The Australian Government's Innovation Report

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NICTA is now a leader in Australia’s ICT research community and is involved with Australia’s major public and private research centres and universities, as well as with international contemporaries in the US, Europe and Asia. It is also establishing linkages with small to medium-sized enterprises so they can become familiar with NICTA’s research activity and, where there is alignment, participate in research project development. NICTA has been working with other public sector R&D organisations to develop a consolidated, high-level Australian ICT R&D technology roadmap. Other participants include the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, CSIRO, the Council of ICT Cooperative Research Centres and various major research universities. Resources have been committed to develop a detailed business plan and project specification for a major joint collaborative project (named Braccetto) in the area of human computer interaction. More information about the NICTA Centre of Excellence can be found at: www.nicta.com.au and www.dcita.gov.au/ictcoe The answer to cancer treatment NICTA and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre are working together to change the way cancer medicine is practiced through the application of advanced techniques in data analysis to large sets of genomic data. NICTA has been working with the centre through its Statistical Machine Learning research programme. The centre has been able to provide NICTA with high-quality DNA datasets involving hundreds of samples with important information on gene expression, gene copy number and chemical modification. To date, most of the work in this field has been done with small datasets and analysed using relatively basic methods. But the results of this innovative study could change the diagnosis of cancer, treatment selection and prognosis. National Biotechnology Strategy The Australian Government launched the National Biotechnology Strategy (NBS) in 2000 to provide a framework for capturing the benefits of biotechnology for Australia. Biotechnology Australia (BA) provides a whole-of-government approach as the coordinating agency for five government departments with biotechnology responsibilities: industry, agriculture, environment, education and science, and health. Through investments both prior to and under the Backing Australia’s Ability initiative, the Australian Government has provided funding under the NBS for a range of activities, including: funding for the Biotechnology Innovation Fund; funding studies through the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Department of Environment and Heritage; the establishment of the National Stem Cell Centre; support for BA and the development of coordination mechanisms; and support for industry development through sponsorship of Australian industry in national and international conferences. During 2005-06, further progress was made towards strengthening the national approach to capturing the benefits of biotechnology for Australia while safeguarding human health and ensuring environmental protection. In November 2005, the Australia’s Biotechnology Capabilities publication was launched at the AusBiotech National Conference. The publication, developed in agreement with state and territory governments through the Biotechnology Liaison Committee, outlines national capabilities in biotechnology application and products areas and is being used in coordinated international marketing activities and to inform future national policy development. In 2006 BA produced a map of Australia’s regulatory environment for biotechnology and a web tool to help industry negotiate the regulatory environment. The regulatory map was launched at the 2006 AusBiotech National Conference and is available online at www.bioregs.gov.au. Under the next phase of NBS work, BA will implement the national statistical framework for biotechnology completed in December 2006. Through the Biotechnology Liaison Committee, a 10-year forward plan for each of the four key areas of application will also be developed, starting with agribiotechnology. More information about the NBS can be found at: www.biotechnology.gov.au Chapter 2 - Initiatives for a dynamic national innovation system 77
Biotechnology Australia Public Awareness Programme The Biotechnology Australia Public Awareness Programme provides balanced and factual information to the Australian public, increases awareness of biotechnology issues and enables the community to make more informed choices about applications of biotechnology. A number of key publications were produced during the year including: • Cloning goes to the movies, Public Communications of Science and Technology Conference, Korea, May 2006. • Social causes of public concerns about developments in biotechnology in Australia, Proceedings of the Public Communication of Science and Technology, Beijing, 2005. • Understanding social drivers of public concerns about biotechnology, Talking Biotechnology Conference, Wellington, 2005. • Lies, deep fries and statistics, Choices, USA, 2005. • Meeting of the minds report, July 2005. • What you really need to know about what the public think about genetically modifi ed foods, November 2005. The Biotechnology Australia (BA) website averaged 37 000 hits a month while Biotechnology Online averaged over 50 000 hits a month. More than 880 Biotechnology Online kits were distributed to teachers at professional development sessions and more than 1100 enquiries were handled from the public about biotechnology issues via the Gene Technology Information Service. BA rated 53.2% as a source of trust on biotechnology issues (compared to consumer organisations at 66% and the media at 21.6%) in 2005. Other major activities undertaken during the year included: • managing the successful Biotechnology Online schools resource with an updated supporting programme of professional development for teachers; • developing careers in biotechnology resources for upper high schools; • implementing a national rural communications programme targeted at farmers and rural communities; • producing resources for local councils and general practitioners including Genetics in family medicine: the Australian medical resource for general practitioners; • participating in community forums and conferences; • undertaking regular public attitude research and surveys to more fully understand community concerns and aspirations, and to provide feedback to industry, researchers and governments on public attitude findings; • maintaining a comprehensive website for information on biotechnology and bioethics issues; and • undertaking a major consultative and information sharing forum on the future of genetically modified crops in Australia – A meeting of the minds, July 2005. More information about the Biotechnology Australia Public Awareness Programme can be found at: www.biotechnology.gov.au 78 Backing Australia’s Ability
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2006 07 The Australian Government
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ISBN: 0 642 77 675x ISBN: 0 642 77
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Enhancing industrial R&D 44 R&D Tax
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PRIORITY 3 - FRONTIER TECHNOLOGIES
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8 Backing Australia’s Ability
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FRDC GDP GERD GGAP GOVERD GRDC HECS
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The year also saw significant outco
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The Australian Innovation Scorecard
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Table 1: Australian Government supp
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The Australian Government’s inves
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Sustaining funding for government r
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• Key to Australasian liverwort a
Page 27 and 28: Australian Institute of Marine Scie
Page 29 and 30: Coral gives new insight into changi
Page 31 and 32: • As part of the joint Careers in
Page 33 and 34: Developing meaningful, long-term co
Page 35 and 36: Defence Science and Technology Orga
Page 37 and 38: In 2005-06, Geoscience Australia st
Page 39 and 40: The majority of research-related pu
Page 41 and 42: The successful proposals represent
Page 43 and 44: In addition to the continued large
Page 45 and 46: Enhancing industrial R&D R&D Tax Co
Page 47 and 48: • improving the management of nat
Page 49 and 50: Food Innovation Grants Programme As
Page 51 and 52: Most facilities provide training pr
Page 53 and 54: Total funding for the ISL programme
Page 55 and 56: Improving research quality and acce
Page 57 and 58: PART 2 - Accelerating the commercia
Page 59 and 60: Pooled Development Funds The Pooled
Page 61 and 62: In 2005-06, $12.83 million was inve
Page 63 and 64: Table 9: Sectoral distribution of C
Page 65 and 66: Building on ICT strengths Advanced
Page 67 and 68: Other achievements included: • ge
Page 69 and 70: Seafood Services Australia Ltd An I
Page 71 and 72: Interest in ITOL and e-business rem
Page 73 and 74: • provision of a business develop
Page 75 and 76: Building links to facilitate commer
Page 77: Taking a closer look at stem cells
Page 81 and 82: • commercialisation seminars for
Page 83 and 84: Advancing SET skills Audit of Scien
Page 85 and 86: National Youth Science Forum The Na
Page 87 and 88: Mathematics and informatics In 2005
Page 89 and 90: Higher Education Loan Programme The
Page 91 and 92: Fostering entrepreneurship and awar
Page 93 and 94: Skilled Immigration Migration conti
Page 95 and 96: ANSTO’s Dr Tony Taylor with the m
Page 97 and 98: The millimetre wave radar stope mon
Page 99 and 100: Sustainable use of Australia’s bi
Page 101 and 102: New techniques assist exploration c
Page 103 and 104: Pushing the heater bank used to run
Page 105 and 106: The diagnostic tool uses a unique a
Page 107 and 108: The researchers anticipate that the
Page 109 and 110: Advanced materials Quick dry merino
Page 111 and 112: Promoting an innovation culture and
Page 113 and 114: Dairy for Tomorrow launch in Tasman
Page 115 and 116: David Griffin (left) and Andreas Sc
Page 117 and 118: Scientists are searching for an eff
Page 119 and 120: Clearinghouse-type websites are cur
Page 121 and 122: 120 Backing Australia’s Ability
Page 123 and 124: The scorecard provides an overview
Page 125 and 126: Notes: 1. Australia’s ranking is
Page 127 and 128: FIGURE 1: Percentage change in the
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FIGURE 2: Australia’s innovation
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Compared to the 2004 scorecard Aust
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FIGURE 6: Number of scientific and
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FIGURE 9: Percentage of the workfor
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Knowledge Diffusion Investment in I
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FIGURE 16: Investment in new equipm
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Percentage of Turnover Attributed t
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Conclusions The Australian Innovati
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Commonwealth State and Territory Ad
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• promoting and marketing industr
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Australian Bureau of Statistics The
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Informing the future House of Repre
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Appendix 1: Major flows of funding
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Appendix 3: Overview of Australia
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Appendix 4: Backing Australia’s A
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Appendix 5: Overview of R&D in regi
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Appendix 7: National Research Prior
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CRC for Spatial Information http://
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Desert Knowledge CRC http://www.des
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ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision
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170 Backing Australia’s Ability B
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The Australian Government's Innovation Report

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