Economic potential of cloud-based business tools

NZIER’s report shows a 20% increase in the uptake of cloud computing could increase New Zealand’s GDP by between $3.5 billion and $6.2 billion. The report also highlights benefits to business of cloud computing uptake such as freeing up time for management to spend on strategy and innovation and barriers to uptake such as the skill and knowledge development required to adapt and use cloud-based tools. The potential benefits from cloud computing can be achieved through a greater level of adoption. Increasing adoption by mitigating/reducing barriers requires a combination of industry-led and government-led approaches. [Please note, this paper was developed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the New Zealand economy. Therefore, the specific details within this report need to be reviewed with this in mind.]