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