to economically diversify.

Beyond game-washing concerns, we also need to pay attention to the type of buyout happening here. This is a “leveraged” buyout, meaning part of the purchase price – in this case US$20 billion (A$30 billion) – is funded as debt taken on by the company. So once the acquisition is complete, EA will have US$20 billion of new debt.

With all that new debt to service, it would only be natural to have concerns about more lay-offs, cost-cutting and increasing monetisation via strategies such as microtransactions. Ultimately, this would result in a poorer experience for players. It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.The Conversation

Jacqueline Burgess, Lecturer in International Business, University of the Sunshine Coast

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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80% of ransomware victims pay ransom, says report

Hiscox report reveals 80% of ransomware victims pay ransom, but only 60% recover data successfully

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Hiscox report reveals 80% of ransomware victims pay ransom, but only 60% recover data successfully

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In Short:
– Cyber attacks increasingly target businesses, with 80% of ransomware victims opting to pay ransoms.
– SMEs are often affected, with only 60% recovering data after paying ransoms amidst rising cyber insurance costs.
Cyber attacks are increasingly targeting sensitive business data, with many companies paying ransoms. A report from Hiscox indicates that 80% of businesses affected by ransomware over the past year opted to pay.The annual Cyber Readiness Report highlights a concerning trend in ransomware attacks against well-known companies, including Marks and Spencer, the Co-op, and Jaguar Land Rover.

The latter recently received a £1.5bn government loan guarantee aimed at protecting its supply chain, which includes numerous small firms.

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Many victims of cyber attacks are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often require assistance to recover. Hiscox reported that while 27% of the surveyed 5,750 SMEs faced ransomware attacks, only 60% that paid the ransom managed to recover their data.

Impact on Firms

The broader findings revealed that nearly 60% experienced some form of cyber attack, with numerous businesses attributing their vulnerabilities to artificial intelligence.

Companies face not only financial repercussions, including fines and lost revenue, but also damage to their reputations. Eddie Lamb of Hiscox warned against underestimating the severe consequences of cyber attacks on all business sizes.

Jaguar Land Rover was reportedly finalising cyber insurance when it was attacked, incurring significant losses. Industry experts note that the rising costs of comprehensive cyber insurance policies may leave many firms unprotected. The cyber insurance market is growing, responding to the high-profile impacts experienced by businesses like M&S, which anticipates recovering losses through insurance after its own ransomware incident.


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OpenAI to launch TikTok-like AI video app Sora

OpenAI to launch Sora, an AI-driven social app with TikTok-like features amid TikTok’s regulatory uncertainties

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OpenAI to launch Sora, an AI-driven social app with TikTok-like features amid TikTok’s regulatory uncertainties

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In Short:
– OpenAI is launching Sora 2, a social media app with AI-generated videos, competing with TikTok.
– The app features a unique identity verification system and provides short video content without uploads.
OpenAI is set to unveil Sora 2, a new social media app that imitates TikTok by offering AI-generated video content. The strategy positions OpenAI to directly challenge established platforms in the AI video market.The platform has begun internal testing. Employees have reacted positively, raising productivity concerns among managers. Sora 2 features swipe-to-scroll navigation and offers personalized video recommendations.

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A unique identity verification system allows users to authenticate their likeness for use in AI-generated videos. Users will be notified when their likeness is used in videos, regardless of whether these are published. Video lengths are capped at 10 seconds, with no capability to upload personal content.

The app includes typical social media features like likes and comments, with a user interface that resembles TikTok’s “For You” page.

Strategic Launch

OpenAI’s timing for this launch is strategic, coinciding with uncertainties surrounding TikTok’s U.S. operations. Recent deals aim to transfer majority control of TikTok’s American business to U.S. investors while permitting ByteDance a minority stake.

OpenAI perceives the current turbulence as a unique opportunity to introduce a competitive platform for short-form videos, appealing to users seeking alternatives during this period of regulatory scrutiny.


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