Dear ,

As the tit-for-tat trade war between the US and China escalates beyond steel, soybeans and Harley Davidsons, trading nations around the world are watching on warily, Australia included.

As Pat Pilcher discovered this week, the trade shenanigans between the two largest economies in the world could impact Australia on several fronts, from increased costs for technology to impacts on tech exports and venture capital.

In other news:

Google's Sydney summit reveals enterprise plans
Canva carries solo tech flag for A/NZ in Forbes 100
BigTech disrupts the bankers
Can Australia capitalise on digital opportunities?

We also take a look at how a national icon’s IT systems have been given a new lease of life with flexible, cloud-based SaaS after MYOB Advanced slashed paperwork at MoAD, freeing up finance staff for revenue-generating work.

Happy reading,

Heather Wright
Editor
editor@istart.com.au

Trade-war fallout for Aussie tech?

More expensive tech, export declines and falling US tech investment...

The US/China trade war of words went largely ignored until the US announced US$50 billion of tariffs on Chinese-produced goods in June.

“Knock-on effects are probable for corporates as network switches, routers and other equipment prices see upward pressure.”

[Read more]

Google cranks up enterprise cloud ambition

The company used daily by just about every connected person on the planet steps up its play for the enterprise…

With big investments, an expansion of the number of regions it operates in and the announcement of multiple new products and services, the Google Cloud means business.

“You have to create an intervention and make it inconvenient to continue down the old path.”

[Read more]

Stripe, Slack, Canva… Cloud’s dominance grows

Forbes announces top 100 private cloud companies...

Stripe has retained top spot in Forbes’ list of the top privately owned cloud companies, with Australia’s Canva, also making the list.

"All 25 cloud IPOs and major cloud acquisitions over the past three years have been prior members of the Cloud 100.” 

[Read more]

BigTech is coming for unhappy banking customers

A new banking sector survey reveals low customer satisfaction levels and an industry ripe for upheaval by Google, Amazon and the like...

The intrusion of non-financial services players, emerging tech and soaring customer expectations are setting a new tone for innovation and customer service in the banking industry.

“Digital pure players continuously reinvent themselves by delivering simple, immediate and personalised experiences.”

[Read more]

What’s the value of Australian innovation?

The CSIRO says Australia stands to gain billions if it properly fosters digital innovation. That, however, is a big ‘if’...

CSIRO has been putting its money where its mouth is recently, completing work on the Red Belly Blockchain project, a new process with a throughput of 30,000 transactions per second.

“We have not managed to build our own digital industries at the same scale as our peers.”

[Read more]

MYOB Advanced used to manage finances at national heritage site

To modernise their business MoAD needed to streamline their financial management...

A national icon, the Old Parliament House building is home to the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD).

“Using a cloud solution ensures we have a single source of truth, saving time and reducing data errors.”

[Read more]

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