The race to bring the jetpack to market exemplifies some of the highs and lows of sci-fi inspired innovation.
Both Labor and the Coalition should be looking to upscale small and medium enterprises to compete globally, if they are serious about innovation.
CSL Limited
3D printing is opening doors to amazing opportunities and benefits – as well as some undeniable dangers. Patience and caution about regulating it will yield more innovation.
A lack of differences in major policy areas such as agriculture and trade means local project funding – for roads, boat ramps and the like – reinforces the adage ‘all politics is local’.
AAP/Alan Porritt
On the big national policies affecting non-metropolitan Australia, such as agriculture and trade, the major party differences are minor. That’s why the election focus turns to local projects.
Kim Carr (left) and Christopher Pyne (right) debating on innovation at the National Press Club.
ABC
The very goal of science, to discover the new and unknown, is hampered by any outdated personal beliefs scientists hold.
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world despite its ranking as one of the ‘least liveable’.
mariusz kluzniak/flickr
Bringing significant benefits to an emergent middle class, Dhaka’s cultural, economic, environmental and political landscapes are being rapidly but unevenly transformed.
Large firms are setting up venture capital funds to help silo good ideas.
Image sourced from Shutterstock.com
Peter C. Doherty, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
There are several areas where Australia could be a world leader in innovation. If we can identify them and focus our efforts there, we could generate some genuine benefits here and abroad.
M2 Venture Catalyst will fund the development of new medicines.
Dave Hunt/AAP
Australia’s Smart Cities Plan largely conveys a limited role for people: they live, work and consume. This neglects the rich body of work calling for better human engagement in smart cities.
CSIRO has the know-how to develop commercial-scale green energy, with a clear plan and enough money.
CSIRO
The Coalition has asked CSIRO to develop a “roadmap” towards commercialised clean energy. It’s a good idea as long as the plan is clear, and there’s enough money behind it.
African scientists have developed and patented a test for TB that overcomes two major challenges with current methods: it delivers quick results and is much cheaper.
Imagine a school with no year levels or set curriculum – could it work?
Our education system fails to amplify students’ creativity and interest in learning. To continue along the current path is increasingly unscientific, unjustifiable and plain dull.
Africa’s future looks bright – if it embraces its many innovators.
Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
There are plenty of innovators, scientists and inventors in Africa doing remarkable work today. So why does the myth of Africa being devoid of scientific innovators persist?
The Turnbull government’s ‘ideas boom’ is not that dissimilar to innovation plans that have come before it.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
For many, innovation is perceived as a precursor to more unwelcome changes at work and potentially to job losses, but innovation is about more than increasing corporate profits.