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Part 3: Decision Support Tools and SystemsInternational audienceThe opportunity for improved decision making has been enhanced in recent years through the public availability of a wide variety of information. In Australia, government data is routinely made available and maintained in the http://data.gov.au repository. This is a single point of reference for data that can be reused for purposes beyond that originally considered by the data custodians. Similarly a wealth of citizen information is available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Combining this data allows informed decisions to be made through planning scenarios.We present two case studies that demonstrate the utility of data integration and web mapping. As a simple proof of concept the user can explore different scenarios in each case study by indicating the relative weightings to be used for the decision making process. Both case studies are demonstrated as a publicly available interactive map-based website

Longitudinal firm level data are used to examine the short‐term impact of information and communications technology (ICT) investment and innovation on Australian businesses. ICT activity is found to be correlated with increased rates of innovation across all aspects of business. Firms which increase their ICT investment are also more likely to subsequently report increased productivity, though this effect does not appear to be causal. IT investment was most clearly associated with increased productivity and profitability in the manufacturing, construction and transport industry sector. The results suggest that the impact of ICT investment within a firm is mediated by broader innovations in business practice.