The elephant broke the room : digital innovation is hampered by a lack of digital competency and self managed technical support

Digital Innovation is hampered by a lack of digital skills and competencies especially in regional areas. Due to Tasmania’s location, digital skills (or lack there-of), and current economic situation it is well positioned to be a research base for digital innovation with global implications. Workers need to be able to support the digital innovations entering their workplace and lives, especially as the digital economy grows, but how they achieve this is poorly understood. This research seeks to answer that through a mixed-method study of Tasmanian’s digital competency and how they engage with technical problem solving in and out of the workplace. Results indicate digital natives aren’t as competent as previously thought, understanding of (digital) safety is lacking across generations and is getting worse among women under 36, and that those not in technology or education have a lack of digital competency making participation in digital innovations difficult.