12 June 2019 |

Yesterday over 120 local business people gathered at the Maroochy RSL for a Sunshine Coast Business Council conference exploring the benefits of the soon-to-be-installed international submarine cable.

The cable will see the Sunshine Coast enjoy the fastest data connection to Asia from the east coast and initial indications are that the project will contribute $927 million to the Queensland economy and up to 864 new jobs.

The impressive line-up of speakers included Paul Riga from Urbis, Russ Matulich from RTI Connectivity ― the company that will install the cable, Robert Linsdell, Managing Director of Vertiv – the company that will deliver the cable landings station and Dr Aleksander Subic, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Development) at Swinburne University of Technology.

Topics covered included how the Sunshine Coast business community can leverage fast data to stimulate existing businesses and attract or create new industries, the benefits of the infrastructure investment and how to capitalise on this and insight into how this type of technology has ‘supercharged’ other economies globally.

Sunshine Coast Business Council Chair, Sandy Zubrinich said feedback from delegates was really positive and hoped the business community would continue to collaborate with all levels of government to maximize the impact of this valuable piece of infrastructure.

“We have learnt from other projects that as a business community we need to be informed and ready to capitalise on these investments and yesterday’s conference certainly helped us understand how to prepare for the arrival of the cable and all the opportunities it offers,” Ms Zubrinich said.

“The Business Council intends to follow this conference up with a workshop to highlight the industries to focus on in the first instance.  Again we are looking to partner with Sunshine Coast Council and regional universities to bring the right people together to take this next step.

“The speakers all agreed that the combination of our region’s livability and the high speed data connection will make the Sunshine Coast a very appealing and smart place to do business.”