"Governments are dealing with public money and dealing with significant change. I don't declare bad intentions for the opposition [to the NBN]. I just declare them to be a bit fearful and a little bit too cautious. "That is natural. That is human nature. We resist change. But if you speak with anyone who has had to overcome that resistance they will say to you, this is the right way to go – we just disagree about how to get there." Zacharilla, whose forum anointed Communications Minister Stephen Conroy Visionary of the Year in 2012, spoke to IT Pro ahead of his address at this week's Digital Productivity Conference in Brisbane, hosted by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. The Intelligent Community Forum releases an annual list of "intelligent communities" highlighting regions around the globe that use communications technology to effectively boost their local economies. No Australian community has made the ICF finalist list since 2004, when Victoria made the cut.

"Australia does not lack aspiration," Zacharilla said. "They know what is at stake. They know they should keep the talent at home, but they don't have all the tools yet." ICF's work has received plaudits from New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg and government leaders in Taiwan, France, Finland, the Netherlands, South Korea and Afghanistan. Toronto (Canada), Oulo (Finland), and Tallin (Estonia), were among the list of this year's top seven communities. In implementing broadband, Zacharilla drew comparison with the economic development of cities in the US that elected to use riverboats as their main form of industrial transportation against those that saw the benefits of railways. "Chicago, which was a backwater city, saw this thing called the railroad," Zacharilla said. "Chicago invested in it and even today has 10 times the GDP of the state of Missouri.