Homepage Impact Innovation Group newsroom

Queensland Industry Innovators Set to Upskill with Impact

Announcement posted by Impact Innovation Group 28 Sep 2015

Impact Innovation Group has been awarded the contract to help SMEs take their novel ideas off the drawing board and into the market.

Queensland small businesses will be better skilled for innovation-led growth after Innovate Queensland’s practical innovation and practical commercialisation workshops kicked off on 24 September 2015.

Supporting Queensland Government’s Advance Queensland initiative, the new Innovate Queensland program offers a range of skills-based and collaborative solutions for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) seeking smarter and more rewarding ways to benefit from innovation and technology commercialisation.

Brisbane-based innovation consultancy the Impact Innovation Group has been awarded the contract to help SMEs take their novel ideas off the drawing board and into the market.

Impact Innovation Group Managing Director Brian Ruddle said Innovate Queensland activities will connect participants with the right people and know-how to translate innovative ideas into commercial outcomes and incomes.

“Queensland businesses that pro-actively design and implement their innovative ideas are 31 percent more likely to enjoy business growth in terms of income and profitability,” said Mr Ruddle.

“And the ones that innovate collaboratively are 23 percent more likely to report increased productivity.

“Both large and small businesses are successful in innovation and technology commercialisation. What separates industry leaders and rapidly growing companies, however, is the mindset and the skillset of the people implementing these programs and the systems and tools that they use.

“Innovate Queensland is about giving SMEs access to the same tools, knowledge and skills as larger enterprises, so they can change their approach to innovation and build their capacity for implementing new commercially viable ideas,” Mr Ruddle said.

Minister for Science and Innovation Leeanne Enoch said the Queensland Government recognised that innovation was an indispensable driver of economic growth.

“These Innovate Queensland workshops will support the $180 million Advance Queensland program which will help foster a seamless innovation ecosystem where the best and brightest minds from around the country – and all over the world – come to generate great ideas and translate them into commercial outcomes,” the Minister said.

“We want to position Queensland as creators and not end users and through Advance Queensland and these workshops we will help equip small to medium enterprises to embrace innovation and drive growth.”

Innovate Queensland’s Pathways Program of practical workshops, designed and delivered by business innovation and technology commercialisation experts, starts in Brisbane on 24 September, with workshops also planned for Mackay on 1 October and the Gold Coast on 5 November.

To maintain momentum after the initial training, Impact Innovation Group will draw on its extensive networks throughout the State and in all industry sectors to engage SMEs in various collaborative activities under the Innovate Queensland banner. The IQLINK program, for example, will help them connect easily with university-based innovators.

“Collaboration with research organisations can triple the likelihood of business productivity growth, but time-poor SME owners are often unable to initiate those conversations, and that’s where our online tools will make a difference,” Mr Ruddle said.

Enterprise Access is web-based source of Australia’s latest technologies whose inventors are looking for commercial partners, and SMEs can log into it at any time to find the missing pieces to their innovation puzzle.  

“TheQueensland Innovation Portal is a creative problem-solving system based on the Brightidea platform, which is popular with the world’s largest and most innovative organisations, including Merrill Lynch, Sony and Novartis. The Portal enables industry groups and SMEs to come up with innovative yet practical ways to solve business challenges,” Mr Ruddle explained.

Innovate Queensland’s GRID program  aims to Give Ideas and Research Direction with online discussion boards and webinars involving rookie innovators and veteran commercialisation experts.

For more information about Innovate Queensland activities, such as where workshops will be held and how to access the online tools, visit www.impactinnovationgroup.com/innovate-queensland.