OPINION by RDA Hunter CEO, Todd Williams
RESILIENCE is tested by news focused on economic declines and collapses.
Commodity price collapses signal the end of the mining boom, reverse the terms of trade to levels not seen for fifty years and shrink the national income.
Lessons from boom and bust cycles, not just in Australia but from around the world and over many decades, include the need for implementation of long-term investment strategies.
How will this region diversify industrial structures as the commercial return from traditionally successful industry segments and enterprises plummet?
The Hunter is acutely aware of the impact of change on core industries, supporting businesses, workers and supply chains.
Despite external shocks, near-term economic stability is anticipated due to the bedrock of the Hunter’s comparative advantages. These include access to regional, national and international markets facilitated by land, sea and air freight transport infrastructure, substantial energy resources, a skilled workforce and proximity to the Sydney market.
A challenge for the Hunter is to look beyond these comparative advantages to ‘‘competitive advantages’’ resulting from innovation and knowledge.
Responses to this challenge must include bringing together business, researchers, educational institutions, entrepreneurs and investors to embrace a vision of the Hunter as a globally competitive supplier of goods and services that are not easily copied by competitors.
International surveys of senior executives conducted by the OECD and the GE Global Innovation Barometer consistently point to innovation as the critical lever for competitive economies and the creation of jobs. As innovation output increases so do levels of economic output. Countries that invested more heavily in Research and Development throughout and after the Global Financial Crisis, such as Sweden, Finland and Germany, experienced a stronger rate of GDP growth.
After the Hunter’s innovation was benchmarked with European Union regions in RDA Hunter’s 2014 Hunter Innovation Scorecard the concept of ‘‘smart specialisation’’ was identified as the next logical step to improve productivity and position the Hunter for future growth.
Starting from the self-evident proposition that, “The Hunter knows what it does best” RDA Hunter is leading a first for Australian regions involving local leaders from all fields in the identification, promotion and support for the progress of areas in which the Hunter can have a significant impact (specialisation) because they strengthen and extend the Hunter’s research and productive assets (smart).
This program of discovery in the Hunter will not only identify what it does best, but also prioritise the region’s best assets, along with the areas of research and innovation that are most likely to succeed.
The outcomes are expected to include an increased international visibility of the Hunter, focused investment in research and innovation to support industry, a shift to higher value-added activities and specialised engagements with global markets and value chains.
This is about stakeholder involvement from the ground up; not central planning or being directed from the top down.
It is into the smart specialisations the Hunter chooses to grow that policies, efforts and resources will be concentrated to develop a critical mass and level of excellence which is competitive in global markets.
What do you believe is the Hunter’s smart specialisation? Comments to RDA Hunter are welcome.
View The Herald opinion piece http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3040771/todd-williams-innovation-is-key-to-future-success/?cs=4200