AusBiotech, with its Queensland State Committee, has provided comments on Advance Queensland’s draft strategy which aims to foster the state’s innovation system.
Recognising the value of innovation, Advance Queensland developed a draft strategy Building Our Innovation Economy – Advance Queensland Strategy to guide their next phase of expanding the state’s innovation system.
The draft strategy outlines five priorities that will guide the next phase: back our strengths; solve big challenges; build innovation in our regions; scale-up innovation; and new skills and new jobs.
AusBiotech connected the strategy’s priorities to the AusBiotech initiatives that are already being undertaken, demonstrating how together they can collaboratively achieve the outcomes and provide a pathway for start-ups and SMEs to attract capital, grow and go global.
The strategy outlines that “Industry 4.0 will require industry to innovate, educate and train, and collaborate to remain competitive. As research by CSIRO’s Data61 has shown, if we successfully embrace innovation, Queensland’s economy will be well placed to create 1 million jobs by 2038 – a 41 per cent increase... It is through Advance Queensland that we are backing the innovators who will create the jobs. It will build on existing programmes as well as the effort of all parts of the innovation system.”
Further comments that have been provided by AusBiotech’s Queensland State Committee include:
- There should be a focused initiative aimed at retaining and nurturing home grown innovators to go global from Queensland, thus creating jobs and business for Queensland.
- There needs to be greater support for highly innovative companies born out of Queensland and the focus needs to be on determining what these companies need to grow.
- Further emphasis is needed in the strategy on how to support organisations to accelerate and incubate, as other states already have strong programmes in place.
- The strategy does not include any immediate actions for the health and biomedical industry; a stronger emphasis is needed in the strategy on this priority industry.
Read the submission here.