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This newsletter provides current news and events on the programs and activities the Business and Industry Development Branch of the Chief Minister’s Department delivers to the ACT business community.

BUSINESS IN FOCUS MONTH (SEPTEMBER 2009)

Business In Focus Month (BIFM) is a month-long program of business events that will be delivered for the first time in September 2009. Held over 30 days, a wide range of high quality business events will provide learning and business opportunities and showcase the diversity of the ACT's private sector. The events will also offer a valuable opportunity for business to network and strengthen their business relationships.

The program of events is filling up, with around 40 organisations now committed to the BIFM concept. To ensure you are part of this exciting new concept, please register your event as soon as possible.

Event registration forms and more information on Business In Focus Month are available by visiting: Business In Focus Month   For further assistance or to discuss an event idea contact:

• Maryanne Honeyman
  Business and Industry Development Branch
  Chief Minister’s Department
  Phone: (02) 6205 8602
  Email: maryanne.honeyman@act.gov.au

NEW REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR THE ACT

First steps have been completed for the establishment of a new regional development arrangement for the ACT and region, supported by the Federal and ACT Governments.

The ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope and Commonwealth Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Northern Australia, Gary Gray, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) last month to launch Regional Development Australia (RDA) ACT. A transitional committee has also been established.

The RDA committees will provide advice to both Federal and State and Territory Governments about regional issues and provide information on government initiatives. They will also help to promote regional development by establishing links and cooperative alliances, and will work closely with other regional development organisations, neighbouring RDA committees and local governments.

Mr Gray and Mr Stanhope thanked outgoing members of the ACT's Capital Region Area Consultative Committee and the Capital Regional Development Board for their contribution to the region.

For further information visit: http://www.chiefminister.act.gov.au/media.php?v=8048 

CLEAN TECH BUSINESS MEETINGS

A series of one to one meetings have been held between the Business and Industry Development Branch and key companies in the ACT clean technology industry to identify the investment and export potential of local businesses as part of the Cleantech Industry Study commissioned by Austrade.

The meetings also provided an opportunity to promote the various business support programs offered by the Business and Industry Development Branch, such as InnovationConnect, TradeConnect and the Clean Technology for the Future Seminar held on 29 May 2009. Interest was shown in the ACT solar farm project and the feed-in-tariff scheme.

Meetings with other ACT based clean technology companies will continue over the coming weeks with the final report due to be delivered to Austrade on 19 June 2009.

CANBERRA SME'S WIN NATIONAL ICT INNOVATION AWARDS

The iAwards celebrate Australian innovators in the ICT sector, recognising the entrepreneurial achievements of the Australian ICT industry and its influence across many industries and markets. Admin Bandit and HealthCube, two Canberra based businesses were national category winners at the 2009 Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) iAwards.

Admin Bandit was recognised as the winner of the e-Inclusions and e-Community cateogory. They have recently been the recipient of funding through the ACT Government's InnovationConnect grant program. The funding enabled Admin Bandit to further develop their accounting package which was designed after a need was identified to meet the specific needs of volunteer treasurers in Australia's non-profit and community sector. For further information about the Admin Bandit software package visit: www.adminbandit.com.au 

HealthCube was recognised as the winner of the e-Health cateogry. The HealthCube's innovative solution for efficiently compiling the comprehensive medical assessments of aged care residents and has the capacity to produce real improvements to the quality of care for the 170,000 Australians currently living in aged care facilities. HealthCube is a Canberra based start-up business that has already demonstrated the worth of its new service. For further information visit: www.healthcube.com.au 

Both companies will now move on to represent Australia in the Asia-Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) in Melbourne later in the year.

BUSINESS GRANT COMBATS FRAUD

Leading Canberra-based voice biometrics developer Auraya Solutions Pty Ltd successfully completed its InnovationConnect (ICon) funding support program for the development of a voice authentication black-list application.

The ICon program provided Auraya with $50,000 in Government funding, matched with a minimum $50,000 by Auraya, for the development of black-list voice authentication technology. The technology provides real time detection of suspicious and known fraudsters in call centres, telephone services and other voice data. 

For further information visit: www.auraya.net/ 

ICON GRANT RECIPIENTS WIN INNOVATION AWARDS

ICon Grant recipient, Cubbyhole Pty Ltd, Canberra has won the Australian finals of The Technium Challenge for its Perkler software product.

The invention, for which it received Proof of Technology funding, revolutionises the rewards program market by allowing consumers to manage all of their loyalty programs in one online space. The Technium Challenge is a world-wide competition sponsored by the Welsh Government.

Canberra co-founders Dan Bisa and Justin Barrie now have the prestigious opportunity of representing Canberra and Australia at the global final in June. In addition, Cubbyhole Pty Ltd also received national recognition recently when it was ranked 55th out of 100 in Australia’s SMART 100 index, billed as Australia’s largest and most democratic awards for innovative products.

For further information visit: www.cubbyhole.com.au/

ACT EDUCATION EXPORTS HEALTHY

The ACT received a $243 million share of the $15.5 billion Australian education export market in 2008, according to figures given at an Education Export Community seminar held in Canberra last month by Australian Education International (AEI), a branch of the Federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

Despite the global economic situation the ACT also saw:

• a 24% growth in higher education (a bit above the national average);
• over 50% growth in Vocational Education and Training (the Australian average was 30%) and 83% growth in ELICOS (intensive English language tuition—the national average was 9%); and
• the schools sector down 15%—but there was a decline in this sector nationally.

The Business and Industry Development Branch is working closely with the education export sector and progressing the development of a strategy through the funding provided to the Canberra Business Council for the Exporters' Network. AEI has expressed an interest in supporting this activity through its market research and branding activities.

FEDERAL BUDGET INITIATIVES MEETING

A meeting was held last month between State and Territory officials for Commonwealth briefings on the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), the Education Investment Fund (EIF) and the Super Science initiative.

These federal budget initiatives will provide $3.1 billion for public and private sector research and development over the next four years.

The Australian Government's innovation agenda will be overseen by a new National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Committee to be chaired by John Ryan, a former Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR). Further consultations will be held over the next two months.

DEFENCE INDUSTRY BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY BRIEFINGS

Significant business opportunities will follow the major investment in Australian Defence through procurement flowing from the Defence White Paper.

Briefings are now being held with senior Defence officials, Defence Industry leaders from both Prime Contractors and SMEs, and independent Defence experts to learn more about the opportunities for businesses. The Canberra briefing will be held on Friday, 19 June, 9.30 am–12.30 pm at Ai Group Office, Level 2, WalterTurnbull Building, 44 Sydney Avenue, Forrest. Bookings and fees apply.

For further information visit: http://pdf.aigroup.asn.au/sector/defence/7674_DefenceCouncil_white_paper_all%20venues.pdf

Meanwhile the Business and Industry Development Branch is in discussion with Defence regarding a separate business no fee event to identify increased export opportunities. The Defence Export Unit (DEU) that sits within the Defence Materiel Organisation is in the process of actively re-engaging with state and territory business development agencies in order to increase opportunities for businesses operating in the ‘defence’ sector to export to overseas markets.

PYKSIS

The Business and Industry Development Branch gave a presentation on ACT Government business development services to participants of the Pyksis ACT Regional Technology Commercialisation Program held on 30 April 2009.

Information was provided on the InnovationConnect and TradeConnect funding programs and the free mentoring and advisory services offered through Canberra BusinessPoint.

The Pyksis program was the last of a series of AusIndustry funded programs to assist innovative companies to commercialise and take their products to national and international markets.

IPv6 ACT WORKSHOP

The Chief Minister’s Department and InTACT hosted an Internet Address Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) Workshop on 26 April 2009.

Organisations represented included Thales e-security, the ANU, AARNet, CSIRO, TransACT, AGIMO, IPv6NOW and the ACS. The workshop was convened to discuss the uptake of IPv6 and how the ACT can maximise the benefits that IPv6 offers.

Major outcomes focused on green initiatives, the potential for local industry test beds, education and raising awareness and the need for a whole of ACT Government transition policy. Full briefing on the workshop will be provided.

OPENING OF RADPHARM SCIENTIFIC FACILITY

The ‘Grand Facility Opening’ of local niche manufacturing company, Radpharm Scientific took place on 29 April 2009.

Radpharm is a Division of Global Medical Solutions (GMS) Australia Pty Ltd. It manufactures and supplies radiopharmaceutical ‘cold kits’ for nuclear medicine and medical imaging and develops new products for domestic and international requirements.

Radpharm rebuilt its new facilities in Belconnen over a three month period in 2008 with $1.2 million funding through the Commonwealth's NCRIS (National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy) program and a further $1.4 million from GMS. This investment has enabled improved and enlarged structural changes and funded new state-of-the-art processing equipment. It has also increased employment (currently about 25 employees).

For further information visit: www.radpharm.com.au

INNOVATIONCONNECT (ICon)

Three ACT companies have been awarded ICon grants in May 2009. They are:

• GPT Designs, a Canberra-based high-tech manufacturer of audio equipment for the hearing impaired—awarded $40,000 towards development of a large drive induction loop amplifier (to assist the hearing impaired) for use in large venues such as stadiums and concert halls.
• Ingenate Pty Ltd, a start-up company dealing with water recycling technologies—awarded $25,000 to conduct a project which aims to prove the development of technology capable of treating the water component of grease trap waste, using a combination of algae and bacteria in a bioreactor. The objective is to produce water capable of supporting the large scale production of vermiculture for fertiliser use.
• Q-Motive Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Qirx (a previous recipient of both ACT and Commonwealth Government support)—awarded $15,000 towards development of a prototype rally car seat using Canberra-based ELACO Technology's (also a previous recipient of ACT Government support) composite material that offers increased safety, light weight and high impact resistance.

STUDENTCONNECT STUDENT WORKSHOPS

Twenty one final year, international students recently completed the student workshops as part of their StudentConnect program, an initiative of the Business and Industry Development Branch.

The workshops held over two weekends in May, aimed to increase the students’ self-awareness, job searching and application skills and their knowledge of performance requirements in the Australian workplace, so that they can maximise their opportunity to gain a position that matches their skills, qualifications and interests and enable them to enjoy their professional worklife.

The 21 students included nine ANU students and six students from both the University of Canberra and CIT. These students were chosen from 55 students who applied for the program.

Certificates certifying that the students had completed the workshops were presented by Dita Hunt, a Senior Manager from the Business and Industry Development Branch on Sunday 31 May, the last day of the workshops.

2009 CANBERRA BUSINESSPOINT AWARDS

Entries have closed and judging has commenced for the 2009 Canberra BusinessPoint Awards.

The judging panel comprises representatives from the Business and Industry Development Branch, IP Australia, Canberra BusinessPoint and Deloitte Growth Solutions.

Fifty-nine entries have been received across six categories: Innovation & Commercialisation; Sales Growth; Employee Growth; Business Plan; Emerging Entrepreneur; and Enterprise of the Year. The final decisions on category winners will be made this week with winners announced at the 2009 Canberra BusinessPoint Awards at 7 pm on Friday 12 June 2009, at the AIS Arena.

The evening will feature the keynote speech on the evening’s theme of ‘Play to Win’ by Robert de Castella and an elite athlete will be at each table.

Tickets are still available from http://www.canberrabusinesspoint.com.au

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH CENTRE ASSOCIATION (CRCA) CONFERENCE 2009

The Business and Industry Development Branch provided support, as International Collaboration Expo Sponsor to the 2009 CRCA Conference held at the National Convention Centre from 26 to 28 May 2009.

The CRC program is an iconic program in the Australian innovation system.

Assistance available to our local emerging innovators was highlighted at the expo’s Trade Show.

2009 AUSTRALASIAN LEADERSHIP IDEAS FESTIVAL

The 2009 Australasian Leadership Ideas Festival is being held on the 1^st and 2^nd of September between 5 pm and 8.30 pm each night. A stimulating event, it is designed to be innovative, exciting and focused on unique perspectives of leadership.

The festival will appeal to public, private and community sector participants and will feature some great speakers including:

• Richard Hames—world renowned leadership guru and a great provocateur of alternative leadership views.
• Chris Bosse—a world leading architect and architect of the Olympic Swimming Complex (the Cube) for the Beijing Olympics and the Schumacher Tower in Dubai.
• Carrie Graff—Head Coach of the Canberra Capitals Basketball Team and incoming Head Coach of the Australian Opals Women’s Basketball Team.
• Chris Richardson—Executive Director of Access Economics, Australia’s foremost economic think-tank.
• Dr Peter Stanley—Director, Historical Research, National Museum of Australia.

Cost: $450 covering two exciting and stimulating evenings (or $250 per night).

For more information or to make a booking contact—

Harry Telfer
Phone: (02) 6273 0168
Email: harry.telfer@yellowedge.com.au 

 

FURTHER INFORMATION ON MATTERS IN THIS NEWSLETTER

For further information on any of the above news items, or to make an enquiry, please contact us by—

• Phone: 1800 244 650; or
• Email: business.mailbox@act.gov.au 

A full description of the Business and Industry Development Branch’s programs can be viewed at: www.business.act.gov.au 

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