Australian Innovation System Report 2012 Compendium of Program Updates

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY GOVERNMENT

Entrepreneur Development Fund

The Entrepreneur Development Fund (EDF) is a pilot program funded by the ACT Government, Lighthouse Business Innovation Centre Pty Ltd and Epicorp. Starting in July 2011, the EDF pilot program will run until 31 December 2012.

The EDF is designed to contribute to the costs of skills and knowledge transfer to high-growth potential businesses in the ACT in order to help them obtain or refine key skills and capabilities, grow the company, and achieve business goals. The EDF is intended to supplement existing ACT and Australian Government grants and to address funding shortfalls in facilitating skills and knowledge transfer for small to medium high-growth potential businesses in the ACT.

Website for further information:

http://www.lighthouseinnovation.com.au/content/entrepreneur-development-fund-edf

QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT

Skills and research capacity

In 2011, the Queensland Government continued its support for science, research and innovation.

A range of collaborative research projects were supported during 2011, along with the retention and attraction of highly skilled researchers through the range of fellowship and scholarship programs offered.

Business innovation: The Queensland Business Innovation Survey 2011

The Queensland Business Innovation Survey (QBIS) is produced in partnership with the University of Queensland Business School.

The QBIS has been an important tool to inform government policies and programs.

The survey offers data at a level of detail previously unavailable and can measure key and complementary indicators, such as levels and types of collaboration, employee education and training rates, export and turnover data and R&D activity - at the industry and regional Queensland level.

NEW SOUTH WALES GOVERNMENT

Research Attraction and Acceleration Program

In the 2012/13 budget the NSW Government committed $13 million towards a new Research Attraction and Acceleration Program (RAAP). The RAAP will work to enhance NSW’s research and development capacity by increasing the competitiveness of bids made by NSW research consortia.

The RAAP will build on the progress achieved under the Government’s Science Leveraging Fund last year, which attracted significant funding from a number of sources including the Commonwealth, industry and philanthropic organisations.

The Government will invest $8 million of the RAAP into supporting National ICT Australia (NICTA). NICTA is the nation’s leading research institution for information and communications technology headquartered at the Australian Technology Park in Sydney.

The NSW Government will use the RAAP to support a number of initiatives including the Commonwealth Government’s highly prestigious, high impact ARC Centres of Excellence Program, as well as the Cooperative Research Centres Program and Education Investment Fund which provides research infrastructure for NSW State’s universities.

Establishing new capabilities: Centre for International Finance and Regulation

The Centre for International Finance and Regulation (CIFR) is a new national centre established to assist the finance industry, government and regulators to meet emerging challenges and opportunities in the field of international finance and regulation, through funding and promoting world class research and education and related activities. The inaugural CEO, banking and finance law specialist Ros Grady, was announced in March 2012. Hosted by the University of New South Wales, CIFR is a powerful consortium of universities, research houses and finance sector industry leaders; established with over $24 million support from the Commonwealth and NSW Governments and universities and industry partners.

CIFR will have research, teaching, industry engagement and policy roles with a substantial agenda encompassing regional and global financial market developments; financial stability; sustaining economic growth; eliminating excessive risk taking and fostering innovation through design and implementation of regulatory standards.

Website for further information:

www.cifr.edu.au

Establishing New Capabilities: Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation

The Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation (ACBI) was launched in October 2011 as a joint initiative between the NSW Government, CSIRO and National ICT Australia (NICTA). The Centre works with industry to develop innovative broadband-enabled services, to demonstrate their use in real world situations and to evaluate the potential commercial and social value of the services and applications enabled by next generation broadband technologies. Areas of focus for ACBI include: Media and Entertainment; Health and Ageing; Education and Learning; Government and Business Services; Smart Infrastructure; Social and Economic Analysis.

Website for further information:

http://acbi.net.au/

NSW Social Benefit Bonds

The NSW Government announced in the 2011-12 Budget that it would trial Australia’s first Social Benefit Bond (SBB) program to address a range of social challenges facing the State. A SBB is a new financial instrument in which private investors provide up-front funding to service providers to deliver improved social outcomes. If these outcomes are delivered, there are reduced cost pressures to government enabling pay-back of the up-front funding as well as providing a return on that investment.

In September 2011 a Request for Proposal was launched to identify suitable pilot projects. The Benevolent Society, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia and UnitingCare Burnside were selected for two Out-of-Home Care related pilots, and Social Finance and Mission Australia were selected to lead a Recidivism pilot. These projects will be further developed in partnership with the NSW Government in the Joint Development Phase. If successful, up to three Bonds will be implemented at the completion of the phase. Other Australian and overseas jurisdictions have expressed strong interest in the trial.

Website for further information:

http://www.treasury.nsw.gov.au/site_plan/social_benefit_bonds

Industry Action Plans

The NSW Government is developing Industry Action Plans (IAPs) to position key sectors of the State's economy for strong growth, resilience, improved innovation and productivity, global competitiveness, and new investment opportunities over the next decade. These sectors include Manufacturing, Professional Services (finance and insurance; legal and regulatory services and engineering services), the Digital Economy; Tourism and Events; and International Education and Research. Supported by Industry Taskforces and overseen by the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council, the IAPs are scheduled for release by the end of 2012. Each IAP will outline a vision and 10 year development strategy for each industry; identify drivers for, and barriers to, growth and innovation; detail a program and mechanisms for government and industry to encourage sector growth, competitiveness and innovation; and contain key performance metrics.

Website for further information:

http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/doing-business-in-nsw/industry-action-plans

Collaborative Solutions Program Round 2

In May 2012, the NSW Government announced nearly $1 million in funding for seven projects under Round 2 of the Collaborative Solutions Program, focusing on the use of mobile and wireless solutions to improve public-sector productivity. The seven projects, all led by small-to-medium sized ICT companies are expected to create over 200 jobs and $80 million dollars in revenue, including $50 million in exports, over the next three years. Projects include digital services to enhance the 21st century visitor experience at cultural institutions; smart camera mobile technology to tackle exhibit theft; mobile location technology to assist bio-security officers in the field; mobile technology to help streamline trade missions; and a highly scalable infrastructure platform to support development of mobile applications for government.

Website for further information:

www.business.nsw.gov.au/collaborativesolutions

International technology connections

In May 2012, the NSW Government announced the appointment of a new NSW senior business representative in the United States to spearhead connections in Silicon Valley at a new office in the Stanford University Mid-Point Technology Park in the Nest GSV (Global Silicon Valley) Centre. The appointment follows the establishment in February 2012 of StartUpHouse in Redlands to support technology companies trying to get a foothold in Silicon Valley. StartUpHouse will provide emerging companies and entrepreneurs with a collaborative working environment connecting them to fellow entrepreneurs and mentors. NSW Trade & Investment, through the Australian Technology Showcase (ATS) program, will support selected NSW startups by providing a subsidy of up to 50 percent of the costs up to AUD$1,250 to utilise the facilities.

Website for further information:

http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/assistance-and-support/grants/business/startuphouse

NSW TechVouchers Program

In 2012 the Research Attraction and Acceleration Program (RAAP) is supporting a new round of the NSW TechVouchers program administered by NSW Trade and Investment. TechVouchers offer financial support to businesses to better access cutting-edge research to develop and improve their products, services and practices. The program encourages collaboration between NSW small-to-medium enterprises and public sector research organisations by helping SMEs engage with these research organisations.

The first round of the pilot program awarded 71 TechVouchers to develop commercialisation pathways by establishing connections between industry and research organisations. It is expected that the second round will be fully subscribed with an additional 33 vouchers issued by December 2012.

Website for further information:

http://ww3.business.nsw.gov.au/TechVouchers/home.aspx

Environmental sustainability & social housing

One of the largest social housing providers in the world, the NSW Land and Housing Corporation has been recognised for its environmental leadership and innovation, winning the Public Sector Sustainability Award at the 2011 Green Globe Awards.

Key platforms of its Environmental Sustainability Strategy released in February 2012 include:

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  Supporting sustainable communities by assisting low income and socially disadvantaged communities to reduce energy and water. In a first for a social housing project in Australia, new residential developments in Lilyfield and Redfern have achieved a 5 star Green Rating.
  
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  Innovative building design and maintenance including replacement of electric with solar hot water systems; installation of solar photovoltaic systems for common areas in new residential developments; and pursuing carbon neutral targets for new homes and major upgrades.
  
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  Conserving natural resources through installation of rainwater tanks and introduction of recycling services.
  
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  Adapting to climate change through ceiling insulation in dwellings and corporate energy efficiency programs, including purchase of a minimum of 12 percent Green Power for offices and common areas, compared with an overall 6 percent target for Government.
  

Website for further information:

http://www.housing.nsw.gov.au/About+Us/Environmental+Sustainability.htm

Cross-portfolio innovation

The NSW Government has established a range of cross-portfolio initiatives over the last year to drive innovation and productivity; deliver better services and outcomes; and improve engagement between government, the business sector and communities.

These initiatives include:

NSW ICT Strategy

In May 2012 the NSW Government launched a new website and the NSW Government ICT Strategy 2012 which sets out initial steps to improve service delivery, provide greater transparency and obtain better value from government investment in ICT. In addition to improved infrastructure and supporting procurement reform, key platforms include:

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  Service NSW - designed to improve and simplify customer access to government services.
  
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  Open government -to enable industry and the community to provide feedback and better engage in policy development.
  
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  Open data - to improve management of and public access to government data sets, including development of an open access licensing framework.
  

Website for further information:

http://services.nsw.gov.au/ict/

Coal Innovation NSW

In 2011 the NSW Government introduced legislative reforms to establish Coal Innovation NSW and the Coal Innovation NSW Fund (formerly the Clean Coal Council and Clean Coal Fund). The reforms are designed to more accurately reflect the functions of the Council, and to focus on innovations in research and applications to deliver low emissions coal technologies. These technologies will facilitate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the extraction, preparation or use of coal. Council members were appointed in February 2012.

Website for further information:

Currently under redevelopment

REVIEWS AND/OR EVALUATIONS

NSW Health and Medical Research Strategic Review

In 2011 the NSW Government commissioned a review into the performance of health and medical research in NSW that would provide a ten year strategic plan for going forward. Released in June 2012, the review report and the Government’s response, place strong emphasis on translational pull through of prioritised research effort; knowledge led service innovation; and research capacity building. Recommendations to foster translation and innovation from research include development of an intellectual property framework for multiparty publicly funded research; supporting early stage venture capital through a pilot program to develop medical devices; establishment of a dedicated clinical trial support team and development of phase 1 clinical trial capabilities. The NSW Government supported the recommendations and provided a commitment of over $70 million over 4 years to support key initiatives in the report, including:

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  Provision of up to $5 million per annum for a Medical Devices Seeding Fund.
  
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  Provision of $1 million annually for the establishment of the Research Capacity Building Program to retain and attract new leading researchers to NSW.
  
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  Provision of $2.5 million in cash and $750,000 in kind over 5 years to partner with the National Health and Medical Research Council to establish a Partnership Centre in ‘Systems Perspectives on the Prevention of Lifestyle-Related Chronic Health problems’.
  
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  Development of a secure remote access population health data warehouse to facilitate data mining - ‘Secure Analytics for Population Health Research and Intelligence’ (SAPHRI).
  
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  Boosting the Medical Research Support Program, to bring funding to $37.3 million per annum to strengthen research capacity.
  

Website for further information:

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/omr/review/

Review of the NSW Government Procurement system

The NSW Government is reforming its system for procuring goods and services, with a discussion paper released in January 2012 and consultation concluded in May 2012. The process aims to deliver a new government procurement framework that is consistent with contemporary practice, delivers value for money and utilises procurement as a business enabler. Priorities include expanding opportunities for small and medium enterprises to supply goods and services to the government, and introducing greater innovation into procurement practices to stimulate a more vibrant economy.

Website for further information:

http://haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/procurement