Research on the economic impact of cloud businesses shows NZ lagging behind global adoption rate
New research has found SMEs that embrace cloud technologies are expected to support 300,000 jobs across healthcare, education and agriculture by 2030. New research by Accenture has revealed that New Zealand is lagging behind global adoption rate of cloud businesses, with small and medium-sized businesses expected to generate up to $1.5 billion in annual productivity gains and support 300,000 jobs across the healthcare, education and agriculture sectors by 2030. The report suggests that cloud-enabled businesses could generate $600 million in annual benefits in healthcare and support 5 million virtual health consultations in New Zealand by 2030, a 65% increase on the current usage rate. In the education sector, these businesses can generate $430 million in annually productivity benefits and provide 400,000 students with e-learning solutions. However, barriers such as cybersecurity, managing legacy applications and lack of skills are slowing adoption among SMEs. The basic rate of New Zealand's cloud adoption was 40%, with intermediate adoption at 28%, and advanced adoption with the use of generative AI and machine learning is 13%.
Được phát hành : 2 năm trước qua Aimee Shaw trong Business
Clearhead founder Dr Angela Lim says online tools like hers are more accessible than expensive in-person or online therapy sessions.
Small and medium-sized businesses that embrace cloud technologies are expected to create up to $1.5 billion in annual productivity gains and support 300,000 jobs across the healthcare, education and agriculture sectors by 2030, according to new research.
Amazon Web Services’ latest research conducted by Accenture, canvassing the economic impact of cloud businesses in NZ, has found there are tangible benefits to the economy and society for businesses that move to the cloud and embrace advanced technology.
Commissioned by the cloud computing services firm, the report estimated that cloud-enabled businesses could unlock $600 million in annual productivity benefits in healthcare and support 5 million virtual health consultations in New Zealand by 2030 - a 65% increase on the current usage rate, and could help to address the challenge of limited access to healthcare in some communities.
In the education sector, cloud-enabled businesses can create $430 million in annual productivity benefits and provide 400,000 students in New Zealand with e-learning solutions by 2030, 33% more than the current usage rate.
Meanwhile, the report estimates there are $430 million in annual productivity benefits to be realised in agriculture, with one in three farms expected to use precision agriculture solutions that enhance productivity by 2030, representing a 190% increase to the current usage rate.
Pip Gilbert, head of strategy and operations at Amazon Web Services, said the gains for increased productivity both for society and economically was significant. But barriers such as cybersecurity, managing legacy applications and lack of skills were slowing progress of adoption among SMEs.
Gilbert said New Zealand was behind the basic cloud adoption rate of Australia, and of the 12 countries examined in the report, it was ranked “about middle of the pack”.
The basic rate of cloud adoption in New Zealand, such as the use of web-based email services or cloud-based storage, sat at just 40%. Meanwhile, intermediate adoption, with the use of customer relationship management or enterprise resource planning tools, is 28%, and advanced adoption with the use of generative AI and machine learning is 13%.
“[The report] emphasised that New Zealand and other nations need to work collaboratively across industry, government and business to accelerate this digital transformation and cloud adoption.
“There is a huge opportunity for Kiwi businesses to advance,” Gilbert said.
“The potential societal impact across healthcare, agriculture and education [is huge]; imagine 400,000 students, one million adult learners, all with access to online learning, one in three farms using precision farming, and up to five million online health consultations, taking pressure off our healthcare system, but also delivering that service to underserved disadvantaged communities that wouldn’t otherwise get access.”
Auckland-based artificial intelligence-powered employee wellbeing program provider Clearhead began using Amazon Web Services a year ago, and in that time had been able to introduce an AI therapist, which founder Dr Angela Lim describes as “almost as good as a human therapist”.
The workplace mental health platform used by over 100 companies across the country, including Foodstuffs, Spark and Contact Energy, aggregates employee wellbeing data to make personalised mental health and wellbeing support accessible.
A former paediatric doctor, Lim, who was inspired to create Clearhead after witnessing first hand how hard it was for New Zealanders to access mental health help through the public medical system, says Clearhead has rapidly grown on the cloud, using generative AI.
It uses an intelligent chatbot to triage patients, for example to identify high-risk individuals.
“The public system’s wait times are about six months to be seen. On Clearhead, you can get funded therapy within two to three days. We use technology as a way of optimising the way we run operationally so that we save costs,” said Lim.
“Our mission is to ensure that everyone has access to personalised support, not having cost be a barrier, so for us, using technology allows us to be much more capital efficient and pass that benefit back on to the users, for them to get access to clinicians in a more timely manner.”