Innovation and technology, renewable energy, higher education and water management are among the industries the Queensland government says will benefit from a five-year sister state agreement it has signed with Nevada.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the agreement would open new partnerships between the sister states, and ultimately support the adoption of new technologies, health and safety practices, and environmental sustainability methods.
“Queensland METS (mining equipment, technology and services) companies are already exporting their expertise and technologies into the US, including JESI Management Solutions, Hydrus Technology, SmartCap, Mine Energy Solutions, Australia Diversified Engineering, and radar manufacturer Groundprobe,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“Queensland digital company RedEye has opened its North American headquarters in Nevada, and entered a strategic partnership with Las Vegas-based WaterStart,” she said.
“This new Sister State MoU will help even more Queensland innovators and manufacturers to get a foot in the door of the lucrative US market.”
RedEye co-founder and chief executive Wayne Gerard said Queensland and Nevada shared many common challenges and opportunities.
“I think the Premier and Governor can see benefits for both states and both economies coming from the sister state relationship signed on the weekend,” he said.
“Last year, I hosted a water roundtable for the Premier in Nevada and then in Brisbane to establish channels for collaboration on technology, innovation and research between the two states.
“The sister state agreement will extend on the relationships we’ve built to date and create opportunities for more QLD and Nevada companies to export their products and services both ways,” Mr Gerard said.
“This will help us create more jobs in both places and solve important challenges across a range of industries faced by both states.”
Last month, RedEye’s engineering drawing management solution adopted by Las Vegas Valley Water District and Southern Nevada Water Authority went live. Mr Gerard believes this MoU will lead to further discussions with the local government.
“We now have over 6500 miles of water infrastructure data in our solution, including the engineering data for Hover Dam. We’ve built a great relationships with their teams and in the spirit of the sister state relationship they are actively helping us to win new clients in the US water industry,” he said.
“We’re really grateful to them and Nevada’s WaterStart organisation for how welcoming and helpful they are. We plan to work with the Nevada Government to promote our solutions into the power and mining industries in Nevada. We also see a real opportunity for RedEye’s solutions to help the Nevada Government as well.”
Under the MoU Queensland University of Technology and the University of Nevada will collaborate on a number of technology projects, including driverless vehicle technology and renewable energy.
Nevada is Queensland’s third Sister State relationship in the United States. It also has relationships with Texas and South Carolina.
The state has also renewed its relationship with the Smithsonian Institution for another three years to support for the Queensland-Smithsonian and Queensland-Cooper Hewitt fellowships, which have been running since 2000.
The programs give Queensland researchers up to $25,000 to support travel and accommodation expenses to the United States, where they work with scientists and researchers at the Smithsonian.
Science minister Leeanne Enoch said the extension would underscore the Queensland’s government mission to raise the profile of science in the state.
“The renewed partnership between the Smithsonian Institution and Queensland is great news for our state and will provide opportunities for educators and researchers to spend time at the world’s largest museum and research complex,” Ms Enoch told InnovationAus.com.
“Queensland is the only regional government outside North America, and the only government in Australia, to have a fellowship agreement with the Smithsonian Institution.
“We know science is all about collaboration and this partnership underlines our government’s values towards growing Queensland’s science, education and cultural capabilities.”
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