Both Prime Minister Rudd and Communications Minister Conroy have regularly confirmed the Australian Government’s commitment to a “digital revolution”. To this end mobile telecommunications including mobile broadband will be central to the future of a digital economy as the reach of mobile technologies and services extends into most sectors of the economy and society. It is clear that health and education sectors are set to join media, entertainment, personal / business communications and social networking as key new horizons for mobile technologies and services.

Consumers are already very familiar with the enormous opportunities mobile telecommunication technology is providing in media applications including extensive music and video offerings. Business applications are also growing rapidly to capitalise on advanced wireless information and communication flows.

The 3G environment is also expanding the role of mobility in the social networking arena with increasing use of mobile services as a primary means of interaction on sites such as Myspace, Facebook and YouTube. Did you know a staggering 13 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute?

In addition to media, entertainment, personal / business communications and social networking there is an inexorable momentum building around mobile technology use in health and education contexts. For example, Medical Records Institute, a provider of e-health and related information technology in the US, has introduced the Center for Cell Phone Applications in Healthcare, a membership-based organisation that will study and advocate the advancement of cell phone applications in healthcare.

According to Medical Records Institute (MRI), the Center for Cell Phone Applications in Healthcare (C-PAHC) envisions the development of a range of healthcare applications on cell phones and cite them as the future conduit of interoperability for essential health information.