More than half of Australian businesses are not confident they can take advantage of high speed broadband, a survey shows.

An Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) report based on a survey of nearly 350 chief executives shows that less than half of local businesses are confident they can take advantage of high speed broadband.

“Small to medium enterprises are the least confident with 40 per cent of medium size companies and 47 per cent of small companies expressing confidence, compared with 70 per cent of larger companies,” Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said.

The survey also found that business investment in new technologies was expected to decrease in 2013 because of an uncertain economic outlook and rising cost pressures.

Only 22 per cent of the surveyed companies said they would invest in new technologies this year, a ten percentage point decrease compared to 2012.

About a quarter of businesses expected to reduce expenditure on new technologies in 2013, a 15 percentage point rise on the previous year.

The report found that almost a third of businesses that invested in new technologies last year reported an improvement in their labour productivity, compared to just 16 per cent that did not invest in new technologies.

“The reduction in investment in new technologies will slow productivity growth,” Mr Willox said.

“The report finds clear evidence of a link between technology investment and improved productivity.”