The West Australian Government has launched its first ever Innovation Strategy.
The plan is underpinned by the State Government’s $20 million innovation fund announced in the 2016/17 budget and promotes Western Australia as a ‘great place to live and innovate’.
Accelerating innovation will grow the Western Australian economy and increase employment; it will enable Western Australian residents to capture and solve opportunities and problems that benefit the community, business and society on a locally developed, but globally-relevant, scale, states the document.
The Innovation Strategy focuses on delivering programs that enable Western Australians to capture opportunities and solve problems that benefit innovation.
The strategy aims to:
- Create an environment where innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialisation are the norm
- Engage local business and industry partners to expand existing and future capabilities
- Make Western Australia a regional innovation hub by investing in local talent and providing the right opportunities to keep that talent here
- Encourage Western Australians who have achieved success elsewhere to bring their skills, expertise and experience home to help increase innovation locally
- Attract the world’s best innovators to relocate to Western Australia by emphasising our natural and geographic advantages and globally acknowledged excellence.
The strategy outlines that investment will be focused on capabilities that are at the core of innovation in the digital age, such as automation, data analytics, digital technology, remote operations and robotics.
A governance structure for the distribution of the innovation funds is currently being developed.
View the Innovation Strategy.