Winter Meeting 2008 

"Australian Industrially Oriented R&D towards 2020"

28th August 2008 in House of Representatives Alcove, New Parliament House Canberra.  

Pre-conference Dinner: 7:00 pm, 27th August 2008 at Rydges Capital Hill Canberra, Arthur Streeton Room

One important component of AIRG’s ongoing mission is to provide a strong link between the leaders of Australia’s Industrial R&D management and the Federal Government’s policy makers in Canberra.  Therefore, our aim with the AIRG’s Winter Meeting each year is to facilitate a wide-ranging and open discussion of the major issues influencing business investment in R&D across Australia, and hence to engage in discussion regarding the ongoing and future competitiveness of Australian companies.

The theme of the winter meeting this year is “Australian Industrially Oriented R&D towards 2020”.  This theme builds on key issues revealed at recent AIRG national conferences, but, perhaps more importantly, it has been designed to build and reflect on the outcomes of the current National Innovation Review, the findings of which are expected to be publicly available prior to the meeting. 

Meeting Program (pdf)

Meeting Report (pdf)

Winter Meeting 2007:

"A Vision for Australian Industry in 2017 and the Role of R&D" 

9th August 2007 in the Senate Alcove,  New Parliament House

Pre-conference Dinner Meeting: 8th August at 7pm at Rydges Capital Hill,  Canberra

This conference built upon the themes from previous conferences, in particular the Challenges and Opportunities for the Next Decade” Conference.  Speakers were invited from Industry who presented the perspective from their sectors - Resources, Biomedical, Consumer Products and Air Transport -  as well as representatives from Universities and the Public sector. In addition, a presentation on the CRC programme and the Research Quality Framework was included and followed by a discussion session on policy issues affecting industry and the research sectors. 

Speakers were:

• Dr. Ray Shaw,  General Manager Technology Support,  Rio Tinto  (Resources Sector)
• Sam Lovick,  Chief Economist,  CSL Ltd (Biomedical Sector)
• David Hughes, Director Brands Innovation,  Fonterra (Consumer Sector)
• Rob Sharp, General Manager Strategic Programs, QANTAS (Transport Sector)
• Prof. Paul Greenfield, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor,  University of Queensland (Education)

Meeting Program (pdf)

Meeting Report (pdf)