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Michael Schütz

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Brisbane – German Science and Innovation Day

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Brisbane German Week is an annual event to highlight the relationships between Germany and Australia, and more particularly with Queensland and its capital Brisbane. This year’s science and innovation day was held at the Queensland University of Technology’s Gardens Point Campus. Organised by Prof. Michael Rosemann, Honorary Consul for Germany in the city and also Professor for Information Systems at QUT, other universities from South East Queensland also participated.

Students and Presenters

Students and Presenters at Science and Innovation Day at Brisbane German Week

Attended by around 100 people in total the day brought students and academics together to discuss their research and how German Ph.D. students worked in Australian universities – as well as discussions on how Australians had coped in a German research environment. A number of case studies were presented of successful collaborations and a panel outlined funding opportunities for study abroad and support for research.

Michael Schütz

Michael Schütz giving keynote lecture at Science and Innovation Day in Brisbane

Prof. Michael Schütz, formerly at Berlin’s Charité hospital and now at QUT gave the keynote speech about bilateral opportunities between Queensland and Berlin and looked forward to the forthcoming visit of Berlin’s mayor to Brisbane where the new health alliance between the states of Berlin and Queensland will be announced.

 

 

Robert Harrison

Robert Harrison at Science and Innovation Day in Brisbane

Our board member Rob Harrison also introduced the work of the German Australian Business Council.

(Photos courtesy of Michael Rosemann/Brisbane German Week)

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Australia and Global Innovation – better than ever

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It appears every year and is probably the most comprehensive report on the world’s innovation systems. The Global Innovation Report 2018ranks Australia as number 20 in the world – up three places since 2017.  Reading through the report is fascinating – it finds Australia’s strength lies mainly in its human capital and research capabilities, in particular education at tertiary (university) level and the government’s online services and the ease of starting a business were also considered strengths. That last point may come as a surprise to some Australian readers, but just try and do anything online with a German government authority and you will realise that Australia is streets ahead.

On the downside, Australia’s business sophistication and knowledge and technology output levels fell short compared to other countries. The report marked Australia’s innovation linkages, university and industry research collaboration, research talent in business enterprises, patents, and high-tech and ICT services export levels as major weaknesses. There is clearly something to be learnt here from other countries.

The Australian government’s response was to refer to the National Innovation and Science Agenda which is a long-term plan to improve the countries science base.