Our CEO, Andrew Kay’s column in The Advertiser — Tuesday 4th November
“Small businesses are a major risk to cyber security in this country.” We hear this regularly from national security leaders.
Why? They are often the weakest link in the supply chain, because they have not invested the time or resources into their cyber hygiene, making them a target.
It’s hard to blame them. Small businesses are dealing with the everyday challenges of keeping their head above water, paying their BAS, managing workplace culture and adhering to the growing tranche of regulations imposed upon them. Now they’re being tasked with cyber health, understanding the demands of ESG, and keeping up with the latest raft of IR changes.
The issue for small business is bigger than just having solid cyber security. It’s about digital capability and ensuring that your business is not being left behind.
The ability to compete, to find efficiencies, improve productivity and participate in our state’s economic transformation will hinge on having the right systems and appropriate level of knowledge and understanding. Harnessing the power of AI will play a major role here.
There is no shortage of programs and courses available for businesses to upskill. The challenge is finding the time and the information that meets you where you’re at. We need to assess our state’s SME digital capabilities and get a baseline to inform our training and investment needs.
There is currently no accessible, whole of business diagnostic covering digital, cybersecurity and AI.
That’s why in the lead-up to the March election, as part of our Charter26, the South Australian Business Chamber has asked our political parties for a free digital literacy tool for business.
The tool will be easy to use and suitable for micro, small and medium businesses, metro and regional. It will assess businesses and employees across five key areas: Information and Data Literacy; Communication and Collaboration; Digital Content Creation; Protection and Safety; Technical Proficiency and Problem Solving, aligning it with the Australian Digital Capability Framework.
For business, it provides a single, evidence-based entry point to understand their digital needs and for government, knowledge of where to target programs to have the most impact, tighten cyber security, and drive productivity.
It’s the type of process a bigger business might do before investing in training to strengthen its competitiveness and skills base. We are proposing it for an entire state, for the same reasons.
Digital literacy is critical to innovation. South Australia can take the lead here and the next four-year term of government is an ideal time to start.
