The Rural Research and Development Corporations: A case study for innovation
Dr Jenny Gordon and Roger Mauldon, Centre for International Economics
There are currently nine RRDCs constituted under the Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act (1989) and a further six industry owned companies which have evolved from statutory RRDCs. These 15 organisations together plan and fund, from compulsory and voluntary industry levies matched by the Commonwealth, much of the agricultural R&D conducted in Australia.
This study describes the common features of the RRDCs as well as their diversity. It focuses on how the RRDCs plan and prioritise R&D, the pathways they use to promote adoption of R&D outputs, and the approaches they employ in monitoring and evaluation. The study highlights the relationships between the RRDCs and their industries, researchers, governments and the broader community.
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Case study: The Science and Innovation System of the Murray-Darling Basin
Dr Rosemary Purdie
The Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) supports a population of 2 million people, with an economic output of $23 billion per annum, making a major contribution to the nation’s agricultural output. Its social, economic and environmental sustainability are threatened by issues such as competition for scarce water resources, deteriorating river health and dryland salinity.
The study describes the governance structures of the MDB and the main issues surrounding the sustainability of the Basin. It particularly focuses on the role played by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Land and Water Australia, CRC Freshwater Ecology and CSIRO in understanding and tackling land use problems. It depicts the need for research and development in addressing sustainability issues. The study includes how research priorities for the Basin are set, how the research programs are developed and driven and the results of the research and development, leading to utilisation and adoption of outcomes of the research.
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Embracing change: case studies on how Australian firms use incremental innovation to support growth
Dr Lyndal Thorburn and Dr John Langdale, Advance Consulting
The Embracing Change project fills gaps in our knowledge about innovative activity by Australian firms that is not generally related to R&D and barriers to these forms of innovation. The project focused on gradual (incremental) business change and improvement, and was based on thirty case studies of firms (mostly small firms) chosen for their commitment to continuous business change and improvement. Breaking away from the usual focus on incremental innovation (simply defined as minor improvements to products and services, as perceived by the consumer), the framework for this project concentrated on the (manager-controlled) internal processes within firms that were conducive to incremental innovation.
Among the findings, incremental innovation was found to be directed mainly towards higher quality or customised products/services and niche markets. The importance of listening to customers was a paramount factor. The main barriers to innovation were those of growing a small business, obtaining finance, finding staff, marketing overseas and relying too much on the founder. Knowledge management also proved to be an increasing challenge for firms. In particular, firms’ abilities to turn what is in employees’ heads (tacit knowledge) into formal knowledge (e.g., written production manuals) that could be accessed by others in the firm, proved to be a major issue. The management of growth in a small company was also a key issue for the firms studied.
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Commonwealth Support for Science and Innovation: Options for Developing an Analytical Perspective
Dr Mark Matthews, Policy Intelligence Pty Ltd
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A Case Study in Public Good Research: Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health 1997 - 2003
Associate Professor John Henry, Deakin University
Two Aboriginal Health Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) have been established under the Australian Government’s CRC Programme, the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health and its successor, the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health. The particular focus of this case study is to illustrate how the Aboriginal Health CRCs have used the CRC model to build public-private and university-service industry partnerships and cross border co-operation in addressing public good research and development.
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Bio21 Australia Ltd: A Case study
Dr Stella Clark, Bio21 Australia Ltd
Clustering of facilities and personnel, whether co-located or not, is an increasingly important strategy to stimulate scientific excellence and to promote innovative activities leading to commercialisation and utilisation of research outcomes. Australia has taken a prominent role in the development of medical research institutes (MRIs), several of which encompass a number of organisations. One such medical research institute is Bio21 Australia Ltd established in its current structure in 2002.
This Bio21 case study illustrates the collaborative nature of a MRI cluster, provides background on its governance and financing structure, the drivers and barriers to collaboration.
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Creating and Exploiting Intangible Networks: How Radiata was able to improve its odds of success in the risky process of innovating
Dr Mark Matthews, Policy Intelligence Pty Ltd and Dr Bob Frater, Resmed.
This case study follows the path taken from invention to innovation and the development of a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) based around a single semiconductor chip developed by an Australian company Radiata Inc. The Radiata case study illustrates some important elements in the science and innovation system. It shows how pre-existing innovative capacity created by a domestic network associated with Australian research in radio-astronomy and electronic engineering was utilised by Australian entrepreneurs benefiting from exposure to US networks and business practices. This was made possible by the strategic development and subsequent use of a network of highly-skilled people who knew and trusted each other. The intangible assets reflected in personal contacts and experiences were capitalised upon during the long journey of product development and in its impact on the investment risk management for the company.
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Commercialisation of Photovoltaic Research in Australia
Dr Muriel Watt, Unisearch Ltd
The photovoltaic (PV) industry is one of the most rapidly growing industries worldwide. The sector is an important one for Australia, where the large-scale use of photovoltaics for telecommunications, remote signalling and remote area power supply was pioneered. Australian expertise in manufacturing, system design and training are world recognised.
This study explores issues relevant to the emerging PV sector. It depicts the role and impact of research, idea generation and technology transfer in relation to successful commercialisation. The study examines such issues as infrastructure requirements, impediments to research and how they were overcome, funding opportunities and gaps, public/private sector interactions, intellectual property, capital raising and commercialisation benefits realised.
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Clusters — a Review
Professor Ron Johnston, Australian Centre for Innovation & International Competitiveness Ltd
Clusters have become recognised as a potentially effective mechanism for enhancing competitive advantage. Governments around the world have sought to develop mechanisms to identify actual and potential clusters and to promote their formation and operation.
This study provides an overview of clusters in Australia, including their relative performance and factors contributing to success. It includes discussion of the nature of clusters, particularly the knowledge-driven and trade-driven varieties, their characteristics and the role of clusters. The international experience of clusters and previous studies undertaken in Australia are reviewed.
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Skill Utilisation of Persons Trained in Australia
Dr Bob Birrell, Monash University
This report focuses on the extent to which persons trained in Australia’s tertiary education institutions are utilising their educational credentials in relevant occupational fields. It explores the occupational outcomes for persons by their field of qualification. It identifies the most important tertiary level qualification fields (other than those in the social sciences and humanities) and trade fields from those specified in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2001 Census using the classification of qualifications as described in the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED). The analysis relates the outcomes for persons qualified in the selected qualification fields to the major occupations relevant to these fields.
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Contribution of the states and territories to Australia’s Science and Innovation System
Dr John Bell, The Allen Consulting Group
Since the latter part of the 1990’s State and Territory Governments have become strategic investors in their science and innovation systems. This represents a change in the long-standing practice of investing in only the elements of the research base necessary to support their direct responsibilities of resource development, public health and the environment. This report seeks to identify the main features of science and innovation in each jurisdiction. It includes an investigation of the main drivers of investment, key instruments in innovation and commercialisation, science and innovation linkages between the states and territories, linkages to Commonwealth programmes, support provided for science and innovation in the regions, examples of local government activities relating to science and innovation and how each State or Territory encourages cooperation in international science and technology.
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