Talent: Develop entrepreneurial skills in education
All Australian schools and universities should establish programmes to develop entrepreneurial skills. This may include thought leadership programmes, student exchanges, student 'companies'.
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ICT Infrastructure: No Internet Filtering
Add your commentParticipants believed that filtering the internet will lead to limiting innovation and productivity
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Talent: Develop better ICT skills in education
Add your commentAll schools, adult education and higher education must improve their ICT skills development to incorporate basic computer literacy, task automation, basic programming, project management, troubleshooting, online collaboration and online contributing just to name a few. These skills will drive innovation and productivity regardless of the industry or job description.
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Funding & Startups: Create a fertile centre for ICT innovators
ICT startups require a good mix of mentors, investors, potential customers, and talent to succeed. Overseas, startup centers have been created where potential founders can get in contact with these in favourable environments. They get the opportunity to develop their product ideas to a first demonstration stage with minimal funding and HW/networking support, so they can test the product with potential customers and investors. ...more »
Add your commentICT startups require a good mix of mentors, investors, potential customers, and talent to succeed. Overseas, startup centers have been created where potential founders can get in contact with these in favourable environments. They get the opportunity to develop their product ideas to a first demonstration stage with minimal funding and HW/networking support, so they can test the product with potential customers and investors. Such fertile centers for ICT innovators are also necessary in Australia.
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Government Procurement: To be first customer of new products
Australian companies in general – and the government in particular – have a tendency to regard locally developed technology as inferior to technology developed overseas. The government should be encouraged to be a trial customer of locally developed ICT products more often. AGIMO could be tasked with pilot testing Australian innovative products and adding them to a list of feasibility-certified solutions which are then ...more »
Add your commentAustralian companies in general – and the government in particular – have a tendency to regard locally developed technology as inferior to technology developed overseas. The government should be encouraged to be a trial customer of locally developed ICT products more often. AGIMO could be tasked with pilot testing Australian innovative products and adding them to a list of feasibility-certified solutions which are then eligible to be tendered despite the absence of customer reference sites.
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Government Procurement: Review of tender process & local impact
A review should be conducted on the difficulty and limitations of current tendering processes, and how they limit local and small industry responses and therefore delivery of services. There should also be included a review of the resulting opportunities lost for innovation, for high value solutions and for broader socio-economic growth through the tendering limitations for local and small businesses so there can be a ...more »
4 commentsA review should be conducted on the difficulty and limitations of current tendering processes, and how they limit local and small industry responses and therefore delivery of services. There should also be included a review of the resulting opportunities lost for innovation, for high value solutions and for broader socio-economic growth through the tendering limitations for local and small businesses so there can be a real understanding on what is at stake.
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Misc: Better showcase Australian successes
Add your commentAustralian success stories in ICT are not very well known. In comparison to our idols in sports, we do not celebrate our idols in technology. It might be possible to include such knowledge into our education system, in TV programs, in public events. Increasing that knowledge generally will have positive impact on all aspects of concern - education, investment, procurement, etc.
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Government Procurement: Purchase of local tech where possible
Often there is locally developed technology available that competes with an international product. The safe choice is to go with the international product which tends to have an international reputation, tends to have a big company name behind it, and tends to be more expensive. Local companies lose out even though they tend to be more competent and much cheaper, simply because of lack of international reputation. The ...more »
2 commentsOften there is locally developed technology available that competes with an international product. The safe choice is to go with the international product which tends to have an international reputation, tends to have a big company name behind it, and tends to be more expensive. Local companies lose out even though they tend to be more competent and much cheaper, simply because of lack of international reputation. The government should give local companies a fairer chance of succeeding.
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Creative Industries: Merging Creative Industries and ICT
1 commentThere needs to be more showcasing of the blended strength of the Creative and ICT industries to grow interest and participation throughout both fields
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ICT Infrastructure: Increased Bandwidth
Add your commentAustralia should commit itself to optimising and expanding the bandwidth by optimising competition and ensuring an economical price.
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Funding & Startups: Tax incentives recommendations
The following tax incentive recommendations are from the Silicon Beach Lifeguard paper. • R&D investments - In addition to reducing the cost of business for this research-intensive sector, more prominent impacts would be multinationals relocating their R&D centres to Australia, which upskill the local industry. Having said that, the current R&D tax allowances have been considered very helpful. • Investors in startups ...more »
1 commentThe following tax incentive recommendations are from the Silicon Beach Lifeguard paper.
• R&D investments - In addition to reducing the cost of business for this research-intensive sector, more prominent impacts would be multinationals relocating their R&D centres to Australia, which upskill the local industry. Having said that, the current R&D tax allowances have been considered very helpful.
• Investors in startups - Angel investors play a fundamental role in the capital ecosystem, as they typically fund a concept that can go to launch – which latter get funded by venture capitalists, whose role is when a company has a market presence. By giving tax breaks to legitimate angels, it will see those with capital redirecting their wealth into the engine room of the economy.
• CGT on companies building value - The exit of a startup is core to the Internet industry, and capital gains on this exit has the potential to motivate or disincentivise market participants.
• Startups in the first two years - A functional definition of a startup is one whose revenues do not exceed its operating costs. It typically takes a few years for a startup to graduate to a growth business, which is when they pay actual tax – so a policy exempting startups in their first two years would have minimal impact to government taxation revenues. Often the largest cost for any startup is human resources and the PAYG upon this can be a significant portion of their budget. Eliminating these taxes on the first two years of a startup, will have global entrepreneurs and investors wanting to start their business in Australia with a stronger motivation to build revenue quicker.
• Create a tax-free economic corridor - There is a lot of thought that needs to go into this which won't be detailed here, but the concept is simple and has proven to work in a variety of Asian countries in the past. As a case in point, lower tax has such a powerful motivator, that dozens of global companies have restructured their operations in such a way, that all money flows through Ireland. By identifying a 50 by 50km radius somewhere in Australia where companies with a certain criteria are tax free for 10-20 years, in the medium term a transformation could occur in Australia's competitiveness that will last for the long term.
• Payroll tax - Although this is a state tax, it’s a common complaint by the Silicon Beach community. Some sort of arrangement that exempts small business will see more people being hired by startups.
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Misc: Encouraging Open Data
Add your commentOpen Data needs to be adopted into government to facilitate the use and ease of public information and relevant systems.
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Funding & Startups: Funding Innovative Startups HECS/HELP scheme
Examination of the feasibility of using existing HECS/HELP infrastructure to fund start-up businesses needing relatively small sums of seed funding, perhaps similar to the cost of a university full-fee degree. This would probably take the form of initially a analyst report on the scope/workings of the idea, followed by an economic and policy analysis. This idea was raised in the Melbourne node, and felt to be an innovative ...more »
Add your commentExamination of the feasibility of using existing HECS/HELP infrastructure to fund start-up businesses needing relatively small sums of seed funding, perhaps similar to the cost of a university full-fee degree. This would probably take the form of initially a analyst report on the scope/workings of the idea, followed by an economic and policy analysis. This idea was raised in the Melbourne node, and felt to be an innovative and original contribution by many present.
Such an approach would leverage existing infrastructure (ATO), have inherent enforcement guidelines (those for HELP) and reduce the risk of grants as the risk is shared (recipients repay from wages irrespective of success of venture).
2thinknow recommend the development further of this idea with analyst report.
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Funding & Startups: A simple communication plan for grants
Add your commentThere needs to be a simply way to find, subscribe to and identify appropriate grants available from the government.
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Misc: Increasing remote participation
Add your commentAustralian governments should have clear policies that promote the growth of ICT and creative industries related projects in rural communities. These policies could include special benefits for projects that demonstrate a direct impact on rural development.
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Misc: Eliminate the stigma
1 commentThere needs to be a removal of the thought that ICT is "just computers". This culture towards ICT needs to change in order to get broader support, interest, skills and ultimately success at a global level.
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Government Procurement: Government should aid SMEs
1 commentThe Australian Government help small to medium enterprises in the government tender processes.
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Talent: Create a mentoring program in education
Add your commentAll Australian schools and universities should establish programmes to aid mentor student connections. This may include thought leadership programmes, student exchanges, and mentoring from successful entrepreneurs.
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Funding & Startups: A scheme similar to Commercial Ready
Currently, the COMET program allows individuals and early-stage companies to turn an innovative idea into an initial product. The next step - the transformation of an initial product into a successful product - used to be supported by the Commercial Ready program. In the ICT space, there is no new alternative program that supports this transformation step which tends to require more investment into R&D than any of the ...more »
Add your commentCurrently, the COMET program allows individuals and early-stage companies to turn an innovative idea into an initial product. The next step - the transformation of an initial product into a successful product - used to be supported by the Commercial Ready program. In the ICT space, there is no new alternative program that supports this transformation step which tends to require more investment into R&D than any of the earlier and later stages. The advantage of the Commercial Ready program was that it assisted companies that reached this transformation step and allowed them to leverage private investment through matching funding.
A scheme that supports large commitments of R&D work in ICT is imperative for Australia to enable small start-ups to have a sustainable future in Australia and not to limit their potential for growth and innovation.
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Mobile & Web 2.0: Policy development and subsequent support
Add your commentAs Australia is already doing particularly well in both these emerging areas, there needs to be an understanding of Australia's capacity, the socio-economic opportunities for Australia, and the subsequent policy and strategies put in place to drive forward Australian companies to compete on the global stage.
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Misc: Encouraging People to stay on shore
1 commentCurrently people strive to move to Silicon Valley or similar innovation hubs around the world. We need to work on establishing Australia as an innovation hub that also includes the lifestyle perks. There is a cultural cringe here that needs to be addressed.
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Creative Industries: Education
Add your commentThere needs to be both a focus on both ICT and Creative skills in education, as well as a differentiation between them.
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ICT Infrastructure: Transportation
Add your commentLocal transport should be able to accommodate the use of ICT through the use of items like wireless internet similar to those used in Europe
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Mobile & Web 2.0: Establish a National Broadband Digital Applica
2 commentsAustralia should create and establish of a National Broadband Digital Applications Lab - to assist Australian startups develop and commercialise new applications to get Australia ahead in this area. i.e. remote medical applications, games, educational, entertainment, enabling rural and regional business.
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Government Procurement: Review of impact of US FTA/DMCA
Add your commentA review the impact of the US Free Trade Agreement on the ICT and Creative industries to date. This would greatly assist in understanding the impacts and as such potential future issues or opportunities to deal with.
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