WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO GLOBAL INTEGRATION

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO GLOBAL INTEGRATION 

 

In 1996, and inspired by its then executive director Professor Trevor Cole, the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering brought focus to bear in Australia on the importance of innovation. The annual Warren Centre Innovation Lectures, which commenced in that year, have since played an important role in raising awareness of technology and innovation in Australian industry and in creating role models.

The Australian Innovation Research Centre at the University of Tasmania has recently identified five key dimensions of a healthy innovation system to be strengthened by government action, ie opportunity identification; knowledge creation and distribution (including higher education and research); business development and production capabilities; financial risk management; and knowledge and other technological infrastructure.

The industry-led Electronics Industry Action Agenda, being implemented by AEEMA, is focusing on at least two of these areas - opportunity identification and business development and production capabilities. This Action Agenda, and other like science/technology related agendas, will be strengthened by the Howard Government's recently announced industry policy which focuses on global integration. Put simply, our innovation system needs to be globally 'market facing' and marching to the tune of identified opportunities and challenges which can be realised by the application of our hitherto untapped technological capabilities and abilities.

Australian innovators and technology integrators must be 'globally integrating' within a national, government policy framework that better 'backs Australia's ability' and is assisting a more collaborative industry sector to actively seek out these new, rapidly emerging market opportunities.

Angus M Robinson, chief executive, AEEMA

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