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Australia is slipping back as an innovation nation: Act now urges AIIA

Announcement posted by Filtered Media | telling your story, brilliantly 15 Feb 2019

Sydney, Australia – 15 February 2019 –​ The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), the peak member body for the ICT industry, says the AIIA iAwards play an important role in reversing the fall in Australia’s global innovation ranking. The ​2019 Bloomberg Innovation Index​ revealed that Australia moved down one place to spot 19 on the list.

The AIIA is urging organisations and individuals ahead of National Innovation Day tomorrow, 16 February, to turn their focus to, and put the spotlight on, technological and digital innovation in a bid to turn around Australia’s position on the global stage.

Innovation Day provides a catalyst for Australian innovators to showcase their talents, with the AIIA continuing to lead the charge, in particular through the iAwards. The ICT industry body has been helping Australia to innovate for a better future for the past 25 years through its iAwards program and believes digital technology innovation drives our future.

Commenting on the importance of the AIIA iAwards to Australia’s digital economy, Ron Gauci, AIIA CEO, said: “Australia is slipping back as an ‘innovation nation’ and we need to act now to reverse this decline. The lack of investment from government and industry in technology innovation suggests that we are not taking innovation seriously. Given the economic and social benefits of innovation, we believe this is of concern.

“The AIIA iAwards is the largest and most reputable springboard of its kind to launch great new home-grown Australian ideas. It extracts the best innovation talent our country has to offer and plays a key role in unlocking and fostering the creativity of our people.

“AIIA iAwards has been a podium for past winners who have gone global, such as Atlassian who won the iAwards ‘Startup of the Year’ in 2012 for their Jira platform. As a country, we need to do more to support our technological innovations on a global scale.”

Last year,​ ​AIIA National iAwards 2018​ introduced some remarkable innovations:

  • A modular, self-fitting hearing aid - which is nothing less than life-changing

  • The use of Virtual Reality to treat phobias

  • Robots that write their own code

  • A world first automatic, real-time, artificial intelligence shark detection system

  • An​ ​app developed by primary school children​ that helps girls between the ages of five to 12 deal with the stress and anxiety of daily life and growing up

These are creative, clever, and all home-grown innovations. The​ ​iAwards blog​ ​has more information on past winners from industries including Health, Education, Mining, and Finance.

The AIIA iAwards wants to encourage those people and businesses who are making a difference across all Australian industries to enter the AIIA iAwards now. As Australia’s most comprehensive innovation awards program, it offers the opportunity to:

  • Showcase your innovation in up to three categories – state, national and international

  • Receive valuable feedback during a robust judging process

  • Gain access to business mentoring workshops

  • Attract the attention of the ICT and wider business industry, as well as government

  • Participate in the iAwards Innovation Showcase

  • Compete in the National iAwards PitchFest competition

  • Gain recognition and media exposure

Final award submissions will be accepted up until 21 February 2019. Startups (registered from 2016) and students are eligible for FREE entry.

For more information, email the iAwards team at admin@iawards.com.au or call 1300 665 145.

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About AIIA

The ​Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA)​ is Australia’s peak representative body and advocacy group for those in the digital ecosystem. Since 1978 AIIA has pursued activities to stimulate and grow the digital ecosystem, to create a favorable business environment for members and to contribute to Australia’s economic prosperity. We do this by delivering outstanding member value by providing a strong voice of influence; building a sense of community through events and education; enabling a network for collaboration and inspiration; and developing compelling content and relevant and interesting information.

Media Contacts

For more information please contact:

Jeffrey Coote
Tel: (02) 8355 3130
jeffrey@filteredmedia.com.au