In the past year Data#3 celebrated our 45 years as a Queensland based company and has now managed to join the ranks of Top 200 ASX listed companies. During these years we have seen many changes in technologies, company mergers, acquisitions and the disappearance of several successful Queensland tech companies into foreign ownership.

At a time when the global economy faces increased uncertainty and volatility, Queensland’s economy is forecast to grow by 2 per cent in 2022–23, with growth then strengthening to 3 per cent in 2023–24.¹ We’re experiencing significant migration from overseas and interstate that will demand substantial capital investment in infrastructure, housing, health, education and social services. This will drive increasing reliance on technologies that enable our local industry capabilities to innovate, develop and apply digital technologies that will drive productivity and create jobs.

As we move into 2024, we face new headwinds in the economy, as well as opportunities. The inflation genie is well and truly out of the bottle, although there are indications that this is moderating. This has had the effect of putting a squeeze on internal budgets. We are seeing a contraction of investment by international companies (particularly in the technology sector), which will mean that Queensland companies will need to be more self-reliant.

We are also heading into a state election, which typically results in a slowing of progress on government policy initiatives. The Queensland economy remains exposed to international shocks, with the Chinese economy being key in driving export demand.

We have already mentioned last year, the need to encourage a new generation of workers and entrepreneurs to capitalise on the challenges and opportunities presented by the emerging digital economy. These next 10 years provides the opportunity for Queensland to revitalise the local high-tech industry as a major contributor to GDP.

A few key focus areas:

1. The renewed interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) recently has the potential to disrupt lots of industries with its capacity to bring intelligence
   that previously didn’t exist to replace or at least augment many tasks. This ability to improve business performance through utilising vast
   amounts of data to provide insights otherwise inaccessible will drive investment and innovation.
2. There is an increasing focus on ethics and integrity that will pose potential corporate risk of ESG-related litigation. As new sustainability disclosure standards come into effect industries will have to grapple with the complexity and potential challenges to meet compliance
   obligations regarding these initiatives.
3. We expect the increasing cost of living pressures bought on in-part by the disrupted supply chains that have impacted many industries since COVID will continue to struggle keeping up with demand for technologies and services required to deliver better business outcomes for less. This is a perfect climate for innovation and big-picture thinking to drive economic growth for Queensland.

1 Budget Strategy and Outlook 2023-2024