Towards 3% R&D – continuous improvement in manufacturing by Serena Ross

Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Serena Ross contrasts innovation to be new to the world, and continuous improvement – the lifeblood of her company, Circuitwise Electronics. Australia’s innovation effort can be improved by a greater focus on ‘ordinary’ innovation. In contrast to deep-tech or R&D-focused…

Towards 3% R&D – Boosting industry and research collaboration, by Dr Tony Peacock

With business and direct government spending on R&D falling, and only university research rising, our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – turns to collaboration between industry and public sector researchers. By Dr Tony Peacock. If Australia is to turbocharge our R&D to reach 3% of GDP, businesses will have…

Editorial series launch – Towards 3% R&D – turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort

Today @AuManufacturing launches its latest editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – with the bad, in fact the very bad news. After steadily rising since the 1980s, Australia’s innovation effort as measured by R&D spending has slumped dramatically in the past decade. Peter Roberts sets the scene. Innovation is the…

Australia’s national R&D effort is faltering – call for contributions from readers for our new editorial series

By Peter Roberts @AuManufacturing News and Media is one of many voices concerned at a precipitous fall in national R&D effort since 2008 – innovation is the lifeblood of the economy and Australia’s effort is faltering. The fall, which accelerated under the coalition government, has not been reversed by the new Labor government despite Canberra…

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.…

Researchers open up critical minerals R&D for SMEs

Researchers at Australia’s leading science agencies are opening up opportunities for R&D into critical minerals opportunities through a new online course. The Australian Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub, a collaboration between CSIRO, Geoscience Australia and ANSTO, is inviting SMEs in the critical minerals industry to apply for a 10-week online innovation accessibility. The free…

Mary O’Kane recommends more uni R&D – but that’s not the innovation answer

By Peter Roberts Much has been written about the Australian universities accord – final report from scientist and engineer Mary O’Kane (pictured). But from an industry innovation point of view her panel’s recommendations fall short of what is needed to kickstart Australia’s fading innovation – and I mean business innovation – performance. National R&D has…