Popis: |
Technological advances are transforming agriculture in many parts of the world. Despite the importance of agriculture to its economy, Australia lags behind other advanced economies in the adoption of digital agricultural technology. The country risks losing its comparative advantage due to a weak policy around digital agriculture. This study combines network analysis and natural language processing to assess 654 public submissions to six government inquiries addressing agricultural innovation, the digital economy, and rural broadband communication networks, held between 2016 and 2018. The analysis shows there is no consistent narrative driving policy development around digital agriculture. A fragmented policy landscape is a concern because it means that current and emerging policies may not address key issues, resulting in sub-optimal outcomes for Australian agriculture. |