Towards 3% R&D – budget responds to slump in Australian innovation effort

By Peter Roberts The 2024 budget has responded to the issues being raised by @AuManufacturing’s one-month long series of articles around the theme Towards 3% R&D – turbocharging Australia’s innovation efforts. Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a ‘strategic examination of Australian research and development’ as part of the Future Made in Australia package of measures. According…

Towards 3% R&D – Innovation bolsters defence industry by Minister Pat Conroy

Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy explains how the government has built new structures to link defence innovation with commercial outcomes, building the defence industrial base in the process. A strong and sovereign innovation, science and technology sector is critical to…

Towards 3% R&D – Innovation for process heat by Dr Mahesh Venkataraman

As we come towards the conclusion of our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – we turn to the critical issue of innovation in the use of renewables for industrial process heat. Dr Mahesh Venkataraman of thermal energy storage company 1414 Degrees outlines the way forward. The decarbonisation of process…

Towards 3% R&D – A national strategy to reverse innovation slide by Dr John Howard

A National Business Research and Development Strategy and Action Plan is the logical conclusion of our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort. In this edited excerpt, Dr John Howard lays out the elements of the strategy. The full paper can be downloaded below. Australian business investment in R&D collapsed during…

Towards 3% R&D – Training the innovation workforce by Michael Edwards of Boeing

Our editorial series Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – requires a trained and inspired workforce. But how to achieve that? By Michael Edwards of Boeing Research and Technology. Enhancing performance, safety and efficiency of Boeing’s products and services are at the forefront of Boeing’s innovation teams’ minds when developing technological advancements for…

Towards 3% R&D – Why business innovation is faltering by Dr John Howard

Faltering business expenditure on R&D is a major factor in Australia’s poor innovation performance. Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Dr John Howard identifies businesses’ failings. This is an edited excerpt (full paper link below). From 1981 to 1995, Australian businesses made steady progress in lifting…

Keynote speaker announced for Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers awards event

@AuManufacturing is very happy to announce our keynote speaker for the Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers awards breakfast this week. Our guest presenter on April 18 is Xavier Orr (pictured), CEO and co-founder of Advanced Navigation. Orr’s breakthrough in neural network research at university has turned into a manufacturing business supplying digital fibre optic gyroscopes…

Towards 3% R&D – the statistics tell us national innovation is faltering

Launching our new editorial series – Towards 3% – turbocharging our national innovation effort – innovation policy analyst Dr John Howard looks behind the statistics to reveal that Australia’s national R&D effort has slumped since 2009. In this edited excerpt, the first part of a two-part series, Dr Howard shows Australia is falling further behind.…