Presentation overview: Barb McPherson discusses the implications of the declining national productivity for workforce participation and productivity. She argues that there is a need for businesses and RTOs to respond with innovative business practices and more effective training strategies. Some of Barb's observations focus on the insights she gained from her attendance at the Australia 2020 summit. Presenter: Barbara McPherson is the Managing Director of River Murray Training Pty Ltd (RMT), a regionally based private RTO. Barb has been part of the VET sector for some 15 years, and apart from managing the RTO business, she undertakes projects around training package development, review and implementation. In 2002 Barbara was part of the Flexible Learning Leaders Program, and since that time has lead RMT into a new era of online learning. This has extended to involvement in Industry Engagement and Inclusivity projects for the Australian Flexible Learning Framework. To read the lead article by Barb McPherson, and Edition 16 of the Knowledge Tree that look at a range of case studies and perspectives on using innovative business strategies and industry/Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) partnerships to embed e-learning and promote workforce productivity visit the Knowledge Tree site. read less