A 10-year Marshall Government science and innovation strategy designed to attract research investment and take South Australian products and services to the world has been launched at Adelaide Botanic High School.
Minister for Innovation and Skills David Pisoni said the EXCITE Strategy leverages Excellence, Collaboration, Innovation, Translation and an Enabled future workforce to put South Australia on the global map as the nation’s State of Science.
“We know that research and innovation are key drivers of economic and social transformation,” Minister Pisoni said.
“Historically, industry-research collaborations and new technologies have been critical to creating and sustaining successful economies and communities – something that is necessarily front of mind around the world in the wake of COVID-19.
“The EXCITE Strategy includes clear goals to place South Australia in the top quartile of OECD nations in improving economic growth, employment and productivity as well as delivering better health and climate outcomes.
“It will also transform Adelaide into a vibrant Magnet City, attracting young wealth creators and global innovators committed to building a healthy economy, environment and community.
“This year has certainly thrown many challenges at us, but there’s one thing that’s abundantly clear – the role of science and innovation has never been more important.
“To harness the state’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine research and innovation value chain, the Marshall Liberal Government has made an initial investment of $8 million from the Economic and Business Growth Fund to implement two initiatives as part of the EXCITE Strategy.
“This includes $7 million over four years for an Innovation and Translation Intermediaries Program to create stronger links between industry and research within our Innovation Districts, and $1 million for a South Australian Innovation Challenge to showcase the state’s innovation capabilities world-wide and provide early market advantage for our local industries into global markets.
“The EXCITE Strategy will be an important element of our economy recovery, contributing to the important work of the State Government’s Growth State initiative that includes showcasing South Australia’s innovations to the world.”
Chief Scientist for South Australia Professor Caroline McMillen said the EXCITE Strategy will harness a high-performing research and innovation value chain to connect game-changing ideas, new technology and intellectual property with small and large businesses across priority industry sectors.
“We will bring together leaders from across industry, government and education to ensure our brightest South Australians – no matter their background or location – can access pathways to successful careers,” Professor McMillen said.
“We will attract innovators with proven track records in delivering value to industries and communities, and we will ensure access to the major infrastructure, facilities and frontier technologies required to deliver new products, services and processes.
“And we will power up our innovation and translation districts to broker new partnerships and establish knowledge transfer networks, set up technology capability hubs and develop the future workforce in priority industry sectors.”
EXCITE also forms an integral component of the $649 million Adelaide City Deal between the Commonwealth, South Australian Government and City of Adelaide to grow Adelaide as an innovative and vibrant city.
The EXCITE Strategy can be found at: innovationandskills.sa.gov.au/science/excite-strategy
