University of technology, Sydney’s Business
School Dean, Professor Roy Green, has said knowledge-based manufacturing and
entrepreneurship are vital to Australia’s future prosperity.
In an interview published in The Australian
Financial Review at the weekend, Green discussed his background, the university’s
new “shock building” – designed by Frank Gehry – and a lack of policy focus hurting
Australia’s competitiveness.
He said the country’s success in the future
would increasingly rely on more people starting their own businesses. Another
important factor in future prosperity would be knowledge-based manufacturing,
and a more intelligent use of resources.
“We cannot afford not to be part of
manufacturing globally,” he told The AFR, citing 1,000 to 1,500 Australian “micro-multinationals” that were competitive in global value chains.
Encouraging these sorts of businesses was
being hampered by cuts to the CRC program and CSIRO in last year’s federal budget, as was the lack of a “technology
foresight” review – something Australia had never undertaken – to identify areas
where scare resources could best be targeted.
“What are the areas of knowledge and
ingenuity in which we can develop world class capacity?” he asked.
“We’re not going to be excellent at
everything. We do 2 per cent of the world’s R&D. But it
requires us to pick and choose where we invest our resources in both the public
and private sector.”
To read the interview in full, click here.
To read an interview with Green from last
June that featured in Manufacturers’ Monthly, click here.
Image: https://www.uts.edu.au