Driving Innovation: Australia’s path to prosperity

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Innovation isn't just about economic advantage; it's key to solving the pressing societal issues that will define our future.

Matt Palmen View Profile

1. Embrace geography’s role: Recognise and leverage the unique strengths and assets of different regions, fostering innovation tailored to local contexts
2. Focus on high value sectors and technologies: Direct efforts towards sectors and technologies where Australia holds a clear advantage, maximising innovation potential.
3. Enhance regional innovation ecosystems: Strengthen collaboration between research institutions, industry, and government within regional innovation hubs.
4. Revamp the university sector: Foster a culture of commercialisation within academia, ensuring research translates into real-world solutions.
5. Establish strong tech value chains: Position Australia strategically within technology value chains to capture maximum value from innovation.
6. Leverage public sector procurement: Drive innovation through strategic public sector procurement, leveraging government purchasing power.

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A robust innovation ecosystem is pivotal in driving economic growth and creating a sustainable future.

Richard Gibbs View Profile

Matt Palmen, Director at Urbis, added, “Innovation isn’t just about economic advantage; it’s key to solving the pressing societal issues that will define our future. Australia has the potential to be an innovation powerhouse, but we need to get better at leveraging the processes and dynamics that underpin innovation performance.”

“A key first step is to challenge the assumption that Australia’s innovation inputs equal innovation success. While we invest heavily in research, this is not translating into real-world solutions. The focus must shift to how we turn these inputs into outputs that lead to meaningful national progress.”

This paper sparks a national dialogue on accelerating Australia’s innovation journey. We urge stakeholders to engage with these strategies and share their insights to collectively build a more innovative Australia.