Opportunities for Australian Photonics Industry

There is an opportunity for Australia to build a strong, wealth-creating photonics industry, but only if start-up photonics companies focus on the requirements of their customers, shareholders and staff, according to Mr Kevin Kalkhoven, recently retired chief executive of JDS Uniphase.

Delivering the opening address at a seminar of the Photonics Industry Forum co-organised by the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (AEEMA) in Canberra yesterday, Mr Kalkhoven warned that if the needs of customers, shareholders, or staff were ignored, the company, or even the industry, would be doomed. "Forget one of these three constituencies at your peril," he said.

Mr Kalkhoven described impediments that would prevent the fledgling industry from realising its true potential. Although Australia has a strong research-focused academic base, it now needed to develop a number of successful commercial enterprises over the next few years, he said. This would enable spin-offs and create a geographic nucleus of activity, which would in turn encourage investment by venture capitalists, and ultimately grow the industry.

But there was a danger that current photonics activities in Australia are too focused on research and not focused enough on 'productisation'. "Customers don't buy technology. They buy solutions in the shape of products," said Mr Kalkhoven. "And good technology, which is serviced well and delivered well, will always win over innovative products with slow delivery times and high prices."

Mr Kalkhoven observed that discussion about photonics in Australia seemed to centre around smart technology, research grants and venture capital instead of products, profits and cash flow, or deliverables.

Mr Kalkhoven likened the development of the photonics industry to that of the electronics industry. "The photonics industry now is somewhere between the development of the valve and the transistor," he said. "We've a long way to go to reach the photonics equivalent of the level of microprocessor integration. The photonics products of the future will be based on new material sciences and integration. One of the problems with the photonics industry is that 17 different material sciences exist, compared to just one in the electronics industry," he added.

He also said that manufacturing automation would play a key role in the growth of the photonics industry, and that this represented a "real opportunity" for Australia.

Mr Angus M Robinson, seminar chair and Executive Director, AEEMA, said that the challenge for Australia was the development of a strong vertically integrated industry, with maximum cumulative 'value-add' retained in Australia. "Photonics needs to be seen as the key enabling technology of the ICT industries," he added.

For further information contact Mr Angus M Robinson on (02) 6247 4655, 0418 488 340 or e-mail

Item provided courtesy of AEEMA