Weber Shandwick appointed
The Department of Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy today announced the appointment of Sydney-based consulting firm Weber Shandwick to provide communication consultancy services for the development of Australia’s digital economy that will be enabled by the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Weber Shandwick will provide specialist advice to help educate Australian households, local communities, businesses, and government agencies on how they can take advantage of the opportunities provided by the NBN.
Australia currently lags well behind the world’s leading digital economies on key online indicators. The NBN will be a catalyst to enable Australia to become a leading digital economy. The NBN has the potential to transform lives, make Australian businesses more competitive and enable government agencies to improve service delivery. However, this will need all Australians to better understand how to take advantage of the enormous opportunities the NBN will provide.
A department spokesman said the appointment of Weber Shandwick recognised the substantial desire in the community for information about what the NBN will mean for consumers and business.
“The NBN is designed to deliver a range of benefits including boosting Australia’s digital economy and delivery of services such as health and education. Capturing these benefits requires effective communications. This is an important part of the Department’s responsibility to develop policies to grow the NBN-enabled digital economy.
“The long –term communication strategy Weber Shandwick will develop will complement the communication strategy of NBN Co itself. We are delighted to have Weber Shandwick, one of Australia’s most experienced communication consulting firms on board to help achieve this.”
Weber Shandwick is contracted to 30 June 2011.
Media inquiries – media@dbcde.gov.au
