Tag: R&D

Last week, I was fortunate to be among a small group of people who attended Anthill's Grant Funding by Design Masterclass, in partnership with Design Victoria. In addition to providing an extremely candid explanation of what grant assessors are looking for, AusIndustry's Samara Fitzgerald-Gelnay provided an extremely helpful document on the programs and grants available to growing, innovative Australian businesses through AusIndustry.

Entrepreneurs like to fly by the seat of their pants, implementing ideas almost as quickly as they occur. However, successful companies know the critical importance of adding a sturdy layer of testing to the product development process. Pollenizer’s Mick Liubinskas explains.

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?

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’.

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.

Just prior to Christmas, Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, announced that Monash V1sion had been awarded grant assistance from the Australian Research Council to develop the Bionic Eye.

For the second year running, Anthill's overall 'Coolest of the Cool' Award winner is an Australian medical company, combining the commercialisation of breakthrough research with the impact of saving lives globally. In the final analysis, our judges awarded overall honours to Vaxine Pty Ltd over the other 2009 Cool Company Awards category winners for its success to date in building a platform that will potentially benefit every human on Earth.

Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, today officially launched a new research supercomputer facility, located at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra.

Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, today officially launched a new research supercomputer facility, located at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra.

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

Business expenditure on research and development (BERD) has jumped by 15 per cent, reaching $14,380 million in 2007-08, according to statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

Business expenditure on research and development (BERD) has jumped by 15 per cent, reaching $14,380 million in 2007-08, according to statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

The Australian National University (ANU) and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) have officially entered into a partnership to combine core expertise and enhance Australia’s international engagement in nuclear science and technology.

The passage last Thursday of the Tax Laws Amendment Bill (2009 Measures no 4) represents the Rudd Government's first significant milestone on the road to delivering a more streamlined R&D Tax Credit for innovative Australian businesses.

The passage last Thursday of the Tax Laws Amendment Bill (2009 Measures no 4) represents the Rudd Government's first significant milestone on the road to delivering a more streamlined R&D Tax Credit for innovative Australian businesses.

The Federal Government has just launched a new grant for third party service providers to help small and home based businesses with: • ‘free or low cost’ IT skills development • training and mentoring services • improved web presence and e-business capability Funding is available up to $500,000.

The Federal Government yesterday announced that a new $20 million Clean Energy Innovation Centre (CEIC) will be headquartered in Newcastle.

Some technically-minded Germans from the Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence have managed to mashup a Wii balance board to Google Earth and enable you to "surf" the globe. The mind boggles at where this will all be in a decade or two.

The name - InnoCentive - sounds like it was manufactured in the crucible of an expensive, bureaucratic, innovation think-tank naming committee, but the site is incredibly impressive, efficient and market oriented.