How can the government help my startup?

In 2016 Australia was ranked 19 in the Global Innovation Index, number 1 in the Global Creativity Index (in 2015), but only 73 for Innovation Efficiency – transferring investment in innovation into business value. In essence, this means that while Australia punches above its weight in conceiving new ideas and producing new knowledge through high quality R&D it doesn’t convert such innovation to economic value very well.

Improved collaboration between the business and R&D sectors is needed to increase the efficiency of conversion of new knowledge from R&D into the economic value which will underpin the development of new economies.

This presentation will discuss how a focus on innovation and improved collaboration between the business and research sectors can drive future economies for the nation. It will provide examples of short, targeted, research collaborations that have added new value to SMEs and how industry can take advantage of government programmes like the Entrepreneurs’ Programme which exist to promote innovation , collaboration between researchers and industry, and growth in small to medium enterprises.

We will be joined by Brendon & Peter who will run through the initiatives they are involved with and how you can get involved.

Presenter BIO's:

Brendon McAtee

Brendon McAtee has long standing experience working at the interface between science, innovation and business which started in 1993 when he received a studentship to transfer the work in ocean current estimation from satellite remote sensing from his Honours in Applied Physics project into an oceanographic consultancy. Brendon has since had a number of roles in science and innovation in State Government starting with focus on imagery research & development and innovation, within the Western Australian Land Information Authority (Landgate) and led Landgate’s Innovation and Research program from 2013-15. Brendon now works for Ausindustry delivering the Innovation
Connections programme in Western Australia. Innovation Connections is one component of the federally funded Entrepreneurs’ Programme which supports innovation and the growth of small to medium enterprises nationally.

Peter Clarke

Peter Clarke has a Bachelor of Engineering from University of Western Australia and a Master of Science from the University of Surrey. He has spent most of his career in technology development and commercialization in a range of industries including mining, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and agriculture. He has been a co-founder of four companies, a robotics and engineering business, a computer vision company, a refrigeration product design company and a mining services company.
He was the WA Innovator of the Year in 2007 and accepted the Australian Museum Commercialisation prize for Scanalyse in 2013. Peter was the founding CEO of Scanalyse Pty Ltd, www.scanalyse.com, joining the company on its formation in 2006. In early 2013 Scanalyse was successfully sold to the major Finnish mining technology and services company Outotec. He now assists other entrepreneurs on the same journey working as a Commercialisation Adviser with the Department of Industry’s Accelerating Commercialisation program.