Tag: kim carr

The award, granted by the Innovation Minister, Senator Kim Carr, will go towards funding the development of OpenWhispir, whose cost is estimated at $4.5 million. By facilitating connections between public and private communities, OpenWhispir will be designed to enable the tracking of emergencies and other breaking events in real time as they unfold.

Australia’s bid to foster innovation and measure its progress is a laudable one. Its candour even more so, because rare is the government that shines a light on its darker areas. The Australian Innovation System Report – the second since the nation officially hitched its bandwagon to the one thing that is most likely to make a difference in how we live – is short on data, especially latest international numbers to compare progress. But what it lacks in numbers, it makes up with honesty on at least two critical areas of shortfall.

Climate change is the hot topic this week as PM Julia Gillard unveils her plan for a carbon tax. Never the wall-flower, Innovation Minister Kim Carr also wants to see Australia become a driving force in cleantech innovation, last week launching The Australian Clean Technologies Ideas Competition.

Is it possible to drive government innovation by gathering a bunch of civil servants and academicians to talk about being innovative? The Gillard Government hopes so. Earlier this month, it announced the creation of the Australian National Institute for Public Policy.

Six people with academic specialties ranging from chemistry to the creative arts have been added to the Australian Research Council, which advises the Gillard government on investment in research and development.

The government's Future Fellowships program hands out money to researchers at the midpoint of their careers. In other words, Canberra is trying its darnedest to put a plug in Australia's brain drain.

The government has pumped $43 million into an initiative designed to really get under our skin -- from a geological standpoint. The money is going into AuScope, a nonprofit company designed to help governments, universities, and research and science agencies collaborate in their efforts to better understand Australia's natural resources.

Australian companies continue to increase their investment in research and development, but the growth rate has dropped dramatically, according to figures from the national Bureau of Statistics. This coincides with amendments to the Governments R&D tax credit bill.

There has been much misguided speculation recently about Australia’s mining boom and what it means for the broader national economy and manufacturing. Some have portrayed the mining sector as an insatiable beast. A beast whose demand for resources, labour and capital must be fed – whatever the consequences for the rest of the economy.

Senator Carr's office announced last week that it will invest $63 million to bring production of Toyota’s next-generation, four-cylinder engine to the company's plant in Altona, Victoria. The Altona plant currently employs 320 people. By way of comparison, the much lauded Commercialisation Australia fund has been allocated $244 million over the four years 2011 to 2014. That's $61 million a year. Which option, do you think, will create more jobs?

Five minutes of overheard conversation in any Australian watering hole or bus-shelter this week will tell you that Tony Abbott is a misogynistic mad monk and that Julia Gillard is a political assassin controlled by faceless apparatchik of the union movement. But are these the factors that will steer Australia in a direction that will create an economically secure and culturally harmonious nation for decades to come?

Five minutes of overheard conversation in any Australian watering hole or bus-shelter this week will tell you that Tony Abbott is a misogynistic mad monk and that Julia Gillard is a political assassin controlled by faceless apparatchik of the union movement. But are these the factors that will steer Australia in a direction that will create an economically secure and culturally harmonious nation for decades to come?

Researchers in Australia and France will work together to fight Parkinson's disease and similar neurodegenerative maladies, using funds from a program managed by the nation's governments.

Researchers in Australia and France will work together to fight Parkinson's disease and similar neurodegenerative maladies, using funds from a program managed by the nation's governments.

In partnership with Melbourne's most entrepreneurial organisations, including Mobile Monday, The Hive, TEDxMelbourne and the Churchill Club, E-Week 2010 will give participants an opportunity to gain the right skills, meet the right people and build their confidence to just get out there and start their own entrepreneurial endeavour.

The Australian Government is seeking expressions of interest from eligible higher education institutions for funding under the Collaborative Research Networks (CRN) scheme. The CRN scheme will provide up to $51 million from 2011 until mid-2013 to help less research-intensive smaller and regional universities strengthen their research capacity by teaming up with other institutions in areas of common interest.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last week named the first 21 Australian ideas to receive Commercialisation Australia support totalling $9.6 million. The first 21 ideas consisted of a diverse range of innovative projects from around the country, including treatments for disease, advanced materials, cutting-edge electronics, new online services, and a host of other innovations in agriculture, the media, manufacturing and beyond.

A privately initiated discussion has been gaining some momentum on the Anthill LinkedIn Group over the past week. The discussion was triggered by an announcement from the Office of Senator Kim Carr, Australia's Minister for Innovation, pertaining to the selection of Commercialisation Australian board members.

A privately initiated discussion has been gaining some momentum on the Anthill LinkedIn Group over the past week. The discussion was triggered by an announcement from the Office of Senator Kim Carr, Australia's Minister for Innovation, pertaining to the selection of Commercialisation Australian board members.

Following our recent series of articles on innovation in Australia (our Australia Day series), we received the following note from the Office of Senator Kim Carr, Australia’s Innovation Minister. We were expecting a dressing down. Here's what we got instead.