TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO PRODUCTIVITY: RETHINKING LINKAGES Customs House 399 Queen Street, Brisbane 9 August 2013 Workshop Program and Issues Paper
Translating Research into Productivity: Rethinking Linkages Customs House, 399 Queen Street, Brisbane Art Gallery Room Friday 9 August 2013 09:00-09:30 Registration and networking tea and coffee 1. New approaches to using collaboration as a mechanism to translate research into productivity Session Chair: Professor Peter Gray FTSE 09:30 09:40 Welcome Professor Peter Gray FTSE, Vice-President, ATSE 09:40 10:10 Mechanisms for Enhancing the Impact of University-based Research on Company Innovation and Business Performance: An International Policy Comparison Professor Alan Hughes, Director, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge, UK 10:10 10:35 Facilitated discussion based on a list of pre-circulated questions 10.35 10.45 Morning Tea 2. How can links with public sector research help firms grow more rapidly and more efficiently? Session Chair: Ms Leonie Walsh FTSE 10.45 10.55 The SME Challenge Dr Rowan Gilmore FTSE 11.00 11.10 Queensland Sustainable Minerals Institute: Balancing Discipline Success and Interdisciplinary Potential Professor Chris Moran, Director, Sustainable Minerals Institute 11.15 11.25 Entrepreneurial Innovation in Emerging and Enabling Technologies Dr Buzz Palmer, General Manager, Small Technologies Cluster 11.30 11.40 Strategic Research Collaborations with Boeing Research & Technology Mr Michael Edwards, General Manager, Boeing Research & Technology Australia 11.45 12.15 Facilitated discussion based on a list of pre-circulated questions 12:15 13:15 Lunch 1
3. Successful Australian initiatives - overcoming barriers to translating research to enhance firm productivity Session Chair: Dr Rowan Gilmore FTSE 13.15 13.25 Victorian Centre for Advanced Materials Manufacturing Mr Brad Dunstan, CEO, Victorian Centre for Advanced Materials Manufacturing 13.30 13.40 CRC focus Professor Tony Peacock, CEO, Cooporative Research Centres (CRC) Association 13.45 13.55 Drivers and Barriers to Australian Innovation: Rail Innovation Australia Pty Ltd Case Study Mr Brian Bock, Director, Rail Innovation Australia 14.00 14:30 Facilitated Discussion based on a list of pre-circulated questions 14:30 14.45 Afternoon Tea 4. The role of government industry and innovation policy Session Chair: Mr Peter Laver AM FTSE 14.45 14.55 Government Initiatives to Drive Innovation and Collaboration Dr Rob Porteous, Head of Science and Research Division, DIICCSRTE 15.00 15.10 Translating Research into Productivity at the Firm Level: Industrial Policy Lessons from the UK and other Leading Countries Professor Alan Hughes 15.15 15.45 Facilitated discussion based on a list of pre-circulated questions 5. The way forward Session Chair: Dr John Bell FTSE 15.45 16:20 Facilitated discussions around next steps and recommendations 16:20 16:25 Close Steering Committee Dr John Bell FTSE (Co-chair) Professor Peter Gray FTSE (Co-chair) Dr Rowan Gilmore FTSE Mr Peter Laver AM FTSE Ms Leonie Walsh FTSE Contact Harriet Harden-Davies Manager Policy & Projects Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) GPO Box 4055, Melbourne, 3001 Email: Harriet.Harden-Davies@atse.org.au Phone: +61 3 9864 0926 Mobile: +61 425 002 209 2
Translating Research into Productivity: Rethinking Linkages Workshop Issues Paper Overview Improving the translation of Australia s world class research into productivity gains must be a key priority for Australia. An important mechanism to achieve this is through better collaboration between industry and research organisations. In 2011 ATSE hosted a workshop to examine ways of strengthening linkages between industry and public sector research organisations 1, with a focus on generating new products and services. This workshop will review what has happened in the last two years and explore how Australia can maximise the translation of research into improved productivity with a focus on how industry-research linkages can raise productivity at the firm level. The workshop, co-badged with the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA), will convene approximately fifty key players from industry, government and research to build consensus as to the way forward. Background There is broad recognition that productivity growth underpins Australia s prosperity and that innovation is a key driver. Collaboration between researchers and industry can improve the translation of innovation to productivity, as well as promoting knowledge exchange between firms of all sizes and particularly within high growth potential Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The Australian Innovation Systems Report 2012 showed that innovative Australian businesses are not collaborating to the same extent as their counterparts in some other OECD countries. Large businesses in Australia were ranked last in the OECD and Australian SMEs have slipped considerably in their international ranking. In 2010, only 9.6 per cent of innovation active businesses collaborated with universities or other research organisations for any reason, while 25 per cent of businesses collaborated on innovation in total. 2 ATSE has a strong focus on improving innovation and research translation. The Strengthening Links Between Industry and Public Sector Research Organisations1 ATSE International Workshop in 2011 called for simpler schemes to enable collaboration that: are based on international best practice; reduce costs of collaboration; increase incentives for researchers to collaborate with industry; and balance market pull with capability or technology push. The Increasing the innovation dividend from emerging technologies 3 2011 workshop called for a significant increase in the level of innovation in Australia by making innovation more attractive, especially for SMEs, improving incentives for Australia s world class researchers, and improving innovation skills in the workforce. 1 ATSE, Strengthening Links Between Industry and Public Sector Research Organisations, Workshop Communique, 2011: http://www.atse.org.au/documents/publications/reports/innovation/atse+collaboration+workshop+ COMMUNIQUE.pdf 2 DIISRTE, 2012, Australian Innovation System Report 2012, Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, Commonwealth of Australia 3 ATSE, Increasing the innovation dividend from emerging technologies, Workshop Communique, 2011:http://www.atse.org.au/Documents/Publications/Reports/Innovation/ATSE%20Innovation%20Div idend%20communique%202011.pdf 3
Additionally, ACOLA s currently active Securing Australia s Future Project 4 (SAF4), The role of science, research and technology in lifting Australia s productivity, seeks to examine strategies to maximise the translation of research into improved productivity. This workshop will focus on improving innovation and research translation in order to lift productivity at the firm level. It will discuss best-practice approaches in leading OECD countries, including Australia, and how these lessons can be applied to improve the translation of public sector research into improved productivity in Australia. The outcomes of the workshop will be: To identify best practice principles for collaboration between public sector research organisations (PSROs) and the rest of the Australian economy to maximise the translation of research to lift productivity, particularly at the firm level; Provide useful input to the ACOLA SAF4 project; and To develop an ATSE paper that identifies the best practice principles to translate outcomes of research to lift productivity at the firm level. Session 1: New approaches to using collaboration as a mechanism to translate research into productivity. Australia ranks highly on research publication outputs and in 2009 the productivity of Australian researchers was the 7 th highest in the OECD with 402 publications per thousand researchers. 4 Australia produces just over 3 per cent of the world s scientific publications while accounting for only 0.3 per cent of the world s population. In 2010, Australia performed at or above world standard in 10 of the 12 science-related fields of research, with an ERA rating of 3.0 or greater. 5 In comparison to our high research publication output, Australia performs less well on measures of innovation, with triadic patents below the OECD average. Internationally it is widely acknowledged that effective collaboration between industry and public sector research organisations is essential for capturing the innovation dividend from research. However, Australia currently ranks behind other leading OECD countries at 19 th in the Global Innovation Index 2013. 6 Most OECD countries have long-standing Governmentsponsored programs to promote collaboration, and offer incentives and grants to organisations that progress collaboration. 7 This session will discuss new approaches to using collaboration as a mechanism to translate research into productivity, examining the need to improve linkages, and international lessons on translating research into productivity at the firm level. Workshop participants will be invited to address some key discussion points, outlined in Box 1, during the facilitated discussion. 4 Thomson ISI Essential Science Indicators Database: http://www.innovation.gov.au/innovation/policy/australianinnovationsystemreport/aisreport2012.pdf 5 Office of the Chief Scientist 2012, Health of Australian Science, Australian Government, Canberra: http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/hasreport_web-update_200912.pdf 6 Cornell University, INSEAD, and WIPO (2013): The Global Innovation Index 2013: The Local Dynamics of Innovation, Geneva, Ithaca, and Fontainebleau. 7 ATSE, Increasing the Innovation Dividend from emerging technologies, Workshop report, 2011: http://www.atse.org.au/documents/publications/reports/innovation/atse%20innovation%20dividend %20Workshop%20Report%202011.pdf 4
Box 1: Key Discussion Points 1. What are the stand-out differences in the approaches adopted by countries leading the OECD rankings for industry/public sector research collaborations? 2. What can we learn from approaches used in other countries and can these approaches be adapted to work in Australia? 3. Internationally, in what way do research organisations contribute to improving firm productivity? Session 2: How can links with public sector research help firms grow more rapidly and more efficiently? It is widely recognised that collaboration between industry and public sector research is a driver of innovation. SMEs are a key component of the Australian economy: they represent almost half of total industry employment but only contributed a third of private sector industry value added in 2010-2011. Improving the innovation and productivity of poorly performing firms has great potential to raise the productivity of the whole economy. The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) program is a long-standing example of a government initiative to encourage collaboration between researchers and industry. Industry Innovation Precincts, which build upon the CRC program, also aim to improve collaboration between the research sector and industry, with the objective to strengthen the capability and capacity of Australian industries and firms so they can win more business abroad and take advantage of economic opportunities emerging from growing demand internationally. 8 Recent European discussions have highlighted the scope for large corporations to partner with SMEs as suppliers in their existing value chains. The Government s Industry and Innovation Statement suggests that this form of collaboration will assist SMEs to lower costs through access to resources such as skills, finance and equipment. Some government contracts require Australian Industry Plans to be part of the tender submission. Those SMEs with strong growth prospects need to be given opportunities and assistance to grow and prosper. This session will discuss the ways in which links with public sector research can help firms grow more rapidly and efficiently. Workshop participants will be invited to address some of these key discussion points, outlined in Box 2, during the facilitated discussion. Box 2: Key Discussion Points 1. Why don t more SMEs turn to research organisations to help them solve problems? What can be done to facilitate better links for SMEs? 2. A regular criticism of public sector research organisations is that high transaction costs and legal complexities stifle collaborations - are there national approaches that could be adopted to streamline establishing such collaborations? 3. What can be done to improve value chain management and help SMEs to leverage off large corporations in Australia? Should offset schemes be revisited? 8 Industry Innovation Precincts: http://www.aussiejobs.innovation.gov.au/programs/industry- Innovation-Precincts/Documents/FactSheet_InitiativeComparison.pdf 5
Session 3: Successful Australian initiatives - overcoming barriers to translating research to technologies that enhance firm productivity Firm level productivity is broadly recognised as an important measure, but is not well studied certainly not in Australia. The ACOLA Securing Australia s Future project 4 has commissioned a study to investigate the impact of innovation on firm performance. In Australia, access to finance is a high barrier to innovation and improving this should be a core priority for translating research to productivity. Previous ATSE workshops noted that there is no one size fits all model for financing innovation: common suggestions included strengthening venture capital funding options and encouraging superannuation funds to help support early stage development of promising technology. 3 Thus there are a number of possible ways of addressing the issue of translating research outcomes. Barriers to innovation identified previously include a risk averse culture and fear of failure in Australia. Workshop participants are invited to share their views on whether this is the case and if so how it can be addressed. Current government initiatives include Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 9 and Excellence in Innovation for Australia (EIA). The EIA has recently conducted a joint trial with the Australian Technology Network of Universities and the Group of Eight to assess research impact in the Australian university sector. However, questions have been raised as to whether Australia has the right balance between excellence in research and impact. Improving innovation skills in the workforce was identified as a key priority in the 2011 ATSE workshop 3. Some studies have suggested that business management and skills, particularly for SMEs, are lacking in Australia. Workshop participants are invited to share their views on whether this is the case and if so how can it be addressed. This session will discuss successful Australian initiatives. Speakers will draw on their experiences of what the barriers were to adopting a technology or innovative process to lift firm level productivity and how they were overcome, as well as touching on how some of those influential collaborations have changed over time. Workshop participants will be invited to address some of these key discussion points, outlined in Box 3, during the facilitated discussion. Box 3: Key Discussion Points 1. What are the systemic barriers preventing greater industry/public sector research collaboration in Australia? What can be done to overcome these barriers? 2. Do existing mechanisms to encourage industry/public sector research organisation links (e.g. the CRC and ARC Linkage Programs) need to be changed to encourage broader participation from Australian industry? 3. How can networks, centres, clusters and precincts help build critical mass and linkages successfully? 4. What alternative models exist or could be developed? 9 Excellence in Research Australia: http://www.arc.gov.au/era/ 6
Session 4: The role of government industry and innovation policy This session will explore the role of government industry and innovation policy in facilitating the translation of research to productivity gains, incentivising collaboration, and making innovation more attractive especially for SMEs. The Government Industry Innovation Statement includes new policy measures and strategies for improving Australia s performance in translating innovation investments into commercial and economic results. 8 The statement has a three-point strategy: Backing Australian firms to win more work at home Supporting Australian industry to win new business abroad Helping Australian small and medium businesses to grow and create new jobs. Workshop participants will be invited to address some of these key discussion points, outlined in Box 4, during the facilitated discussion. Box 4: Key Discussion Points 1. What should be the split of responsibility between state and federal governments for facilitating industry links with public sector research organisations? 2. Are there any regulatory barriers or burdens? How can we improve the current settings? 3. Does Australia have policy consistency, and continuity/reliability of assistance measures? 4. What good examples of assistance measures from other countries could be adopted here? 7
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