The Australian Innovation Community

By Philip SiefertFor companies to "go green," they need solutions that positively impact the environment without raising costs or sacrificing productivity.However, to make an impact, we all need to take personal action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  The longer we wait the more difficult it is going to be.  The point is to get started doing something now.  So I say, accept that this rebellion is real and realise that the time for taking action on global warming is not tomorrow, not even today, but this very minute.

There's definitely something to be said for finally having a minister dedicated to the areas or research development and innovation in the Federal Government. And certainly when I met with Senator Kim Carr together with a group of IT industry representatives a few months ago, he's making the right noises regarding the sorts of approaches which would lead to a more innovative economy.

There is a pervasive Australian myth that goes something like this: innovations come from brilliant scientists who pass on their discoveries to grateful businessmen and women and, eventually, the read more

The world's leading analysts predict that power hungry hardware and rising global fuel prices may lead to energy costs eating up more than a third of IT budgets within the next five years.

Global warming has emerged as the critical issue of the 21st Century. While governments worldwide debate the best formula to cut greenhouse gas emissions, change is inevitable.

Most world leaders concede that global warming is the fault of human kind and that intervention is a priority.

By Professor Stephen Leeder

The twelve years from now to 2020 will be constrained by demographic imperatives, economic realities, and demands of sustainability, Asian development and climate change. Within those constraints we will have choices - how wisely can we make them?

By Ben McDevitt

I felt honoured to be part of the 2020 Summit in Canberra. The opportunity to share ideas with such a diverse array of people from all walks of life on critical issues affecting our nation was fantastic. My only regret is that the time we had to actually put ideas onto the table was very limited and the opportunity to actually explore those ideas in a meaningful way was virtually non-existent.

By Narelle Kennedy

The Australia 2020 summit with its catch cry of ‘Thinking Big' certainly had the sense of being an historic occasion.

Led by the Prime Minster Kevin Rudd, it was a new collaboration, opening up the corridors of power to captains of industry, indigenous leaders, community activists, quiet achievers from rural communities, celebrities, youth, world class scholars, past and present political leaders and today's working journalists and politicians.

By Sheryle Moon, CEO Australian Information Industry Association

For the first time in a long time we're worried. You can see it on people's faces as they read of the malaise in the global economy, or in the way they fidgit at any mention of interest rates.

And the reason we're concerned is for a long time we've been taking our economic situation for granted. In a strong global economy we have allowed our trade deficit to get seriously out of balance, especially in areas where we should be doing well, like the service sector.

It is fashionable to think that China and India, with their massive populations, are emerging as a pair of ‘ultimate competitors’ which will knock Australia for six economically.

By Russell Yardley

Having just had my knee operated on last week I spent a good deal of my weekend looking in at the summit on ABC2. It was clearly a wonderful exchange of ideas amongst a well informed and diverse group of people.

The medical book (as in facebook) idea to share medical information with those who you choose was a clever twist on a proven idea that could solve the problem of the universal medical record that is consuming millions of dollars around the world.