AIIA shares the opportunity for Australia to be a Major Player on the World Stage - through Technology

It’s an exciting time to be on the technology and innovation space in Australia and the AIIA have prepared an 83 page report suggesting a roadmap of how Government can support the #nexttechrevolution.

The importance of Learning, Reskilling and Upskilling is weaved throughout this whitepaper 

The Opportunity 

Investment in innovation and technology  is giving us - as a nation -  a transformative opportunity that is a game changer - and for us to take advantage of this - we need to change our mindset and change the way we and others view us - With  our size location a strategic advantage! 

We need to not only focus on the research and R&D - but also on the commercialisation of the technologies and research that we undertake! 

Those that drive technology innovation and commercialisation at the core of their strategies will win and it is key for Australian Government to continue backing tech innovation to stay ahead of the curve

We are at the start of a great trajectory 

 It is pleasing to have ScoMo (our Prime Minister) stating as a major economic and policy goal for Australia to be a leading digital economy by 2030 - with a $1.2 billion Digital Economy Strategy. 

And the NSW Government investing $2 billion in its Digital Restart Fund with Victor Dominello leading the charge !

Venture Capital investing has shown some significant returns with over 20 unicorns being created over the past few years!

It is a start - And I am sure there is a lot more to come! 

Government Support 

Government  have acknowledged that 

• Recognising that digitising the economy is critical to our national success;

• Increasing the R&D tax incentive and introducing a patent box;

• Appointing a Minister for the Digital Economy;

• Funding a National Freight Hub;

• Investment in digital skills; and

• Investing in cyber security resilience

The  AIIA suggested the areas of focusing the following areas - and this whitepaper  recommendations of what the government can do in each of these areas

• health, 
• manufacturing, 
• agriculture, and 
• digital government ; 
• AI, Quantum, digital engineering, 
• industry incentives and 
• cyber security.

(mining and oil and gas and renewables not mentioned - not technologies as it relates to renewables )

How government is and can continue supporting the digitisation of the country

• Being intentional in supporting technology in growth areas
• Supporting  the creation of industry hubs
• incentives such as commercialisation australia and entrepreneurs programme, RDTI and export grants - supporting Australian technology innovators are supported to thrive, not just survive, through a strong shift from a research driven agenda to one of commercialisation.
• Supporting the building of skills - specifically a focus of microcredential skills and accreditation

Some of the players in the AIIA

 • Bridget Tracy, AIIA NSW Council

 • Ron Gauci, AIIA

• Ramah Sakul, SAP

• Peter Anstee, CyberCX

• Ashok Mysore, Infosys

• Kristina Kipper, KPMG

• Anna Phan, IBM

• John Mackenney, Adobe 

• Ben Peterson, IBM

• Michelle Frazer, DB Results 

• James Jackson, Accenture 

• Simon Bush, AIIA - simon@aiia.com.au.

• Dr Tim Mumford - Infrastructure Australia

• Marie Truelove - CSIRO Data-61

• Dr. Ian Oppermann - Chief Data Scientist, NSW

• Adam Beck - Smart Cities Council, Australia & New Zealand

• Dr Graeme Kernich - Frontier SI

• Teresa Scott - Australasian Procurement and

Construction Council

• Dr Tim Smyth - Adjunct Professor, University of Technology Sydney

• Jordan Griffiths, Accenture

Here is a copy of the report 

 https://aiia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AIIA-Growing-Globally-Competitive-Industries.pdf

Aug 21 Transformation Forum with Emma Sidney

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ivankayebsi_nexttech-bbgforum-leadership-activity-6833884824948891649-a765

Great chat file from today 00:25:54 Alister McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmasidney/

00:26:48 Alister McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-hillary/

00:28:03 Alister McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistermcdonald/

00:34:13 Craig Saphin: Its the political uncertainty - and the start stop for businesses

00:34:33 Ivan Kaye: be sure to comment on this link  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ivankayebsi_nexttech-bbgforum-leadership-activity-6833884824948891649-a765

00:34:36 Craig Saphin: The rapid changing needs of clients

00:35:22 Rob Nankervis: The economy in stop/start mode where businesses can't get momentum.

00:35:50 Michael Bartura: Somewhat similarly to Alister, I often reflect that the leadership that has got us here, is not the leadership that will get us though the challenges are facing nw, and even more worryingly the ones are coming up the curb…

00:36:04 Ivan Kaye: Climate Change

00:36:08 Alister McDonald: Very well put Michael

00:36:22 Alister McDonald: Thanks Craig, Rob and Ivan

00:37:27 Ivan Kaye: What are your fears? The only thing you can change is your attitude - shit i going to happen… its your choice of how you are going to handle the situation

00:37:32 Rob Nankervis: Agree with Adam about personal agency - I've been working with some clients who are flying at the moment. We have big visions and they're working towards them however they can. Making their own momentum.

00:37:46 Bill McLellan: What got us here, wont get us there - Marshall Goldsmith.  Question is what does 'there' look like.  Solving this challenge, keeps me awake at times, conjuring up a future that is purposefully agile.

00:37:51 Ivan Kaye: How to handle the client - help them change their attitude - the choice of

00:38:11 Alister McDonald: Thanks Bill

00:38:12 Ivan Kaye: Market in flux and problems - that’s where the opportunities are

00:38:31 Alister McDonald: So a New Vision and New Leadership

00:39:22 Rob Nankervis: ... and to Emma's point its been a great reminder that we never were in control of everything. Some folks were just floating along on the rising tide rather than really driving their business

00:40:33 Ivan Kaye: am putting gems on linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ivankayebsi_nexttech-bbgforum-leadership-activity-6833884824948891649-a765

00:43:14 Rob Nankervis: Classic Covey challenge - 'I haven't got time to sharpen the saw, I'm too busy sawing'.

00:43:42 Adam Hillary: Absolutely Rob

00:44:29 Ivan Kaye: 💥 Alister McDonald 💥 how important are processes - if you can systemise you can scale.... some business owners dont want to be business leaders - they just want to focus on what they do well .....  if you can tke the shit away from the entrepreneur and let them focus on what they do well.... magic will happen

00:44:50 Rob Nankervis: I also get business leaders to first focus on what to detonate before they automate. Pointless to do some something better/faster that shouldn't be done at all.

00:45:47 Ivan Kaye: Its not easy to find a partner that you can grow a business with

00:45:54 Ivan Kaye: the art of delegation

00:46:15 Ivan Kaye: welcome @ben

00:46:51 Bill McLellan: Could being kept awake at night be 'an owners attempt to view the business from the balcony'?

00:47:24 Alister McDonald: A great perspective Bill. Not conscious, however intuition’s attempt to wake us up

00:48:19 Emma Sidney - Sales and Marketing Integration: I love that idea Bill

00:49:14 Ivan Kaye: HOw invested in you in empowering your people - a key to success is to empower your team .... delegate and then jumping in to try and solve the problem - is disempowering?

00:49:33 Adam Hillary: Yes - that makes sense. That drowsy half sleep can provide insights.

00:49:42 Ivan Kaye: Who is SG?

00:49:45 Rob Nankervis: If leaders won't delegate I ask if thats because of the other person (not capable/trusted), or because of them (ie: can't let go).

00:50:02 Cassandra Parton: Growing people and providing them a career path, empowering them is more important now than ever. Hiring people is hard, but retaining people is an art. Without opportunity, growth and a culture of support and empathy, good people will leave.

00:50:44 Rob Nankervis: Great point Al - they become the bottleneck in their own bottle!

00:51:32 Alister McDonald: Absolutely Cassandra!

00:51:53 Bill McLellan: The perfect vision in  the owners head becoming the 'perfectionist' - the roadblock of so much.

00:51:56 Michael Bartura: Bottleneck…. Love that Rob.

00:51:57 Alister McDonald: Bottleneck in their own bottle … I hope you capture all the comments Ivan. There is a book in it 😊

00:53:25 Emma Sidney - Sales and Marketing Integration: Are you the bottleneck in your own bottle?

00:53:29 Emma Sidney - Sales and Marketing Integration: Perfect

00:54:07 Michael Bartura: Peter Drucker - can’t manage what you don’t measure…

00:58:38 Michael Bartura: 80/20 and so on...

00:59:03 Alister McDonald: Thanks Michael. We removed our Pareto Principle slide ;)

01:00:23 Rob Nankervis: Remarkable how few leaders actually understand profit (what they even call it) and certainly there is little insight on profit by product or customer. So often they don't really know how/where they make money.

01:02:37 Rob Nankervis: Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, cash flow is king (Alan Miltz)

01:04:34 Adam Hillary: Thanks Rob :-)

01:05:44 Rob Nankervis: Had a client with 200 SKUs - they found that 75% of profit was from 8 of them ... and they were on the cusp of building a new factory (to make yet more unprofitable products - ouch).

01:06:36 Emma Sidney - Sales and Marketing Integration: @rob so great that you caught that!

01:11:31 Bill McLellan: Any thoughts on a definition of Innovation?

01:12:19 Michael Bartura: Proust- "The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

01:14:26 Bill McLellan: I like that Michael,  I use  "Change that adds value"  which could mean news eyes (mindset) for the whole business.

01:14:38 Rob Nankervis: A useful driver of innovation is to have a big stretch goal that can't be achieved with current processes, people, systems. If forces new thinking, especially when constrained with metrics such as GM/Profit to be achieved.

01:17:13 Michael Bartura: Yes Rob - Michael Neill talks about ‘thinking the impossible’ as a starting point.

01:21:02 Brian Fine: in current climate, should businesses focus on reduction of overheads[strategic withdrawal] or increasing overheads to drive revenues, for ultimate increase in profits?

01:21:22 Alister McDonald: Great question Brian.

01:22:50 Ivan Kaye: https://bsi.skillsoptimiser.com/BusinessHealth/

01:22:51 Rob Nankervis: Need to understand necessary v unnecessary costs. Are the expenses 'making our boat go faster' or are they actually a waste (on product, process, people that make no difference)

01:23:28 Alister McDonald: Yes Rob!

01:23:41 Alister McDonald: And the massive shifts right now are impacting what is necessary.

01:23:53 Adam Hillary: Nice one Rob

01:23:56 Alister McDonald: How many businesses do not need to pay commercial rent right now?

01:25:09 Bill McLellan: What profit margin makes sense for businesses taking on current risks in a 'volatile environment?

01:26:23 Alister McDonald: An intricate question Bill.

01:26:58 Alister McDonald: We’re seeing an opportunity to leverage support and the derisking options available right now.

01:27:29 Alister McDonald: We have options to suspend payment of overheads, leases, mortgages, etc, while also gaining grant money.

01:27:38 Alister McDonald: With little to no recourse.

01:28:57 Rob Nankervis: To Ivan's comment: If your outgoings exceed your incomings, your upkeep is your downfall.

01:30:01 Ben Howell: Also innovating to meet changing customer needs and removing roadblocks to more sales

01:31:41 Brian Fine: why is it the people who need the most help, do not know where to find it? How does a consulting business reach out to them?

01:33:34 Alister McDonald: That’s great Ben. Many of our customers are business owners too.

01:34:49 Alister McDonald: Brian, that is a great point and so many coaches/mentors/consultants maintain themselves and their skills as a ‘best kept secret’.

01:35:46 Alister McDonald: Perhaps this group could present as a community to the business world?

01:36:44 Rob Nankervis: At the smaller end they may traditionally rely on their accountant for 'advice' Brian. In my practice I don't even try to convert people who don't realise that they need help. Hopefully they get referred to a book or talk with a friend who's taken action. Often, though, it will be action driven by crisis.

01:36:51 Michael Bartura: Alister - we have been playing with the idea of a ‘virtual firm’…

01:37:39 Alister McDonald: I suspect you are spot on Rob. When business owners are kept awake every night it becomes painful enough to do something new.

01:39:22 Rob Nankervis: Reckon we've been think tanking already!

01:39:52 Alister McDonald: Yes! Capture the chat!

01:51:48 Rob Nankervis: Competency is around 'critical asset protection' rather than just the underground assets where the idea started. Great innovation.

01:52:55 Emma Sidney - Sales and Marketing Integration: Al has his hand up

01:59:44 Brian Fine: the opportunities now are to "partner" to speed up success!

02:01:36 Emma Sidney - Sales and Marketing Integration: Yes Brian, I think one of the most key activities for growth is to see what you can fulfil without adding infrastructure, then finding a company that adds value to your offering by fulfilling on that need.

02:03:02 Alister McDonald: Social Enterprise?

02:03:16 Alister McDonald: Community Enterprise?

02:03:16 Emma Sidney - Sales and Marketing Integration: Yes Al great term

02:03:43 Rob Nankervis: Only diff with NFP/social enterprise is that the profit is not distributed - it is re-invested

02:04:13 Alister McDonald: Enterprise suggests expansion

02:06:19 Rob Nankervis: Interesting moment in time when 'for profit' enterprises are trying to be more community focused, whilst NFPs are trying to get more commercial

02:13:32 Alister McDonald: Thanks for returning :)

02:19:37 Michael Bartura: Eisenhower — “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.”

02:19:49 Adam Hillary: Fantastic