NSW launches new US-inspired SBIR program

The NSW government will today officially announce a two-year, $24 million program to encourage small businesses and researchers to develop and commercialise solutions, based on the United States’ Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) scheme.

The new program shares a name with the US program that inspired it. 

The Australian Financial Review reports that five problems have been identified by the NSW government, including dealing with spent PPE, cleaning wastewater in the healthcare sector, and counting koala populations.

The NSW SBIR will offer staged funding, for example a grant to assist a feasibility study, then another to develop a prototype, with the aim of having the government as the first customer for the new solution developed.

“We have problems, we spend the money, why should we just buy a product off the shelf when we can create new ideas and new jobs,” said Gabrielle Upton (pictured), the parliamentary secretary to the premier.

The program will be run by R&D NSW — part of Invest NSW — and is one of five parts to the Accelerating R&D in NSW Action Plan announced in January. 

The action plan was guided by an Advisory Council, chaired by businessman David Gonski.

Picture: www.innovationaus.com

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