Tag: policy

In a first move by an Australian government, the Victorian parliament has adopted Creative Commons (CC) licensing as its default licensing system for access to public sector information (PSI).

We've all seen the "Hitler loses it" mashups, where aspiring Spielbergs have taken the now famous bunker scene from Downfall and replaced the sub-titles. In fact, it's fast becoming a new benchmark for popular culture. If your 'issue' hasn't been expropriated by Hitler yet it can't be that big a deal. That's why we were pleased to discover this clip by YouTuber BleakIsolationist. Okay, it's not as funny as Hitler's Alan Didak eruption or [insert favourite here] but in the context of Anthill it is topical.

We've all seen the "Hitler loses it" mashups, where aspiring Spielbergs have taken the now famous bunker scene from Downfall and replaced the sub-titles. In fact, it's fast becoming a new benchmark for popular culture. If your 'issue' hasn't been expropriated by Hitler yet it can't be that big a deal. That's why we were pleased to discover this clip by YouTuber BleakIsolationist. Okay, it's not as funny as Hitler's Alan Didak eruption or [insert favourite here] but in the context of Anthill it is topical.

Our 'secret-squirrels' have revealed to Anthill that the seven board positions, appointed to analyse and approve Commercialisation Australia funding applications, have been filled and that an announcement is imminent. No-one knows who will be among this 'magnicifent seven' other than those appointed or involved in the decision. In fact, it is a complete mystery to external observers how these important functionaries were selected. Was there some sort of process behind closed doors? Were they vetted? Were the decisions political? Or vaguely political, chosen in the same fashion as a US High Court Judge, to perform the role yet still be 'on-side' with the powers that be?

Inconsistency is what most influences an organisation's decision to invest in R&D and the extent of its R&D investment. This is because a company cannot budget and minimise risk if it does now know the extent to which it is likely to be eligible for a tax concession. The proposed reforms to the R&D tax concession not only conflict with their stated purpose but offer no consistency to organisations already engaged in the complex task of commercialising innovation... whether novel or risky.

Inconsistency is what most influences an organisation's decision to invest in R&D and the extent of its R&D investment. This is because a company cannot budget and minimise risk if it does now know the extent to which it is likely to be eligible for a tax concession. The proposed reforms to the R&D tax concession not only conflict with their stated purpose but offer no consistency to organisations already engaged in the complex task of commercialising innovation... whether novel or risky.

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’.

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’.

As part of the Federal Government’s dramatic overhaul of its commercialisation program, now called Commercialisation Australia, the R&D Tax Concession will replace the R&D Tax Credit from 1 July, 2010.

As part of the Federal Government’s dramatic overhaul of its commercialisation program, now called Commercialisation Australia, the R&D Tax Concession will replace the R&D Tax Credit from 1 July, 2010.

This neat little invention caught my attention for its sheer uselessness. Yup, you read me right. The following clip features one of the most useless things I've ever seen. It's so useless, it prompted me to spend 20 minutes explorng its history and another 20 minutes writing this post. I hope you enjoy its uselessness as much as me!

To succeed, innovation needs to be more than a nebulous desire to foster creativity in an organisation. It needs to be a concrete business process driven from the top. Roger La Salle explains.

Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, has announced the latest round of COMET funding, with 14 projects sharing $630,600.

According to the latest rankings released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, China is again our number one trading partner. But it raises the question: Do we have too many eggs in the China basket?

Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, has announced the latest round of COMET funding, with 14 projects sharing $985,600.

Firstly, let's clear up some confusion. Commercialisation Australia is not going to pay for your marketing campaign, help you with advertising or fund you to break into your desired market. CA will help you up to the point that you are ready to go commercial. That is, it will help with pre-commercialisation.

The Prosperity Index, dubbed the world’s only global assessment of wealth and wellbeing, ranked Australia in the top 10 for categories including economic fundamentals, democratic institutions, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, governance and social. However, Australia fell to 15th place for entrepreneurship and innovation (page 26 of the report). Despite recent economic woes, the US and UK took the top two spots in that category.

The Rudd Government yesterday awarded total funding of over $394 million for 1,145 Australian research projects.

The news yesterday that the Federal Government has unveiled details of its $196 million Commercialisation Australia (CA) initiative has been welcomed by many entrepreneurs and innovation consultants. These same intended beneficiaries might also be forgiven for wondering whether it is an improvement on the $1 billion Commercial Ready Scheme it is designed to replace.

The news yesterday that the Federal Government has unveiled details of its $196 million Commercialisation Australia (CA) initiative has been welcomed by many entrepreneurs and innovation consultants. These same intended beneficiaries might also be forgiven for wondering whether it is an improvement on the $1 billion Commercial Ready Scheme it is designed to replace.