Innovation cannot be overlooked

Professor Peter Høj, Vice Chancellor, University of South Australia, addressing ATN
and industry representatives at the Symposium dinner on the importance of innovation
and university/industry engagement

While the ATN has welcomed ERA and the way that it has highlighted Australia’s research excellence, it strongly believes that there are important aspects of Australian research that are not fully encapsulated by ERA. As such, the ATN proposes a new measure be introduced to bridge that gap.

The transfer of knowledge between universities, industry and the community, and the impact of that new knowledge on the development of new technology, new policy or economic outcomes are areas which are not assessed by ERA. Partnerships with business and industry are, however, an important focus for many Australian universities, including the ATN, with business partners knowing that the ATN will deliver excellent research directed at real problems faced by their partners.

Individual ATN members achieved the highest possible rating in Applied Economics, Geology and Information Systems; and as a network we saw world-class performance across the board in fields such as Applied Mathematics, Urban & Regional Planning and Electrical, Electronic and Materials Engineering. It would be hoped that excellent research in all of these fields would translate to significant real world outcomes.

Unfortunately, ERA does not currently include the capability to measure that activity, despite the fact that it will be used to determine where research funding is directed in the future.

The ATN considers that it is essential to send signals to researchers that they should pursue both disciplinary excellence and engagement with partners outside universities to deliver the innovation required in all sectors of the economy. Australia invests considerable funding to support research activity across the country. World class research which results in outcomes of benefit to business, industry and the community is a return on that investment that should be encouraged.

From the perspective of an industry-engaged university network, the ATN therefore believes that a companion piece to ERA is required: an Excellence in Innovation for Australia (EIA) assessment exercise. This approach would allow a broader data collection of innovation performance measures and the development of a deeper understanding of how best to ensure that research fuels innovation, engagement and productivity.

This is scarcely a new concept, with a significant amount of effort being undertaken internationally to develop outcome measures for research. The United Kingdom is already looking to include this type of appraisal into their own national research assessments, based in large part on work already undertaken in Australia.

As we move forward with the future of research assessment, which will have a significant effect on Australia’s focus and investment going forward, it is important that we ask ourselves how we want to encourage our researchers’ activity.

The ATN considers both excellence and innovation to be crucial aspects of Australia’s research efforts going forward. The network will be consulting and engaging with business, industry and policy makers in 2011 to explore what we believe is an important principle as Australia moves towards a strong innovation economy.