Tech & Innovation

Is innovation a driver of economic development down-under? The simple answer is, yes. But is it a core driver – part of our national psyche, supported by government policy? I personally don’t think that it is. I’m not so sure that ‘necessity’ is a part of life for most Australians. I don’t think that the ‘tyranny of distance’ still forces us to work smarter, not harder. In fact, the only cultural description I believe worth citing as part of this innovation debate is Australia’s reputation as a ‘lucky country’.

There's an interesting post over on Springwise about Pavegen slabs, an eco innovation by UK-based Pavegen Systems, which harvest the kinetic energy from pedestrian footsteps and converts it into electricity.

So you want to start a business but time and money are holding you back? Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin set himself the challenge of launching a startup in seven days for less than $500. He’s posted daily summaries for seven days. This is his seventh and final post in the series.

Eugene Lin wanted to be rich. So, he decided to invent an iPhone application. With nothing but an accelerometer, two dozen naked women, and the nation of Japan, Eugene surprisingly found himself with a ripper story to tell (in under five minutes).

While most Australians will have enjoyed the wonderful economic prosperity that digging things out of the ground can bring (while there’s still a market in China) and enjoyed the fat of our land, grilled and shish-kebabed (when not exported to the Middle East), a minority - a rarely celebrated part of our ‘cultural mix’ - used the rare solace of a national public holiday to work on that thing often described as ‘innovation’.

We're conditioned to expect sturdiness from our protective head gear, but this prototypical helmet being developed by DoYouVélo? turns the concept on its... well... head. The honeycomb...

The world is currently eyeball-deep in a period of technological disruption that is unparalleled in human history. This is creating a smorgasbord of opportunities for those entrepreneurs who have the balls to innovate, writes Steve Anderson.

The world is getting much smaller, which is a particularly good thing for Australia, writes Austrade’s Chief Economist Tim Harcourt.

AutoCarLog was quickly becoming a fully-functional system to manage vehicle mileage logbooks online. Now I needed a way for my customers to update their log books using SMS, and for this I needed an SMS gateway.

So you want to start a business but time and money are holding you back? Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin has set himself the challenge of launching a startup in seven days for less than $500. He’s posting daily summaries for seven days. This is his fourth post in the series. If you’re new to this series, it’s worth reading the preceding posts for context.

Take this "Face Bank", which gobbles down each coin with ghoulish realism. The original model had eyes, but (perhaps moved by reports that it was inspiring night terrors in children) the makers updated it last year, removing the eyes and adding a nose, Easter Island style.

Take this "Face Bank", which gobbles down each coin with ghoulish realism. The original model had eyes, but (perhaps moved by reports that it was inspiring night terrors in children) the makers updated it last year, removing the eyes and adding a nose, Easter Island style.

This instalment focuses on Dr John Papandriopoulos, who in 2007 as a 30-year-old University of Melbourne research fellow revolutionised broadband by developing an algorithm that speeds up ADSL connections by up to 100 times.

Starting the new year with an optimistic outlook is one thing. To remain confident throughout the rest of the year requires setting a series of short-term measurable goals that you celebrate as each is achieved.

Starting the new year with an optimistic outlook is one thing. To remain confident throughout the rest of the year requires setting a series of short-term measurable goals that you celebrate as each is achieved.

NSW-based company Solar-Gem has been awarded the 2010 Australian Innovation Shoot Out, hosted overnight at Microsoft’s Mountain View, California campus.

So you want to start a business but time and money are holding you back? Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin has set himself the challenge of launching a startup in seven days for less than $500. He’s posting daily summaries for seven days. This is his third post in the series. If you’re new to this series, it’s worth reading the preceding posts for context.

In the fourth post in this series, Nigel Malone shares the contents of another of his favourite business keynote slides, drawn from a cross-section of sources that includes some of the great business, brand and military planners of all time.

I often get accused of bashing Microsoft and Oracle. In the interests of balance, here’s my message to Apple: If you want to go after enterprise business, make it a priority. Don’t toss it out there if it’s something you only plan to pursue in between hacky sack sessions and iPhone love-ins.

So you want to start a business but time and money are holding you back? Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin has set himself the challenge of launching a startup in seven days for less than $500. This is the second post in the series.