New CEO for EIA

The Electronics Industry Association (EIA) has appointed Steve Adcock as its new CEO.

He is an economics graduate from Adelaide University and former Associate Fellow of both the Institute of Management and the Australian Marketing Institute. He has 30 years' professional experience in electronics and ICT systems, sales, marketing and management.

One of his key responsibilities will be working towards the successful completion of the Ten Year Strategic Plan for the electronics industry. The main aim of the plan is to facilitate achievement of the electronics industry being the leading export industry for South Australia by 2015. To achieve this goal the electronics industry must achieve $12 billion in revenue and $7 billion in exports by 2015.

With more than 400 electronics companies, there is one company for each square kilometre of Adelaide. The industry, employing more than 13,500 people, also feeds into the defence and mining industries.

For example, electronics represents up to 80% of the production cost of a modern warship or submarine.

The EIA aims to facilitate the industry lifting job numbers from 13,500 to 15,000 by 2015, revenues from $4.2 billion and exports from more than $1.3 billion a year to $7 billion. Including jobs in the defence sector, the industry's employment numbers compare with the finance and insurance industry and outweigh those even in mining ventures.