ACT,
Ideal Ground
for
Fostering Knowledge
Communities
Canberra
is a city purpose-built
as Australia's
national capital
and is the country's
most knowledge
intensive city,
according to
Jon Stanhope,
Chief Minister
of the Australian
Capital Territory
(ACT). Promoting
Canberra as
Australia's
most attractive
IT investment
destination
at the National
Association
of Software
and Service
Companies 2007
Leadership Forum,
held in Mumbai
recently, Stanhope
said that on
practically
every knowledge
economy measure
that one can
think of, the
ACT topped the
ratings nationally
and internationally.
Following is
the text of
Stanhope's speech
on the theme,
Fostering the
Growing Knowledge
Communities.
The perspective
that I will
share with you
today, as the
Chief Minister
of a city-state
of 330,000 people
is, I am guessing,
quite different
from the experience
and background
that many of
you bring to
this Forum.
You
may know a lot,
or a little,
about Australia.
You may have
heard of our
vast 'outback'.
When you think
of Australia
you may think
of mining, or
agriculture.
Or cricket.
And while these
images are still
relevant in
the 21st century,
they represent
just a part
of what Australia
is all about
- and what Canberra
is all about.
Canberra is
a city purpose-built
as a national
capital, a city
that is not
yet a century
old. It's officially
Australia's
most knowledge
intensive city.
On practically
every knowledge
economy measure
you can think
of, we top the
ratings nationally
and are towards
the top of international
ratings.
• ICT
professionals
per 1,000 in
the workforce
9 STE skills
(Science, Technology
and Engineering)
per 1,000 in
the workforce
• Patents
lodged per capita
• Gross
R&D expenditure
as a percent
of GDP
• Households
with computers
and access to
high speed internet
connections
• Rates
of small and
micro business
formation
• Bachelor's
degrees per
capita, higher
education qualifications
per capita
• School
retention and
completion rates
• Measures
of literacy,
numeracy
• And
so on …
Indeed, when
the term 'knowledge
worker' was
coined in the
late 1960s,
most of Canberra's
workforce already
fitted the definition.
That gives Canberrans
a particular
view on the
topic of knowledge
communities
and particular
experiences
in relation
to how such
communities
are built and
how they are
sustained.
Any student
of history will
know that knowledge-based
communities
have been with
us for a long
time - long
before microchips
and fibre optics.
Human activity
has always been
knowledge-based.
Human progress
has always depended
on the sharing
of knowledge
and the generation
of new knowledge.
Books, mass
media and the
spread of schooling
and higher education
have gradually
created what
amounts to the
world's greatest
natural resource
- shared knowledge
and understanding.
What we are
witnessing now,
in the 21st
century, is
an acceleration
in the dispersion
of knowledge,
thanks to technology.
We are creating
more information,
and its transmission
is becoming
vastly more
efficient. But
information
is just a commodity.
The measure
of any knowledge
community is
not how deep
its pool of
knowledge is,
but how it drinks
from that pool
- how it dissects,
reflects, organises
and shares this
knowledge. How
it uses knowledge.
Fostering
Education
It is no coincidence
that the communities
we regard as
the leading
knowledge economies
are also those
that place great
store on fostering
education at
all levels,
that exhibit
an understanding
of the value
of research,
and that support
and foster innovation
and entrepreneurialism,
through information
sharing. These
are the fundamentals
of any knowledge
economy.
Concept
of Innovation
It is the concept
of innovation
I would like
to focus upon
a little more.
By innovation
I don't mean
'technology',
or commercialisation'.
Innovation is
simply the process
of applying
new ideas to
products or
business processes.
We say innovation
has occurred
if a change
we make gives
rise to something
new, or something
with greater
value.
Innovation doesn't
necessarily
require science
or engineering
or ICT for that
matter - but
it nearly always
requires creativity
in some form.
Innovation might
be a technical
change to a
product, but
it can also
be managerial
or organisational,
or a change
to marketing,
packaging or
distribution.
And what we
do know is that
firms and institutions
that are ‘innovative',
are superior
economic performers
and economy
builders. We
also know that
innovation never
occurs in isolation.
Innovation is
the product
of a system.
It is the result
of interplay
and the flow
of information
and knowledge.
The players
in the innovation
system are the
firms, the institutions
and people.
People with
skills, and
diverse skills
sets. But firms
are the ones
that give economic
expression to
innovation.
Innovative firms
are strongly
influenced by
their interaction
with institutions
and other 'actors'
in the system.
The innovation
system within
which a firm
operates determines
its possible
'innovative'
responses. All
innovation systems
are different
and reflect
the infrastructure,
the history
and the culture
of the area
they occupy.
Canberra has
a different
innovation system
to Sydney. Mumbai
has a different
innovation system
to Bangalore.
By virtue of
being Australia's
National Capital,
Canberra has
built up an
incredible,
and quite distinct,
innovation system.
While some of
this has been
organic, some
of it is located
in Canberra
by design. We
are home to
Australia's
leading university
- the Australian
National University
- which ranks
in the top 20
universities
worldwide.
The Commonwealth
Scientific Industrial
Research Organisation
- or CSIRO as
it is best known
- is headquartered
in Canberra.
CSIRO delivers
around $1 billion
in research
support each
year to Australian
industry and
is one of the
most capable
and influential
research organisations
in the world.
Canberra has
more people
in the workforce
with tertiary
qualifications,
and higher qualifications
(such as PhDs)
than any other
place in Australia.
We also have
proportionately
more people
working in the
'creative industries'
than any other
place in Australia.
12% of Australia's
total public
research effort
is applied in
Canberra. We
have about 1%
of Australia's
population.
We are home
to Australia's
National ICT
Centre of Excellence,
an organisation
that will spend
around $500
million over
the next five
years on pure
ICT research.
We are the centre
of Australia's
biotechnology
research industry.
Over a third
of Australia's
space sciences
capability is
located in Canberra.
All of Australia's
defence technology
organisations
are headquartered
in Canberra
and the Department
of Defence administers
its $17 billion
annual budget
from Canberra,
about 20% of
which is spent
directly in
Canberra.
On top of this
we are home
to many of Australia's
national institutions
and information
repositories.
Taken together,
there is a mass
of expertise
and concentration
of brainpower
in Canberra
unmatched in
Australia, and
perhaps the
Southern Hemisphere.
With this infrastructure
behind us, the
obvious question
is 'what more
needs to be
done'. There
is plenty.
We can make
better connections
with the emerging
global supply
chains that
are increasingly
being driven
by India and
China. That
is why we have
brought a small
business delegation
to India. That
is why we will
be travelling
to China later
this year.
We can ensure
that the players
in our innovation
system truly
see themselves
as being part
of a system,
and network,
share and collaborate.
The divide between
academia and
business is
being rapidly
closed. Entrepreneurs
and researchers
are being brought
together to
jointly solve
problems. And
that is how
it should be.
Building problem-solving
capability in
firms is probably
one of the more
interesting
challenges for
both businesses
and government.
What
makes one firm
more receptive
than another
to new ways
of doing things?
What is special
about the applied
learning environment
of some firms?
How can we support
and better influence
that environment
across firms
and industries?
Australian
industry relies
to a great extent
on external
knowledge bases
and there is
no better example
of that than
in Canberra
- the greatest
knowledge bank
in the country.
Knowledge is
maintained,
housed and added
to our universities,
the Australian
Government's
Cooperative
Research Centres,
research institutes
and government
laboratories.
These organisations
constitute a
fantastic knowledge
repository.
But the flow
of that knowledge
outwards into
the business
sector can be
disjointed and
accidental.
How do we make
this flow of
knowledge work
better for both
sides?
In Canberra
- indeed, in
Australia generally
- businesses
are generally
small. We are
not a nation
of vast multinationals.
While small
to medium enterprises
are rightly
credited with
being the breeding
ground of innovation,
their size means
they have to
work hard to
be noticed or
to become part
of supply chains
and connections
of global relevance.
In Canberra,
we are conscious
that businesses
need to look
at innovation
more strategically.
Innovation is
sometimes accidental,
but sustainable
firms, the ones
that will still
be here tomorrow,
and next year,
and next decade,
are the ones
that take a
strategic and
systematic approach
to innovation.
The successful
ones are those
that seek innovation
and organise
for it, that
take care to
manage and motivate
their staff,
that create
the micro-climates
that give rise
to new ways
of thinking,
seeing and doing.
Canberra's human
capital base
is already without
equal, as I
have mentioned.
Keeping it in
that condition
means that for
ACT education
must always
be an absolute
priority at
all levels,
and it must
be a lifelong
process. Adult
education is
not a luxury.
It is vital.
And it takes
many forms,
not all of them
based in a classroom
or a lecture
hall.
Avenues
for Life-long
Learning
The challenge
is to provide
multiple avenues
for lifelong
learning - formal
opportunities
as well as opportunities
for applied
and contextual
learning - learning
by doing, in
a business environment
that values
innovation and
the contribution
of all staff.
Lifelong learning
is of particular
importance in
an ageing population
like Canberra's.
India, with
its young population,
may not be able
to easily imagine
a workforce
where the pool
of new workers
diminishes each
year. That is
the Australian
experience.
And it is the
Canberra experience.
While our population
is the most
youthful of
any Australian
capital city,
it is almost
the most rapidly
ageing. Within
the next 30
years, a third
of Canberrans
will be aged
over 60. That
means rethinking
not just our
traditional
ideas about
career paths
and retirement,
but the better
uses we might
make of the
vast, underutilised
repository of
knowledge and
experience at
our disposal.
Ladies and gentleman,
the challenges
we each face
in fostering
innovation will
be slightly
different, depending
on the cultures
and traditions
that have shaped
our economies.
But I am sure
there is plenty
we can learn
from each other,
and plenty we
can bring to
new kinds of
partnerships,
designed for
a new kind of
world.
So, in closing
these remarks,
try not to see
ICT as a standalone
input to knowledge
communities.
See it in the
context of the
firm. Firms
and the people
that lead them
- entrepreneurs
- are the true
knowledge community
builders.
