Microsoft's attempts at shaping the federal government's innovation statement appears to have worked, with the software giant expressing its support for most of the initiatives outlined in Prime Minister Howard's Innovation Action Plan.
Microsoft however, says the need for improvement in the country's broadband infrastructure and the provision of tax incentives are both equally important to the country's future in innovation.
In anticipation of the government's Innovation statement - announced Tuesday - the multinational submitted its own recommendations two weeks ago, highlighting what it called numerous holes in Australia's IT and tax policies.
Microsoft says it is "pleased the government's Innovation Statement incorporates some of the recommendations we made in our White Paper."
Three out of five
Although three out of the company's five recommendations were addressed, Microsoft believes the further development of broadband infrastructure and the provision of tax incentives need to be considered in the overall plan.
The company says provisions for tax incentives - such as personal income rates and capital gains tax - need to be addressed to attract international investment and encourage graduates to stay in the country.
"We want graduates to work in Australia to reap the benefits of the significant investment in education," a Microsoft spokesperson said.
"Tax incentives are still an important issue, the government has promised to revisit it."
Broadband left wanting
Microsoft says the Innovation Statement did not address its proposal for better broadband infrastructure.
"We believe access to the Internet needs to be affordable and widely available to all of Australia,"
"Innovation cannot occur in a vacuum, a broad range of issues need to be closely interrelated and mutually re-enforcing," the spokesperson said.
"We think [the innovation action plan] is a step in the right direction, and they did leave the door open to discuss these other issues."
