How IT creates a wealthy Australia

How IT creates a wealthy Australia

PUBLISHED: 23 SEP 2013 18:46:21 | UPDATED: 23 SEP 2013 20:12:34

HUGH DURRANT-WHYTE

Last week was a fairly typical week at National ICT Australia (NICTA). On Monday morning we hosted a parliamentary delegation on transport safety and in the afternoon welcomed a senior leadership group from the NSW Police. On Tuesday morning we scoped a data analytics project with a major telco and a large logistics company. That same afternoon we started an exciting new health informatics project with the Garvan Institute. On Wednesday we held an industry forum in Melbourne on environmental analytics.Thursday involved a discussion with a global accounting services firm on technology reform in higher education, and we met with our geothermal and groundwater research collaborators.

Friday was the Bionic Eye project and a meeting with government officials on how ICT can improve freight movement around Port Botany.

Last week demonstrates as well as anything that the power of computing is disrupting every industry and all our lives in ways we would not have dreamed of only a decade ago.

From smartphones to personalised health, from online retail to robotics, ICT is now pervasive.

A critical issue for Australia is to establish its place in this industry, to work out how to innovate and apply ICT to deliver productivity gains, a more effective and globally connected workforce, better health and lives, and a more sustainable use of resources and environment.

ON THE PERIPHERY

This is particularly a challenge in Australia where we sit on the periphery of a global ICT technology supply chain and where the culture of innovation and risk taking is still a work in progress.

NICTA was established in 2003 under the former Coalition government’s “Backing Australia’s Ability” program, to expressly address the issue of innovation in ICT for Australia. With 22 university partners, NICTA innovates by connecting deep technology research in ICT to wealth creation applications and outcomes in Australia.

It does this through three main mechanisms: by working with existing industry to transform operating practices, by creating new technology businesses, and by building the skills and capacity to drive the adoption and use of new technology.

In Australia, by far the majority of wealth creation opportunities in ICT are not in ICT, but in the application of ICT to solve operational problems in areas such as health, transport, retail, banking, resources and many others.

For example, up to 14 per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product is attributable to simply transporting goods and commodities around the country.

A 10 per cent reduction in costs in this industry through the application of state-of-the-art ICT systems would have an immense impact on the national economy vastly larger than through commercialisation of the ICT systems themselves. It is through the application of ICT to these types of problems that Australia will find its comparative advantage in the global ICT supply chain.

ICT is also the global poster child for the creation of exciting new businesses and transformational products.

New ICT businesses are a key driver for innovation across the whole sector.

NICTA has created 13 new companies and is spinning out a new technology company every three months.

This is a remarkable rate, achieved by getting the right mix of clever technology and business people working together in a culture where serendipity plays a major role.

NICTA companies include Audinate, a global leader in live sound over ethernet, Nitero, a provider of high-speed, low-power 60 gigahertz wireless chipsets, and Saluda Medical, a recent spin-out developing unique neurostimulation pain management technology.

Early NICTA spin-outs, such as Open Kernel Labs, are now creating their own spin-outs and are an important contributor to the whole ICT ecosystem in Australia.

TALENT SHORTAGE

While new technology companies are unlikely to have major economic impact for Australia in the near term, they are critical if Australia is to remain part of the global ICT supply chain and innovation system.

Building the skills and capacity to develop and apply technology is a critical part of the innovation and economic picture.

In Australia, we are struggling to attract enough talented people into the ICT sector.

NICTA is helping to address these issues through its ICT in schools program, Group-X, and through training of over 350 research students with both technical and entrepreneurial skills.

It is notable that over 30 per cent of the recent BRW Young Rich List were technologists in the ICT space – this will hopefully encourage school leavers to consider technology careers.

NICTA’s mission as a deep technology innovator and incubator in Australia is a long-term commitment.

It therefore needs a strong, sustainable funding model so it can continue to attract and retain the best scientist and students, work with industry to create wealth for Australia and take full advantage of a global, connected economy.

NICTA’s mission is to build a stronger and wealthier Australia, not an Ozymandias.

Hugh Durrant-Whyte is chief executive officer of National ICT Australia (NICTA).

The Australian Financial Review