Zach Johnson, CEO of Sunshine Coast-based Atmail, says many regional areas have world-class technology talent:
I am not an Australian. Instead, I chose to move here – twice, in fact. Since first arriving on these shores in 2005, I have had the pleasure of working with innovative thinkers in both the private and the public sector in every state and territory.
We are a world-class producer of technology and innovation and only by bringing the sector together, irrespective of location, can all of our technology companies, not just the unicorns in Sydney, share the spotlight with our brethren overseas.
During these nearly 10 years, I have seen Australia’s technology scene emerge into a global player and, more importantly, the national and local mindset towards knowledge industries evolve considerably.
While I agree with Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes’s recent statement that a critical mass is necessary to properly support and sustain a tech start-up ecosystem, I feel that a country as vast as Australia needs to approach innovation in much the same way as it has its abundant natural resources.
By this, I mean that industries have grown up across the country based on what is in the ground, or on the vines, or in the water.
We haven’t centralised mining or wineries or fishing. We go to where the products are being produced and we do it very well.
Read Zach Johnson’s full article, Why Mike Cannon-Brookes is wrong
