Adelaide top of the national list as the best place to do business

South Australia’s reputation for leading the way in innovation and technology has attracted global giant Accenture to set up home in the state.

When global consulting giant Accenture decided to establish a hub in Australia, it first carried out a national study looking at labour arbitrage, access to skills, access to tertiary and vocational education, proximity, cost of living and attracting talent. Adelaide came out on top. For Accenture director of security and technology Mark Datta, an Adelaide native, the result was unsurprising. “For us who have grown up in Adelaide, it made sense the hub would be here,” he says. “A large part of our operations is based in aerospace and defence, as well as technology and operations, all of which are here on our doorstep.”

With more than 600,000 employees across 120 countries and 5500 in Australia, Accenture is one of the world’s leaders in digital, cloud and security. Having set a target of creating 2000 jobs across the next four years, the Adelaide hub is providing further opportunities for growth. “We launched with about 40 staff and we’ve just ticked over 350 people, so we’ve grown by 310 in the last few months,” Datta says. “That’s rapid growth. One of the things I’m excited about is, we’ve committed to growing to 2000 by 2025. We’re not going to achieve that number through finding people already in the industry, so there’s a big push for building our own skills.”

The business will focus on attracting talent from diverse backgrounds, including university, TAFE students and school leavers, people with disability, veterans and those looking to return to work. “We’re looking at people who may have existing experience in supply chain, procurement, HR, legal, operational technology and manufacturing,” Datta says.

“They use the products we sell and they understand the business components to those products. If we bring them in and give them the technical overlay, they’ll become excellent consultants.

“The expectation is when we get to 2000 staff, at least 30-40 per cent will be what we call early careers, where they don’t have the experience and we’re providing training for them to get that experience. That’s the cool part.”

To this end, Accenture recently signed a joint venture with The University of South Australia to build a Digital Academy, offering an undergraduate degree and paid internship in an applied business role within the company; as well as working with organisations to help upskill, cross-skill and re-skill employees to support their capabilities for the jobs of today and tomorrow. “This is an exciting collaboration because it is helping the whole South Australian economy,” Datta says.

Accenture director of security and technology Mark Datta and director, aerospace and defence Bernard Ash. Picture: Russell Millard

There are plans to extend the training into the blue collar sector. “We’re having discussions with RTO PEER around how we help them not only bring digital skills into trades, but also bring the capability to use the extended reality and the technology into future programs like submarines and frigates,” says Bernard Ash, Accenture director, aerospace and defence.

SA’S POINT OF DIFFERENCE

For Ash, who moved from Melbourne to Adelaide in July 2020 to take up the role at Accenuture, one of the biggest surprises about doing business in South Australia is ... the ease of doing business in South Australia. “Most astonishing is the access to the government,” he says. “In Melbourne, you’d attempt to get access to the likes of Daniel Andrews and other premiers and that was a struggle; it has been absolutely surprising how invested the South Australian premier and ministers are in supporting organisations like Accenture for that growth outcome.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Datta: “There’s a collaboration that’s outside of just innovation. It’s almost innovative in the way we can all work together. For South Australia, I think it’s an absolute differentiator.”

That differentiator is driving South Australia’s capabilities on a national stage. “The partnership ecosystem at Lot Fourteen, Tonsley, Mawson Lakes and innovation in general naturally opens up other opportunities for the organisations, the state and industry,” Ash says. “I heard a two-star general in the US Army talking about Lot Fourteen. It’s bringing international opportunities to Adelaide: we haven’t been able to harness that to the same effect in any other state or territory.”

OWNING IT

That technology and innovation mindset is opening up a new world of opportunity. “I’m stunned at how we’ve flipped, and it’s flipped to a point where the opportunities are endless for South Australia,” Datta says. “I think we’re at the point where we just need to stop worrying about what’s happening elsewhere. We can stand on our own two feet with the resources and the lifestyle we’ve got here. We should be proud of who we are and not be second fiddle to anyone.”

As a relative newcomer to all the state has to offer, Ash has also flipped his views on South Australia. “From a non-professional, personal perspective, what’s surprising is just the beauty of this state – being able to walk on a beach at seven in the morning with no one else on it,” he says. “And the food is amazing. Melbourne goes on about how fantastic their food is but the food here is every bit as good, if not better. And the markets are even better. I’m hooked – I’m not going back.”