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.…

Deriving data from dreamers

Less than two weeks before our Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers awards event at Cockle Bay Wharf, we profile another of the standout candidates. Brent Balinski speaks to Sleeptite founder Cameron van den Dungen about an eight-year quest to develop what’s been described as “a bed that watches you sleep”. Sleeptite did not set out…

Without community support, the green energy transition will fail. Here’s how to get communities on board

By Simon Wright, Charles Sturt University Connecting cheap, clean energy from renewables comes with a hidden cost and challenge: building 5,000 kilometres of new transmission lines this decade, and another 5,000km after that. This sounds like a lot, but 5,000km is only around 10% of the existing grid network, and unlocks more than 32 gigawatts…

Not handing out black boxes

The NSW Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility will become operational later this year. Brent Balinski speaks to David Fox from the AMRF – a sponsor of this title’s current Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers campaign – about what it aims to achieve. Later this year, the First Building in Bradfield City Centre, containing stage one…

The importance of bringing play to work

As we await the judges’ verdicts, we continue to profile some of the companies vying for a spot on @AuManufacturing’s Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers list. Next up is NH Micro. Technical Director Josh Hacko tells Brent Balinski about why you need to spend a little time in a sandbox.  As is often the case…

Many not prepared for Cyber Attack – webinar March 19

Manufacturers have been subjected to a lot of fearmongering about the perils of cyber attack. But, according to Michael Murphy, Head of Operational Technology and Critical Infrastructure APAC at cyber security solutions, hardware and services company Fortinet: “The threat landscape is very real.” And many Australian companies are neither adequately protected nor do they have…