News

Tech galvanises on encryption laws

A coalition of tech sector business leaders and industry groups have come together at the eleventh hour to voice concerns to government about its controversial new encryption laws, the...

Rural innovation is a hot mess

There has been a shocking number of research reports and reviews aimed at improving the performance of rural R&D and boosting regional innovation ecosystems more generally. If the challenges...

Thodey bells the cat on the economy

CSIRO chairman and business leader David Thodey has called out Australia’s urgent need to better prepare for a volatile and uncertain future in a speech that also previewed the...

NSW Labor unveils innovation policy 

A future NSW Labor Government said it would appoint the state’s first chief entrepreneur and establish a new unit called Enterprise NSW as part of a commitment to simplify...

Break up Google, says News Corp

Google should be broken up to “clearly and effectively address the harm caused” by the tech behemoth, according to Australia’s biggest media company. In a submission to the Australian...

Entrepreneur visa program is broken

Just eight visas have been issued in two and a half years under a federal government scheme set up to “attract and retain the best and brightest entrepreneurial talent”....

Local VCs lack institutional backers

The Australian venture capital sector is gradually attracting more local investment but not enough from the most significant source, institutional investors. Private Equity Media (PEM) has just released its...

Sydney gets new quantum academy

News of a new breakthrough in silicon-based quantum computing through a collaboration between UNSW and University of Sydney puts a spotlight on the NSW Government investment in a new...

Data61 funds $3m robotics facility 

CSIRO’s Data61 has invested more than $3 million to open a new purpose-built robotics and autonomous system research facility in Brisbane with hopes it will serve as a testing...

Treasury fronts CDR inquiry

Treasury department officials have hit back at suggestions the government showed “complete disdain” for the consultation process while developing the Consumer Data Right. Appearing before a senate committee inquiry...

Innovation metrics consultation opens

The federal government has opened up consultations on the development of the “next generation of innovation indicators” that will be used to develop new policies and guide public funding....

What Australia can learn from SBIR

Microsoft was founded in 1975, and Apple and Genentech in 1976. This strong signal of a shift in the locus of innovation away from large firms – like IBM...

SA embraces new industry regime

The South Australia government has embraced wholesale changes proposed in a root and branch review of the state’s industry policies as part of an ambitious plan to triple economic...

Shorten’s future ready wages pitch

Australia’s wages system needs to be “renovated” to help prepare for technology change, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said, as he positioned the upcoming election as a “referendum on wages”....