Knowledge@ASB: Send in the Geeks

Australia's future as a knowledge economy is threatened by serious skills shortages. Information technology lost its "cool" career allure a decade ago with the dotcom bust. Then Australian corporations widely embraced the financial benefits of offshoring. And these days a career in IT has a further image problem – the ubiquity of the PC has given rise to the perception that everyone has IT know-how. Meanwhile, the call for enterprise architects and others who understand the nexus where IT meets business strategy is turning into a roar. While Australia's attempts to grow its own IT professionals are showing signs of a turnaround, is this too little, too late?