THE idea of working until you are 80 or even 90 will probably horrify those looking forward to early retirement.

But for many professionals, especially those in challenging and rewarding careers, the prospect of a few extra decades to achieve greater professional fulfilment holds enormous appeal.

If you are to believe the World Health Organisation's top ageing expert, John Beard, that's precisely where things are heading.

Beard, director of the WHO's department of ageing and life course, told last week's Global Federation on Ageing conference in Melbourne that the older generation of the future will plug into the latest technology to allow people in their 80s and 90s to stay at work.

Businesses should prepare for an increase in tech-enabled older workers as more people delayed retirement well into their later years, he said.

In such a work environment, professional development and training will take on greater importance.

As the average person enters the workforce in their late teens or early 20s, careers could extend to 70 years or more.

With researchers already suggesting that most workers will change their career several times in their lifetime, these predictions have huge implications.

In light of this, the ACS is pleased to see that the federal government, through the Australian Government Information Management Office, has delivered on its promise of providing a whole-of-government framework for developing and maintaining its technology skills base. The Australian Public Service has established a strategic ICT workforce plan and ICT career structure to provide a consistent approach to recruitment and skills development across all departments and agencies.

One of the recommendations of the Gershon Review, the framework will enable the government to plan and manage a qualified ICT workforce while providing a clear path for ICT professionals to develop their career in the APS.

The ACS considers strategic career planning and training essential for Australia to be competitive in innovation.

With ICT such a critical enabler of business and most other industry sectors, we need measures now that will help us avoid the kind of skills shortages that have hamstrung innovation in the past.

Similar professional development initiatives should be adopted by the state and territory governments.

We also encourage the federal government to consider ways to persuade the private sector to provide training and development for their ICT professionals through tax concessions or training levies.

The dynamic nature of the tech sector means ongoing training is essential to enable professionals to stay up-to-date with trends.

In last year's annual Employment Survey of ACS members, 80 per cent of respondents said they had undertaken some form of training in the previous year. A similar percentage said they undertook training or retraining every one to three years to keep their skills current.

With the government keen to keep people working longer as our population ages, access to quality training is essential.

Anthony Wong is president of the Australian Computer Society and chief executive of AGW Consulting, a multidisciplinary ICT, intellectual property, legal and consulting practice.