Business and technology experts warn Australia is at risk of falling behind its regional neighbours when it comes to the digital economy.
Australia has already fallen behind Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates in the latest international rankings for digital competitiveness, with the report marking Australia poorly when it comes to communications technology and internet speed.
Having managed her startup for the last 18 months, entrepreneur Kim Hughes knows how difficult it is to get a technology-focused business off the ground.
She explains there are many hurdles to success - or just to breaking even - in Australia.
"The biggest challenge that we would find is actually finding the right talented people to come and work in the company," she said.
The digital skills gap in Australia's workforce is just one of the reasons why the nation has dropped in the latest World Digital Competitiveness Rankings, released by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).
This year Australia has dropped to 14th place, five steps down from 2015.
Leading the field are the United States, Singapore and Sweden.
Melinda Cilento is the CEO of the Committee for Economic Development Australia.
"But I think the thing that is surprising is that we're slipping down those rankings. Countries like Korea, who used to occupy the place we do, have actually moved up into the top ten, so I think that's what we really need to be worried about," Melinda Cilento said.
Technology take-up is strong, with Australia coming in 3rd-best when it comes to the use of tablet computers.
But Australia's technology infrastructure is well below international standard - ranked 54th out of 63 developed countries.
And internet speeds continue to lag behind much of the world, ranked only 38th.
Alex Gruszka, from advocacy group StartupAUS, says more graduates and workers need to be trained in digital skills.
"There is a real need for people who understand coding, who understand growth businesses, who can work and help these businesses grow from something that employs just a couple of people in a garage to something that employs thousands of people, like Atlassian or Canva, or other billion-dollar Australian success stories," Alex Gruszka said.
He argues a greater level of investment in the technology sector could reap major benefits for the economy.
He argues a greater level of investment in the technology sector could reap major benefits for the economy.
In a statement, federal technology minister Karen Andrews says the Government is working to "enable business to invest more, improve their workforce capability and adopt new technology."
