The Australian government used to publish a Business R&D Investment Scorecard, providing insight into how companies are investing in their future. Here John H Howard, Victor Pantano and Cameron Begley produce their own scorecard – which suggests fewer Australian companies are bothering with R&D. R&D scorecards are vital tools for policymakers. They provide essential data…
Rio Tinto boosts stake in Australia’s second-largest smelter Rio Tinto has acquired Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corporation’s interest in the Boyne Island aluminium smelter. It bought the 11.65 per cent interest in Boyne Smelters, which owns and operates the Gladstone, QLD based smelter, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition follows Rio Tinto’s agreement to purchase shares in…
Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy explains how the government has built new structures to link defence innovation with commercial outcomes, building the defence industrial base in the process. A strong and sovereign innovation, science and technology sector is critical to…
As we have been publishing our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – new statistics have emerged that show that even higher education research, until now a national strongpoint, is faltering. Professor Roy Green details the biggest decline ever recorded in higher education research. The newly released Australian Bureau of…
Amaero hocks Adelaide assets as part of farewell to Australia Amaero International has announced that it has finalised the sale of all powder and equipment at its Adelaide facility for approximately $460,000 in cash, “in conjunction with the cessation of operations in Australia”. Amaero — which was spun out of Monash University in 2013 —…
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Monthly Business Turnover Indicator has shown improvement in eight of 13 industries tracked for the month of August, with the biggest jump coming from manufacturing. The indicator, launched in 2021 and tracking figures from companies that submit Business Activity Statements (BAS) monthly, recorded a 6.4 per cent rise for manufacturers…
Archer’s biochip design validated by commercial foundry partner Fabless semiconductor company Archer Materials has had its advanced graphene field effect transistor (gFET) chip design validated by an unnamed commercial foundry partner in the Netherlands with a whole four-inch wafer run. The new gFET device designs have been fabricated and the foundry process was successful, according…
Australia’s expenditure on innovation public and private has fallen for the past decade, and continues to fall under the new federal government. Business expenditure on research and development (BERD) was up 14 per cent over 2021-22, new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show, though the nation’s total spend on R&D as a proportion of GDP…
