Why Good Science = Great Business for Australia, Singapore and ASEAN
Why Good Science = Great Business for Australia, Singapore and ASEAN: Festival highlights
The opportunities are ripe for Australian medical technologies and pharmaceuticals companies in Southeast Asia. In September, Asialink Business CEO, Mukund Narayanamurti, attended the Good Science = Great Business festival of Innovation and Science in Singapore and ASEAN, as part of a medtech business delegation.
[Australia’s Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, The Hon Karen Andrews MP, at the launch of James Cook University’s Tropical Futures Institute]
Australia is internationally known for its landscape and lifestyle, but less well known for the excellence of our science, innovation and ingenuity.
On the global stage, Australia’s ‘quiet’ achievements may often go unnoticed. But Australia has produced fifteen Nobel Laureates, eleven in science or medicine. Australian scientists are responsible for transformative innovations including the fast WLAN technology behind WiFi, polymer banknotes, hydrogen-fuelled transport, ultrasound scanners, the cochlear implant and life-saving vaccines, to name a few.
Australia punches above its weight in scientific achievement, discoveries and high-quality research. Its universities are world-class and – despite having only 0.3 per cent of the world’s population – Australia contributed to over four per cent of world research publications in 2017.
To share this story, in September, Australia launched the inaugural Good Science = Great Business 2018 Festival, held in Singapore.
[High Commissioner Bruce Gosper, ANSTO CEO Dr Adi Paterson and National Research Foundation CEO Professor Low Teck Seng launch the Festival with representatives from Festival Sponsors, The Australian National University, James Cook University and Rio Tinto]
Good Science = Great Business 2018 aimed to bring top Australian and Singapore scientists, business leaders and innovative companies together, to showcase Australian science in Singapore; raise awareness of the opportunity in Singapore and ASEAN; and, provide a platform for Australian research institutions and businesses to begin to explore that opportunity.
“The aim of the Science Festival was simple: bring together Australia’s and Singapore’s top scientists, researchers, business leaders and innovative companies in Singapore to make the business case and the policy point on the advantages of even closer collaboration.” Australia’s High Commissioner to Singapore, Mr Bruce Gosper
Singapore was a clear choice of locations for the festival: Singapore and Australia share a great friendship and a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The festival provided an opportunity for Australian research institutions and companies to take advantage of the tremendous developments happening in Singapore on innovation: Singapore rose to fifth place in this year’s Global Innovation Index; and is home to multinational corporations that invest heavily in innovation.
The Festival hosted around 4,000 people at 42 events including lectures, expert panels, and alumni networking. Topics ranged from a how-to briefing for researchers, to technology investment trends, healthcare and medtech, science communication, food security, innovation in logistics, space science, commercialisation, blockchain, 3D-printing, the Internet of Things, digital health, forensic science, sustainability in the Tropics, and nuclear science.
[Nobel Laureate and ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt at the Gala Dinner]
The Festival saw the launch of CSIRO’s ASEAN Hub and The Australian National University’s Southeast Asia Liaison Office in Singapore. James Cook University also launched its Tropical Futures Institute in Singapore, a first Australian research facility in Singapore. The sixth Australian Landing Pad cohort of Australian market-ready start-ups and scale-ups also commenced during the Festival.
CSIRO and Austrade supported Australian start-ups and research teams to visit Singapore for the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology as part of the Festival. Austrade also joined with MTP Connect to bring a delegation of Australian medtech companies to Singapore. With Asialink Business a part of that delegation – and Asialink Business’s own work producing guides to assist Australian medtech and pharmaceutical companies to realise commercial opportunities in Asia – we hope to build an emerging platform for our companies in this sector.
Australia’s Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, the Hon Karen Andrews MP and her Singapore counterpart Minister Heng Swee Keat both spoke at Festival events, emphasising Australia’s commitment to engaging more with ASEAN countriesSoutheast Asia on innovation, science and technology. Guests at the Festival’s gGala dDinner also heard from Nobel Laureate and Vice-Chancellor of the ANU, Professor Brian Schmidt.
Women in Innovation was also a key theme, with the festival featuring many prominent female leaders in STEM.
[The Women in Innovation Expert Panel and Networking Event held as part of the Festival]
Going forward, for good science to equal great business, research will need to be about stronger cross-border collaboration. As Dr Larry Marshall, CSIRO’s Chief Executive Officer said at the CSIRO ASEAN Hub launch:
“If you want to travel fast, travel solo. If you want to travel far, travel together.”
See here for more information about the Festival, contact Public-Affairs-SING@dfat.gov.au.
Based on a guest contribution from the Australian High Commission to Singapore.