Presenters

Dr Tony Peacock, Chief Executive Officer at CRC Association
'CRC & CRC-P(Project) Programs'

Cameron van den Dungen, Chief Executive Officer at Sleeptite
CRC-P Experience'

David Norman, Chief Executive Officer at Future Fuels CRC Ltd
'BEFORE CRC - Starts with an Idea’

Ian Christensen, Managing Director at iMOVE Australia
'DURING CRC - Collaborating in CRC’

Brett Carter, Chief Executive Officer, Cancer Therapeutics CRC
'AFTER CRC - It’s over, what’s Next?’

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The engagement of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) helps to build a culture of innovation, and therefore increased productivity and global competitiveness through all levels of the Australian industry.

CRCs are engines of innovation for Australia. An initiative of the Australian Government, CRCs bring together the best minds from research and industry to work as a team. Together, and driven by the needs of private, public or community end-users, CRCs turn research results into products, services and technologies and address national priorities within local and global contexts.

It is up to CRC’s participants to decide on the approach which best suits their particular industry or sector. SMEs are a major pathway for innovation because of their flexibility in taking up new opportunities; this flexibility can lead to an important role in commercialising or utilising the research outputs of a CRC.

BENEFITS OF CRC ENGAGEMENT FOR SMEs

• involvement with a CRC can be a cost-effective way to participate in and benefit from research that might otherwise be beyond their reach

• increased opportunities to network with key players in the industry and in research institutions

• can offer a wider understanding of cutting edge technology/new developments in a particular field

• increased opportunities for training and professional development to facilitate the adoption of new processes, new technologies and new management practices

• enhanced prospects to take market advantage of new developments, improve productivity, competitiveness and access to global supply chains

SMEs AS CRCs' PARTICIPANTS

SMEs are participants in CRCs and engage with CRCs at different levels. In some situations, SME participants have been able to make a significant contribution and commitment to the CRC, in line with the level of engagement of other participants. More commonly, SMEs have been engaged on a smaller scale level, becoming involved with individual projects or for limited periods of time without taking on a major commitment to the broader governance and management of the CRC. SMEs can be research project service providers, research end-users, or a combination of both.

SME SPIN-OFF COMPANIES AS CRC PARTICIPANTS

As part of a CRC’s commercialisation and utilisation activities, a company may be created or spun-off from a CRC to commercialise new intellectual property. If this commercialisation process is successful and creates a revenue stream, the spun-off SME company may see value in itself becoming a CRC participant.

Research to Reality – The Cooperative Research Centres’ approach to Innovation

The Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community. In its 29-year history, it has proven to be an effective model for linking business with researchers to address R&D challenges with commercial outcomes.

Since the Program’s inception, the Commonwealth has invested more than $4.8 billion in 225 CRCs and more than 100 CRC-Projects with partners investing over $14.3 billion. This has returned billions to businesses and the Australian people through new technology and services.

The CRC Association in collaboration with Innovate Australia invites businesses looking to improve their competitive advantage to learn how the CRC Program can solve their innovation needs.

In this one-and-a-half-hour workshop, you will hear from leaders in the CRC community about how they created innovation through collaborating with the business and research community.

With the introduction of the CRC-Project subprogram in 2016, accessing government funds is even easier for small and medium businesses. Up to 3 million dollars is available to a project that will bring new products or services to market through collaboration with Australia’s world-class research institutes.

Thank you to Deloitte for sponsoring the event.

Who should attend:

· Businesses wanting to innovate and increase their competitive advantage

· CTO and CFO

· Innovation managers