Give us a vision to back, urge tech innovators and investors

Jessica SierJournalist

Mar 8, 2022 – 6.37pm

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Tech companies and investors want clear national innovation priorities to help them commercialise Australian science, and direct money and people towards the big problems the country faces in the future.

At a time when the federal government grapples with the decarbonisation of the economy and venture capital funds race to pick the next multibillion-dollar start-up, a panel at The Australian Financial Review Business Summit said clarity on the national agenda would drive powerful innovation.

Moderator Paul Smith with Melanie Silva, managing director at Google, Larry Marshall, CEO at CSIRO, and Niki Scevak, co-founder and partner at Blackbird Ventures discuss innovation. Louie Douvis

“I don’t understand the idea that the government doesn’t pick winners. Does that mean we just pick losers?” Larry Marshall, chief executive officer of CSIRO, said.

“The heart of entrepreneurship is, you pick something you think’s going to win in the future, that you create, and you don’t back everything else.”

Earlier at the conference, Prime Minister Scott Morrison had referenced the supply chain crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the economy needed to move from a “just in time” supply chain, to a “just in case” supply chain.

This, Mr Marshall argued, showed much-needed progress towards targeting industries like artificial intelligence, precision agriculture and precision mining, which in turn signals to investors and businesses where to spend resources.

“We don’t need to pick specific projects, but it’s showing in which swim lanes Australia can win,” Mr Marshall said.

Melanie Silva, managing director of Google Australia & New Zealand, said artificial intelligence represented a major opportunity for business, revealing Google had signed on as founding partner for the National Artificial Intelligence Centre.

The newly formed National Artificial Intelligence Centre aims to install AI-trained people across industries, giving the widest variety of organisations ways to understand how AI can help or disrupt their business.

“Everyone’s investing, but we’ve got to ask who in your organisation is setting the agenda and how can you unlock it in your organisation?” Ms Silva said.

Mr Marshall acknowledged the progress the government had made with its $2 billion scheme to fund commercialisation of research in Australian universities, and the modern manufacturing strategy, saying these investments will target the industries where Australia has a unique unfair advantage globally.

Niki Scevak, founding partner at Blackbird Ventures, said space was an emerging sector that benefited from a green light from government, in a way that consumer software might now.

“Seven years ago, we couldn’t really invest in a space company,” Mr Scevak said, adding the Prime Minister needed to give permission for rocket launches because experimentation and trials were prohibited.

But the understanding that satellites and space technology play a powerful role in national security, as well as offering a commercial opportunity, has taken hold among policymakers.

Last month the federal government tipped $65 million into South Australia’s space hub.

“We’ve gone from a place where it was illegal to launch a rocket in Australia to setting up a national vision that says, ‘we can do this and we will support entrepreneurs in this area’,” Mr Scevak said.

Skills remain the toughest obstacle for fast-growing start-ups, exacerbated by COVID-19 border restrictions and fast-growing tech companies hungry for talent.

“It’s a great time in history to attract the best people to move here, create jobs, and pay the high tax rates,” Mr Scevak said.

Mr Marshall said the transference of innovation from research hubs to the market remained Australia’s largest challenge.

“I’m not worried about the technology, but I’m worried about the commercialisation of science here,” he said.

Jessica Sier is the North Asia Correspondent for The Australian Financial Review. She is based in Tokyo, Japan. Jessica has previously written on technology, global capital markets and economics. Connect with Jessica on Twitter. Email Jessica at jessica.sier@afr.com