Adelaide Hunter Valley and Sunshine Coast Announced As Country's Best Tech Hubs 01 July 2015
The three Finalists are:
- Greater Adelaide Region, South Australia featuring 109 innovation programs, fourteen co-working spaces and eleven incubators.
- Hunter Region, New South Wales with an Innovation Cluster, accelerator program and industry showcases.
- Sunshine Coast, Queensland with its Business Gateway, Innovation Centre and Smart City Framework.
Combined, the regions represent around 10% of both the country's population and GDP. The Finalists are judged to be the regions that provide the most supportive environment for SME emerging technology companies. It is not about scale but rather about the quality of the innovation ecosystem that has been built. The judges looked at existing programs, networking opportunities, the celebrating of failure and at links with research, business and investors.
Dr Felicity-Ann Lewis, Chairperson of Regional Development Australia Adelaide Metropolitan said, "Adelaide has worked hard over the last few years to understand and enhance our innovation ecosystem and has now achieved a remarkable level of collaboration and coordination across a rich landscape of support."
"The transition from heavy manufacturing to high-tech hub has required the Hunter region to reinvent itself. Encouraging innovation has been a key plank in this transition," commented Adrian Price, Australian Industry Group's Regional Manager for the Hunter Region.
"This nomination is wonderful recognition that our region is building on its enviable lifestyle to also create an environment where the industries of the future can thrive,” said Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson. “The Sunshine Coast Regional Economic Development Strategy has identified seven high value industries as the keys to future employment and economic strength. These high-value industries include health and well-being; education and research; professional services and knowledge industries; tourism, sport and leisure; agribusiness; clean technologies; and aviation and aerospace."
The Innovative Regions Award is a new addition to the five year old Australian Technologies Competition. John O'Brien, the competition organiser, explains, "We work with Australia's best emerging technology companies and those that succeed usually emerge from a supportive innovation ecosystem. We want to help grow and celebrate the best regions so Australia can generate even more world leading tech companies."
The Principal Sponsor of the Competition is Autodesk, a leading software company that helps people imagine, design and create a better world. The company offers highly subsidised access to its design software through the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program.
The Innovative Regions Winner will be announced along with Australia's best technology companies at a gala event in Sydney on 20 October 2015.
For further information on the Australian Technologies Competition visit www.austechcomp.com
Media contact: John O'Brien on 0419 826 372 contact@austechcomp.com