Industry groups and startup innovators have welcomed the launch of a National Robotics Strategy, creating a partnership to turbocharge the technology in Australia.
Currently, Australia lags behind other nations in industrial robotics, ranking 32nd globally but a national new strategy, launched today, is aimed at scaling up the country’s robotics and automation capabilities.
Federal Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, says, “robotics and automation are critical to building a Future Made in Australia”.
“Lifting the adoption of these technologies will allow our manufacturers to produce higher quality products in less time and make them more internationally competitive.”
The Australian robotics industry is currently worth over $18 billion, despite employing only around 50,000 people
Ai Group, Robotics Australia Group and startup incubator Cicada Innovations are partnering together to form the Robotics Growth Partnership in the wake of this new strategy in an effort to further accelerate its development.
Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said industry needs to adopt these latest technological developments or face being left behind.
“We are only going to succeed in these transitions if we seriously focus on capability and productivity gains,” Willox says.
“Every Australian business will be affected by the digitisation, decarbonisation and diversification transitions which are underway and quickly gathering momentum.
“Australian industry needs to use technology to update industry capability and business models to rapidly advance productivity.”
Robotics Australia Group CEO Nicci Rossouw says this new national strategy provides the impetus for the sector to grow and meet Australia’s growing needs.
“With the release of Australia’s first National Robotics Strategy, it’s the right time for our robotics ecosystem to grow through this partnership that offers end-to-end support for robotics innovation and adoption,” Rossouw says.
“We must urgently look towards technologies like robotics to support humans in finding solutions.”