AusBiotech has outlined two key recommendations in its response to Investment NSW’s Innovation Blueprint consultation: invest in sector maturation, and foster a culture of entrepreneurship.
Investment NSW sought feedback on its proposed Innovation Blueprint, aimed at giving NSW the leading edge in the global battle to attract new investment, ideas, industries and talent.
The submission was developed as part of AusBiotech’s AusBioNSW initiative which supports a thriving NSW life sciences sector by connecting, advocating, and enabling the industry. The response, which aligns to AusBiotech’s decadal strategy for Australia’s biotechnology sector, the Biotechnology Blueprint, highlights the need for a bold Innovation Blueprint for NSW that: drives long term investment in life sciences; builds a thriving and high performing innovation ecosystem between business universities/research institutes and government; and supports building on-shore capability to maximise value creation and retention within NSW and Australia.
Investment NSW identified four key areas of focus for public consultation on the Blueprint, the four I's of innovation: ideas, investment, industrialisation, and internationalism.
On requesting ideas that increase the translation of ideas to products and businesses, AusBiotech identified the following tactics that NSW Government could deploy to invest in sector maturation: maximise funding to drive ideas maturation; diversify funding to drive commercialisation outputs; invest in performing mid-range companies as sector catalysts; elevate precincts; increase access to federal funding; and develop procurement processes that support local products.
AusBiotech also recommended that fostering a culture of entrepreneurship will also support the translation of ideas into products, suggesting the NSW Government should: support in-industry mentorship programmes that develop capabilities specific for life-sciences; facilitate migration of researchers between academia and industry to develop ideas; address expertise shortages; and support the early-stage pipeline.
As part of the consultation, AusBiotech also responded to questions regarding how to increase the amount and diversity of finance available to startups and scaleups, how to increase the volume and impact of highly-novel innovation outputs being generated by NSW businesses, and how to increase the number of innovating businesses selling locally-developed products into global markets.
To support the NSW Government's understanding of the innovation ecosystem’s priorities, challenges and opportunities, AusBiotech hosted a virtual roundtable discussion in March 2024 to discuss the priorities for the sector and issues, opportunities, and challenges the sector faces, in turn informing its submitted response.
The Innovation Blueprint was first announced in September 2023 by the (then) Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, NSW Government, to guide how it supports the NSW innovation and technology ecosystem. A discussion paper was released in February, outlining specific areas for feedback and a set of criteria for respondents.
As the voice of industry, AusBiotech works with Government to ensure industry’s rightful place as a key and growing economic and social driver, ensuring the Australian life sciences industry is structurally supported to capitalise on new technologies and growth opportunities.
Read AusBiotech’s submission here.