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The state of ICT in South Australia: Collaborating to work fast and smart

Hon. Trish White, Information Age

17/06/2004 17:33:07

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By Hon Trish White MP, Minister for Science and Information Economy

This year, leading analyst KPMG* compared costs in 98 cities and found that Adelaide is the number one place to do business in the Asia Pacific region. The city was also rated in the top three locations in the world for advanced software, Web and multimedia development.

While we are happy and proud to receive this validation, we intend to continue to drive prosperity and increase our competitiveness in the global knowledge economy.

Over the next decade, South Australia’s STI10 science, technology and innovation vision will build on the state’s known strengths of collaboration, research and creativity, to create a dynamic, internationally recognised hub of innovation. ICT will be one of the key factors underpinning the success of the new strategy.

Our existing strengths Our dynamic and diverse ICT companies have world-class capabilities in: security and antispam, network performance, business intelligence, mobile applications, supply chain management, home automation, games, health informatics and entertainment, Web services and search, low-cost telephony, Web hosting and e-commerce, to name but a few.

Our distinguished history of defence science innovation means we lead the country in technologies such as satellite communications, aerospace, and microelectronics. Of the 71 Co-operative Research Centres (CRCs) around Australia, seven are headquartered in South Australia, and South Australian institutions participate in 24 others.

CRCs serve an important role in technology and knowledge transfer which will contribute to the state’s broader suite of education and training programs focused on preparing all of our communities for our technological future. For example, the Robotic Peer Mentoring Program, which recently received a $350,000 grant from the Premier’s Science and Research Fund, will enable university engineering students to mentor high school students in building industrial-strength microprocessor systems.

Our excellence in the ICT field is reflected in the fact that the state punches well above its weight in terms of ICT industry accolades. For example, while South Australia has less than 8 per cent of the nation’s population, in the last two years the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 has awarded 16 per cent of award places to South Australian companies. The national Secrets of IT Innovation awards presented 10 out of 37 awards in 2002 and six out of 17 awards in 2003 to South Australian companies.

As we look towards the future, it is useful to reflect on our past. Eight years ago, the South Australian Government set a global benchmark when it offered its entire IT infrastructure business to a single operator in a bid to attract a global IT player into the state. The resulting contract, with EDS, ends in 2005. Today, a new program for government service delivery, Future ICT, gives our more mature ICT industry sector exciting new opportunities to provide the state with a wide range of services, software and infrastructure in a series of open tenders totalling $1 billion.

Where we stand, where we’re going Earlier this year, the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies conducted an independent review of the industry, the first of its kind undertaken in Australia. The study found that ICT generates $3.5 billion annually for the state, including $1.78 billion in overseas and interstate exports. It employs up to 25,000 people in almost 1200 ICT firms, not including thousands of professional IT staff working in other industries. The state’s ICT industry is growing at 12 per cent a year, one of the fastest in the Asia Pacific region. This financial year, IT sector revenues are expected to rise by 13 per cent, nearly double the 6.7 per cent level of 2002-03.

The 10-year Vision for Science, Technology and Innovation prepares our technology organisations to take the next steps to increase their global competitiveness. At least part of the answer will be promoting easier access to venture capital and encouraging co-investment by business to build on publicly-funded knowledge infrastructure and programs.

The Government’s venture capital strategy will play a key role in kick-starting the “spirit of enterprise” in South Australia. The strategy includes a new Venture Capital Board, which will allocate $10 million in the 2004/05 financial year for locally-based venture capital funds, aimed at galvanising innovation in the state’s established and emerging industries.

South Australia’s Playford Capital, a highly successful ICT business incubator, will support the work of the Venture Capital Board by continuing to invest equity finance in early-stage ICT companies with strong potential for growth.

We look forward to creating a strong platform for the future, with a government focused on the areas of collaboration, ICT skills, infrastructure, and social equity.

(1) Collaboration

The Adelaide Innovation Constellation, a term used to describe the five science and technology-intensive ‘Innovation Precincts’ across metropolitan Adelaide will be linked progressively by the new $9.2m fibre-optic South Australian Broadband Research and Education Network (SABRENet), enabling participants to transmit vast amounts of data across the globe in a matter of minutes.

The Innovation Precincts are:

Waite Innovation Precinct - agribusiness, food and natural resources research and development and innovation.

Mawson Innovation Precinct - manufacturing, ICT, defence, automotive and electronics.

Florey Innovation Precinct - life and medical sciences research, university-based research, multimedia and gaming.

Flinders Innovation Precinct - biotechnology, marine and related research.

Thebarton Innovation Precinct – bioscience, biomedical and technology.

The new Department of Trade and Economic Development will deliver business assistance services to companies in these Innovation Precincts with the idea being to give “science, technology and innovation intensive” companies a head start by enhancing research opportunities, attracting more Commonwealth innovation funds and more private investment.

There are numerous examples of South Australia’s ability to work smart and fast by working together. As an enabler, ICT links and drives the productivity of all these precincts and initiatives.

STI10 Mega Project Challenge: The Government’s “Mega Project Challenge” directly encourages collaboration between the public and private sectors. Consortia can apply to partner with government on major projects such as energy supply, security and infrastructure.

SolutionCity Adelaide Australia: This initiative rallies our high-tech organisations behind a common brand, and a team travelling under the SolutionCity Adelaide Australia brand will represent the state at the World Congress on IT 2004 in Athens. The brand was developed by the IT Council for South Australia, which brings together 13 industry associations that collaborate to promote the industry and increase the economic benefits it brings to the state.

Playford Capital: The state Government-owned Playford Capital has supported emerging South Australian ICT ventures for more than six years, winning an investment mandate under the Australian Government's Building on IT Strengths (BITS) scheme in 2001. Since then, it has been recognised as one of the most successful operations in early stage incubators nationally, which has been backed up recently by the Federal Government’s decision to rollover Playford’s funding allocation for a further two years. Since August 2001 Playford has invested $4.5 million in 16 companies and raised an additional $23 million of outside investment - again more successful than any other early stage Australian incubator.

Information Economy Advisory Board (IEAB): The IEAB brings together prominent individuals from across the community to provide advice to the Minster for Science and Information Economy on strategies to maximise the benefits from the information economy.

Defence: Defence is a substantial, valued component of the state’s ICT and electronics industries, boosted by the presence of globally successful companies such as BAE, SAAB, Tenix and the applied research conducted within the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO). Over the course of more than 60 years, many highly motivated scientists have started their own successful spinoffs from DSTO technology. DSTO itself employs 1300 people and is a hub for the largest concentration of defence researchers and defence company headquarters in the southern hemisphere.

Electronics industry: Adelaide’s electronics industry leads the nation in job growth, at a consistent 9 per cent a year. The state has 400 electronics-based companies, most of them supplying niche products for export. They employ more than 10,000 people - rivalling the state's wine industry - and generate more than $3 billion in sales annually.

Spider Silicon: This microelectronics consortium includes DSTO, three universities and five commercial companies, backed by the Australian Microelectronics Network and working together to target the growing international market for niche microchip development.

South Australian Consortium for IT and Telecommunications (SACITT): SACITT is a key body for collaboration between industry, universities and government. The consortium participates in ICT skills promotions; bids for funding, research centres of excellence and conferences; and advises the state’s Economic Development Board on related issues.

Justice Information System (JIS): The state’s JIS is a fine example of true inter-agency sharing at both the business and technical levels. The system is used daily by some 5000 staff in five agencies, generating 150 million transactions a year. Independent reviews have established that the financial and other benefits of JIS far exceed its operating costs.

Thinkers in Residence: Adelaide Thinkers in Residence program brings world-leading thinkers to the city to assist in strategic development and promotion of the state. Recent Thinkers in Residence included Blast Theory, an award-winning UK artists’ group that presented a world-first multimedia theatrical performance in the streets of the CBD and online as part of the 2004 Adelaide Fringe Festival.

EDSTC: The Enterprise Distributed Systems Technology Centre, a CRC founded in Queensland, recently opened an Adelaide office, partnering with the SA Government, the University of South Australia, and companies Motorola and LISAsoft. The EDSTC develops software and provides professional consulting. It has a focus on research into inter-enterprise collaboration, inter-operability and electronic service delivery issues.

CRC for Sensor, Signal and Information Processing (CSSIP): Headquartered in Adelaide, CSSIP is a national centre of excellence in research and education in signal and information processing and in the commercialisation of the results of that research. CSSIP plays a key role in many leading edge projects, including the development of surface-wave radar to detect targets over the horizon.

Institute for Telecommunications Research (ITR): ITR is a component of the University of South Australia and is one of Australia's foremost research organisations specialising in technology for digital wireless communications, including both fixed and mobile satellite and terrestrial radio services.

Health Informatics Alliance: The Health Informatics Alliance is a group of IT companies focused on software development underpinning medical services.

Games and Creative Industries: SA is home to a small but growing band of talented game developers that are quickly winning global customers in this dynamic sector. These companies are supported in several ways, including state sponsorship of the Game Developers Association of Australia export program.

(2) ICT Skills

The Government has undertaken a wide range of initiatives to train, attract, and retain people with world competitive skills and research capabilities, including targeting new talent and expatriates.

The workforce strategy focuses on maintaining or increasing tertiary enrolments in ICT courses, but we also want to ensure that basic technology competency becomes an essential component of the state’s minimum literacy targets. Another strategy is to encourage a demographic balance in the ICT workforce, encouraging both women and older members of the workforce to acquire new technology skills.

Last year, the State Government committed $2.1 million over three years to revive science and mathematics in schools; address a shortage of teachers; and ultimately increase the number of graduates in related areas. The $14 million Australian Science and Mathematics School provides intensive tuition to talented, motivated secondary level students.

WCIT2002 Legacy: Fifteen organisations shared in the benefits from hosting the XIII World Congress on IT in Adelaide. The WCIT2002 Financial Legacy Grants Scheme was the result of a larger than expected financial surplus from this world-class event. The successful organisations are helping to create greater skills within South Australia’s ICT industry, and to promote IT as an attractive career option.

Go For IT: The 2003 Go For IT Careers Promotion responded to a concern about the decline in interest in IT courses. Its initial focus was on creating a positive image of IT in schools, and on attracting more women and mature age workers to pursue a career in IT. The project recently received further support from the WCIT Legacy Fund to help match outputs from education and training courses with the needs of the ICT industry and other industries that require IT-skilled workers.

EDS Rotary IT Careers Forum: Since 1998, some 500 students have benefited from the EDS Rotary IT Careers Forum. The program is aimed at Year 11 state and private school students from both country and metropolitan areas. Funded by the State Government and EDS, the five-day residential forum gives exceptional students an insight into ICT as a career path.

Carnegie Technology Scholarships: In an Australian first, the Premier’s Carnegie Technology Scholarships fund up to 100 students over a three-year period to undertake training in software engineering and computer programming that makes them “work-ready” on an international basis. This dual accreditation course is a joint venture between Adelaide Institute of TAFE and iCarnegie, an educational affiliate of Carnegie Mellon University.

School of the Air: Since April 2003, when HF radio broadcasts of lessons ceased, all 85 children enrolled with the School of the Air have received more than 1200 lessons using Centra Symposium virtual classroom software via the Internet, 94 per cent of these via broadband satellite. The project has been recognised internationally as world’s best practice, winning Silver in the 2003 Brandon-Hall Excellence in E-Learning Awards.

(3) Infrastructure

Broadband: The State Broadband Development strategy complements and leverages the National Broadband Strategy to ensure that all South Australian business, research, government and community groups will benefit from high-speed broadband services. The strategy encompasses a development fund, demand aggregation and mapping to determine supply and demand.

The $7 million SA Broadband Development Fund is designed to boost economic growth and development in metropolitan and regional South Australia where broadband service isn’t currently available. Clusters of businesses, industry, community groups and/or councils can apply to the fund, which is available over four years.

South Australian Broadband Research and Education Network, (SABRENet): Construction has begun on the SABRENet, an 80km long, high-speed fibre-optic network that will link every university, most hospitals and every research institution across greater Adelaide, from Technology Park in the north to Flinders University in the south.

This $9.2 million collaborative funding effort, put together by the Australian and state Governments, universities, CSIRO and DSTO, is expected to lead to more innovation, more patent applications, more startups and more venture capital for the state.

SABRENet makes South Australia one of the first projects nationally to use funds from the Australian Government’s Australian Research and Education Network (AREN) pool.

(NB: SABRENet illustration to be inserted here, if possible.)

High-Performance Computing (HPC): A consortium of universities - known as the South Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing (SAPAC) - has invested in Hydra, a 129-node Linux supercomputing cluster. A further $3 million in grants have been awarded to the SACITT to develop high-performance computing projects that will take advantage of SABRENet. These facilities will hugely advance and integrate South Australia’s health and life sciences capability in bioinformatics research and services.

Coorong Project: A $1.3 million Networking the Nation initiative, the Coorong Project resulted in one of the first publicly available non-Telstra communication networks in regional Australia and the nation’s first non-Telstra ADSL telephone exchange.

m.Net Corporation: One of three projects funded under the Australian Government’s Advanced Networks Program (ANP), the m.Net consortium has made Adelaide a focus for the emerging Australian mobile broadband industry. m.Net’s 3G network, combined with an extensive WLAN and SMS gateway, remains the only facility that allows Australian developers to test their applications across a variety of mobile infrastructures, from text messaging applications to rich multimedia content for mobile phones.

Gallery 4: m.Net Corporation’s Gallery 4 supports the development and commercialisation of “next generation” wireless applications by providing application developers with services such as user behaviour research and linkages with potential customers.

Citilan: The Citilan network makes wireless Internet access available throughout the Adelaide CBD and North Adelaide, creating an easy-access, low-cost “urban hot zone” covering entire city streets. The network is the result of an innovative collaboration between Adelaide City Council, service providers Internode/Agile and AirNet, Cisco, the South Australian Government and mobile broadband consortium m.Net Corporation.

Cine.Net: Cine.Net Systems has been backed by a $500,000 state Government grant to create a dedicated high-speed broadband network for use by film and post-production companies. Developed and managed by Rising Sun Pictures and Agile Communications, Cine.Net will lead to new jobs and exports for SA’s creative industries by breaking through a barrier to growth.

(4) Social equity

The SA Government is working to address issues of inequity and encourage the uptake of e-business to increase innovation and economic health. The State Broadband initiative and measures to bridge the digital divide in the community will be areas of high priority.

NetWorks For You: People from every walk of life in regional and rural South Australia had extraordinary experiences as a direct benefit from the NetWorks for You program. More than 80,000 people from regional and rural South Australia participated at 790 venues across the state. At the simplest level, these mostly novice Internet users gained benefits such as increased confidence and easy access to information, and an insight into ways in which the online world could enhance their daily lives.

Wangka Wilurrara: A project developed by the indigenous communities of Eyre Peninsula, funded by a State Government grant of $40,000, is set for launch in June 2004. The project will provide public Internet access, an online presence and extensive training for the remote and rural communities of the Wangka Wilurrara region.

accessABLE: Developed in conjunction with Regency Park Rehabilitation Engineering, which supplies technologies to assist people with disabilities, the accessABLE project aims to make the Internet accessible for people in regional areas who have difficulty using standard computers. CommunIT: CommunIT is a project of Community Information Strategies Australia (CISA), a national leader in the delivery of socially valuable information. CommunIT provides a Web portal to make it easier and cheaper for the community sector to benefit from the information economy. CISA recently hosted CommunIT’s Connecting Up, the first national ICT conference showcasing the achievements of the not-for-profit sector. The conference tapped into demand for affordable ways to participate in the information economy, attracting hundreds of delegates and major corporate and government sponsorship. E-Business Program: The e-business activities of several agencies will be consolidated to help small and medium businesses improve their business practices through the use of technology. The aim of the E-Business Program is to aggregate all the state’s e-business initiatives under one umbrella and to work with small business clusters such as industry associations to leverage the best results.

ICT underpins a vast range of innovative industries and activities in South Australia. Our achievements against the State Strategic Plan and the 10 year Vision for Science, Technology and Innovation will be greatly assisted by our diverse capabilities and excellence in the field of information and communications technologies.

*KPMG CEO’s Guide to International Business Costs 2004)

By Hon Trish White MP, Minister for Science and Information Economy

Minister White holds degrees in Engineering and Arts. She spent nine years as an electronics engineer, most recently with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), where she specialised in communications networks. This background provides her with an ideal grounding for her Science and Information Economy portfolio.