That was the clear message of Western Sydney University’s assistant vice chancellor Dr Andy Marks at the Access-sponsored Innovation seminar held on March 3 at Parramatta Leagues Club.
Western Sydney Business Access joined with Telstra Business Centre West Sydney, IP law firm Davies Collison Cave and KPMG in presenting the seminar before more than 120 business leaders.
Dr Marks, in closing the presentation, said Australia ranked “the lowest in the developed nations” in collaboration between innovators and with government.
His message was that someone could have the best idea in the world but may not succeed without sharing of ideas and developing them further with other innovators, researchers and governments.
And that is where the university’s Launch Pad, where start-ups can benefit from university researchers to develop their product or idea, came in.
“One of the things the university was determined to do was not to talk so much and listen more,” Dr Marks said.
“We realise that innovation can happen anywhere - not only in the city but in the suburbs, in the garages and backyards of western Sydney.
“As a university we had to get outside our walls, get our noses out of our textbooks and talk to businesses. No amount of incentives to businesses work if relationships are not there to help with innovation.”
Dr Marks said “collaboration” on ideas was “criminally low” in Australia and the university was determined to help people and companies with ideas that needed the help of university researchers and innovators.
He said students also benefited by getting hands-on experience rather than learning from text books.
The university’s Launch Pad initiative has already helped with some original projects, including a man who developed a 3D printer.
Dr Marks was joined by Damon Henshaw from Davies Collison Cave who spoke about the intricacies of protecting intellectual property, David Newton from Telstra Business Centre West Sydney who gave a rundown on the wonderful world of the Cloud and KPMG’s Paul Van Bergen who talked about funding for research and development.
Parramatta State MP Geoff Lee opened the seminar with encouraging words on government support for innovative industries while MC Dr Jim Taggart kept proceedings running smoothly.
Access publisher Michael Walls declared the day a great success and said he was proud of being able to help businesses develop strategies to grow.
