Call for more action for innovation and research

In the wake of the Federal Government's new Innovation Action Plan, leading industry groups have called for more to be done to raise the profile of R&D and innovation in Australia.

While industry groups praised the plan for providing an enhanced platform for science and the development of knowledge-based industries in Australia, the Australian Industry Group said it was concerned some of the measures fell short of the incentive required to achieve a necessary dramatic turnaround in the level of business investment in R&D.

Australian Business Limited said the plan was a step in the right direction but that more had to be done to ensure that SMEs were able to rise to the national challenge of competing on the basis of cleverness and know-how.

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) meanwhile said the plan failed to address many major issues facing Australian businesses. While welcoming the broad thrust of the plan, the BCA said more had to be done to market Australian business capabilities and step up ebusiness performance, one element of which was for business to more frequently benchmark its progress against peers.

One new initative designed to do exactly that is the inaugural 2001 Deloitte Consulting Australian IndustryAwards, a new benchmark recognising excellence and innovation in the Australian manufacturing industry.

A national competition, the IndustryAwards give companies the opportunity to benchmark their achievements against the best the country's manufacturing sector has to offer in a range of categories including Manufacturing Company of the Year, Product of the Year and Exporter of the Year, as well as awards promoting the future of industry in Australia such as Apprentice of the Year and New Manufacturing Company of the Year.

IndustryAwards Project Manager Ron Erdos said it was vital the importance of R&D in Australia was highlighted, and that the awards provided an opportunity for manufacturers to do just that.

Every entrant will receive feedback from the judges "“ all industry experts in their own fields "“ to assist in the benchmarking process.

The 2001 Australian IndustryAwards are now open. Nominations are $176 (inc GST). Entries close on Friday, March 30th, and the results will be announced on May 1st, 2001 at a presentation evening and networking forum in Sydney as well as on the official awards site, Industry Search

For further details, visit the site or contact Ron Erdos, Project Manager on 02 9326 3225.

Item provided courtesy of Industry Search