Coonan talked about strong employment growth under this government with 383,300 workers in ICT. But what's important is upgrading skills.

She said the government has allocated $837 million over the next five years for the Skills for the Future Program.

There was a long list of grants and programs outlined by the Minister aimed at promoting R&D, venture capitalist ventures and incubator programs.

But Coonan was keen to oversee the programs over the next few years to ensure they are hitting the mark.

"There are so many programs but the key is making sure they hit the mark. I will be integrating all these programs in the next couple of years to make sure we are heading in the right direction," she said.

While Coonan was well equipped to spruik plenty of government initiatives, Conroy said Australia's full ICT potential is not being realized and that the country's "backwater status" had to be turned around.

He said Labor's plans to build a $4.7 billion broadband network is likely to be its biggest commitment during the election but there will be plenty of initiatives to address the skills crisis and champion the "education revolution."

"We will commit $111million over four years to encourage students to study IT. The skills crisis is only getting worse, there is 9000 fewer enrolments this year over last year; something is drastically wrong," Conroy said adding that the Opposition will also reduce HECS fees for science and maths degrees.

"Once the infrastructure is in place the Online Communications Council will work with the states to identify improved educational opportunities."

Conroy said Australia is wasting the wealth generated by the current resources boom and needs to exploit opportunities for more innovation.

"Under our government we will establish 10 Enterprise Connect Centres linking the community and business to foster the commercialization of ideas," he said adding that more R&D initiatives will be announced during the election campaign.

Hosted by the Australian Computer Society (ACS), the event was praised by Democrats Leader, Lynn Allison, who believes the society's 10 year plan is a good starting point for the country's ICT vision.

Allison said an ICT brand to promote Australian industry, one of the key points in the ACS plan, is a great idea and should be supported by a whole of government approach.

To be successful, the ACS supports a whole of government approach that includes all relevant portolios contributing to a coherent strategy that transcends the boundaries of individual departments and ministerial responsibilities.

"We are losing too many ideas and skilled locals to more proactive countries with clear ICT strategies. There needs to be more direct partnerships between public research institutions and the private sector," Allison said.

She described telecoms as a "train wreck" and called for the structural separation of Telstra.