There was a time when the managing director of IT firm Internetrix would downplay the fact they were based in Wollongong.
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Daniel Rowan said this was because people connected Wollongong with “steel town” and not “IT”.
“Internetrix is 15 years old and probably from 2000 through to the late 2000s I would try and talk around Wollongong and be concerned about exactly that point,” Mr Rowan said.
“I think in the last five years, maybe it’s our own maturity, but Wollongong has its own strategic competitive advantages for knowledge services.”
These advantages include cheaper rent and the ability to attract workers sick of the daily commute to Sydney.
These days, Mr Rowan said the Wollongong IT sector was “flourishing” but he’d still like to see more firms set up in the city.
“I’d welcome a bigger knowledge service economy down here,” he said.
“Digital’s a big field. We’ve got our three specialisations but there’s plenty of space across the sector for more entrants.”