Innovation

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EXERT OBSERVER
In the face of the global health and climate crises, we look at our cities both anxiously and hopefully. We deviate from our normal patterns of behaviour to avoid close physical contact and suffer associated emotional and practical losses. At the same time, we envision our cities’ lasting transformation for the better.
We have become familiar with astonishing photographs of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52313972" target="_blank">clear blue skies over usually polluted cities</a> or of cyclists, pedestrians and even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2020/apr/22/animals-roaming-streets-coronavirus-lockdown-photos" target="_blank">wild animals appearing</a> on suddenly deserted streets. Although we are rightly <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-shutdowns-will-give-wildlife-only-short-term-relief-from-climate-change-and-other-threats-139193" target="_blank">warned not to get complacent</a>, these images of what could be have animated calls for a “green”, sustainable healing. A window of opportunity is opening to accelerate action on climate change and sustainability, while safeguarding ourselves as we live with COVID-19.
But how and where do we kick-start and anchor the kinds of initiatives needed to achieve and unify these objectives? And what could and should these initiatives be?
How we want to use the urban realm is clearly changing. We require and value (more) cycling paths, pedestrianised areas and public green spaces. Once workers and students return to the city, things like outdoor lunch and meeting spaces may be essential.
With this in mind, we propose a renewed look at prevailing urban blueprints, drawing on potential answers from initiatives like the <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/about-melbourne/melbourne-profile/smart-city/pages/melbourne-innovation-districts.aspx" target="_blank">Melbourne Innovation Districts</a> (MID).
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FqU_YXnmolU?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" width="440" height="260"></iframe> The Melbourne Innovation Districts project was launched in 2017 and is still evolving.
<h2>Despite suspicions, public has a role to play</h2>
Innovation districts are a nucleus of knowledge-based and creative economic activities. They are walkable neighbourhoods that connect organisations like universities or cultural institutions with science-and-technology-driven businesses.
The idea is that the vibrancy and connectivity of these urban quarters attract creative start-ups and spin-outs. At local networking events, for example, researchers, students, knowledge workers, business and community organisations can come together to share new knowledge and city experiences.
In cities like New York and San Francisco, innovation districts have been <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203169360" target="_blank">criticised</a> as “high-tech fantasies” and pure real-estate businesses that deepen segregation and inequalities. A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275119307061" target="_blank">survey</a> across three Australian cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane) that are home to a number of innovation districts found communities view them with suspicion.
We must not downplay such assessments. However, the <a href="https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJKBD.2017.082429" target="_blank">context of time and place is vital</a>. The <a href="https://mid.org.au/" target="_blank">Melbourne Innovation District</a> just to the north of the CBD is not (yet) the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-innovation-complex-9780190083830?cc=au&amp;lang=en&amp;" target="_blank">site of a tech-financial elite</a>. It is still in the making, which allows for a (re-)shaping of its intended purposes of place-based collaboration, innovation and public engagement.
The district was established in 2016 and endorsed by the Future Melbourne Committee in late 2019. It is a partnership between the City of Melbourne, the University of Melbourne and RMIT University. With its identity and function evolving, it may play a guiding role in Melbourne’s and other cities’ way forward.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354503/original/file-20200825-18-1va8tk4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354503/original/file-20200825-18-1va8tk4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="Map of Melbourne Innovation District just north of the CBD."></a> <a class="source" href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/about-melbourne/melbourne-profile/smart-city/Pages/melbourne-innovation-districts.aspx" target="_blank">City of Melbourne</a>
A space for urban experimentation
These are highly unpredictable times, so room for experimentation and rapid adaptation is needed. This is precisely what the Melbourne Innovation District provides.
The underlying MID <a href="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/hdp.au.prod.app.com-participate.files/9315/4232/7275/Urban_Realm_Action_Plan_City_City_of_Melbourne.pdf" target="_blank">action plan</a> identifies so-called “innovation streets and spaces” to provide “test and engagement sites”. These are designated areas for testing new ideas and practices in a real-life urban context.
The City of Melbourne has used these sites for some trials of <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/about-melbourne/melbourne-profile/smart-city/Pages/emerging-technology-testbeds.aspx" target="_blank">emerging technologies</a>. Examples include 5G technology and sensor technology to capture micro-climate data that can be used to <a href="https://spatialvision.com.au/case-study-cooling-the-city-pilot-project/" target="_blank">inform walkers about routes with comfortable temperatures</a>.
But the test sites are otherwise awaiting uptake. The innovation district and its test sites can be a springboard for vital experimentation leading to radical improvements of infrastructure and the public realm.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354531/original/file-20200825-24-19u1c9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354531/original/file-20200825-24-19u1c9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="Smart litter bin on pavement with a Melbourne tram passing behind it"></a> Smart litter bins that compact waste and hold seven times more than a standard bin have been tested in the innovation district. <a class="source" href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/about-melbourne/melbourne-profile/smart-city/pages/melbourne-innovation-districts.aspx" target="_blank">City of Melbourne</a>
Innovation in response to social need
A sustainable city must balance ecological and economic goals with social ones. Part of the Melbourne Innovation District’s ambition is to foster “<a href="https://www.tacsi.org.au/journal/social-innovation-in-and-after-the-pandemic/" target="_blank">social innovation</a>”. That is, innovative activity motivated by social need, not private profit.
Social innovation is sometimes derided for being a vague and hence easily co-opted buzzword. But the innovation district could give it a renewed, purposeful meaning: care, solidarity and collective action have been fundamental principles during this pandemic.
In this spirit, Melbourne City Council has <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-city-council-pledges-financial-support-for-foreign-students-20200408-p54i63" target="_blank">pledged</a> financial and in-kind support for the 52,000 international students living within its boundaries during the COVID-19 crisis. Many of them live in and around the innovation district. This gesture acknowledges the students’ vital contribution and takes a stand against bigotry.
With this as a guiding first step, the Melbourne Innovation District and its <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/about/governance-management/structure/policy-strategy-impact/social-innovation-hub" target="_blank">Social Innovation Hub</a> can become spaces for creative collective action. This will help nurture community-building and mutual care for our future city.
Collaboration before competition
Beyond coming together in empathy and care, knowledge alliances and co-operation are indispensable. Solutions for tackling the climate and global health crises will only be found in collaboration. The innovation district’s biomedical precinct will <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/03/18/the-crucial-role-innovation-districts-will-play-in-the-fight-against-covid-19/" target="_blank">contribute to the fight against COVID-19</a>.
To date, however, the Melbourne Innovation District has not gained the traction needed to realise its full potential as a collaboration between two universities and a local government. The partnership could position itself as a central platform within a citywide network of, for example, new satellite hubs of economic activity and <a href="https://theconversation.com/co-working-spaces-are-part-of-the-new-economy-so-town-planners-better-get-with-the-times-95923" target="_blank">co-working spaces</a>. With our ways of using the city changing, spaces like these <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danestangler/2020/04/03/here-are-three-reasons-covid-19-makes-coworking-spaces-even-more-important/#30eb9d9333ac" target="_blank">may prove to be increasingly important</a>. Joint outdoor public lectures, labs and workshops (with physical distancing) could be launched.
Despite bearing the at-times-controversial label “innovation district”, the focus and trajectory of Melbourne’s version are not fixed. With the right intentions and effective backbone organisation in place, it may rise to lead by example.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142267/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/irene-hakansson-1126215" target="_blank">Irene Håkansson</a>, Postdoctoral Reserach Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-melbourne-722" target="_blank">University of Melbourne</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kathryn-davidson-905851" target="_blank">Kathryn Davidson</a>, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-melbourne-722" target="_blank">University of Melbourne</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/innovation-districts-like-melbournes-could-help-chart-our-course-out-of-crisis-142267" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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Innovation districts like Melbourne's could help chart our course out of crisis

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Mirvac has come 7th on Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2020, representing the only Australian company to make the list.
The recognises the businesses making the most profound impact on both industry and culture, showcasing a variety of ways to thrive in today’s fast-changing world.
This year’s MIC list features 434 businesses from 39 countries.
Mirvac’s CEO &amp; Managing Director, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said the inclusion showed the Group’s deliberate on-going journey to drive cultural change and embrace innovation is moving Mirvac in a positive direction.
“We are delighted at the global recognition that our innovation efforts have received.  We still have a long way to go, but to be in the top 10 of all global Urban Development and Real Estate organisations is very pleasing. And then, to be the only traditional bricks and mortar developer amongst a list of property start-ups, is doubly satisfying. It demonstrates that companies can reinvent and innovate for a better future.”
“At Mirvac, our purpose to reimagine urban life inspires us to tackle some of the many challenges facing our cities, big and small. With the constant disruption and rapid pace of change in today’s world, we believe innovation enables us to deliver on our purpose, by finding solutions that help us stay relevant to our customers and leave a positive legacy in our urban environment.”
Mirvac was judged to be the world’s seventh most innovative property company based on three projects which delivered innovative solutions for its commercial, residential and retail customers:
<ul>
<li>Cultivate is an urban basement farm which uses agritech to grow produce in under-utilised spaces in our cities, such as car parks;</li>
<li>Solar Upgrade is a partnership with Evergen whereby individual apartment owners are able to access solar energy; and</li>
<li>The Third Space saw a dedicated co-working space brought to life in a shopping centre, offering all the trappings of a modern office in easy reach of shops and services.</li>
</ul>
 
“Over the last few years we have been working towards a culture of innovation where everybody believes it is part of their job to challenge the status quo and reimagine what we do. This transition has been championed by our innovation team Hatch, who have upskilled our people and helped to establish a fail-safe environment where we are not afraid to experiment. We are changing the way we problem solve as a business,” added Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz.
Fast Company’s editors and writers sought out the most ground-breaking businesses on the planet and across myriad industries. They also judged nominations received through their application process.
The World’s Most Innovative Companies is Fast Company’s signature franchise and one of its most highly anticipated editorial efforts of the year. It provides both a snapshot and a road map for the future of innovation across the most dynamic sectors of the economy.
“At a time of increasing global volatility, this year’s list showcases the resilience and optimism of businesses across the world. These companies are applying creativity to solve challenges within their industries and far beyond,” said Fast Company senior editor Amy Farley, who oversaw the issue with deputy editor David Lidsky.
 
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Mirvac breaks onto Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies 2020 list

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EXPERT OBSERVER
Mining accounts for about half of Australia’s exports. In terms of ‘economic complexity’, the nation ranks 59th in the world, between Kazakhstan and Lebanon.
Three years ago, then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull went to an election spruiking the wonders of innovation. “There has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian,” government advertising had enthused in the months before.
But the public wasn’t enthused, and Turnbull’s government barely scraped back into office.
Since then innovation policy has spooked the political class. They see it as a vote loser, and a threat to jobs – mostly their own.
Consequently, innovation and industry policy has received the least attention just when the decline of investment in <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/worrying-trend-in-australian-research-and-development-20180705-p4zpnh" target="_blank">research and development</a> may matter most to our economic future.
<hr>
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274790/original/file-20190516-69182-gyqlpw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274790/original/file-20190516-69182-gyqlpw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a> The red bars show the average intensity of the member states of the OECD and the European Union. Data for Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, and South Africa is from 2015; data for Singapore is from 2014. <a class="source" href="https://www.oecd.org/sti/DataBrief_MSTI_2018.pdf" target="_blank">OECD Main Science and Technology Indicators Database</a>
<hr>
Here’s how we got to where we are.
<h2>A deafening, blinding boom</h2>
After the terms of trade downturn of the 1980s and the economic reforms of the 1990s, Australia enjoyed the biggest, unanticipated mining boom in our history, thanks to the rise of China. John Howard wanted us to be “relaxed and comfortable” and we were, at least while it lasted.
Increased commodity prices boosted our terms of trade, without any extra effort on our part. By contrast with <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/how-australia-got-left-behind-in-manufacturing-and-innovation/6163528" target="_blank">Norway</a>, which prepared for its post-oil future with a 76% resource rent tax and sovereign wealth fund, Australians enjoyed tax cuts and a spending splurge.
However, the underlying structural problem of our economy had not gone away. Measured by the research intensity of our exports, Australia’s “<a href="https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/rankings/country/eci/" target="_blank">economic complexity</a>” ranks at 59, between Kazakhstan and Lebanon.
This index compiled by MIT’s Observatory of Economic Complexity is topped by Japan, Switzerland and Germany. Our position in <a href="https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/analysis-indicator" target="_blank">global innovation rankings</a> is no less dismal, especially when it comes to turning ideas into products.
While recent domestic growth has been driven by services, retail and construction, our future living standards will depend on how we pay our way in the world. This means identifying new, more sustainable sources of export income.
Of course, resources will still have a part to play, but not as unprocessed raw materials. For example, we have everything we need for renewable energy production, battery manufacture and hydrogen exports. And how could anyone contemplate continuation of the barbaric live animal trade?
The graphic below shows Australia’s export profile in 2017. Of US$244 billion in total exports, US$131 billion were mineral products.
<hr>
<iframe src="https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/embed/tree_map/hs92/export/aus/all/show/2017/?controls=false" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="100%" height="550"></iframe>
<hr>
This rebalancing won’t happen automatically through the market. It will require <a href="https://www.afr.com/brand/chanticleer/no-need-for-any-more-innovation-reviews-20151203-gletj5" target="_blank">active intervention</a> to manage the post-mining boom transition to an inclusive and dynamic knowledge-based economy. And to reverse the slowdown in productivity growth associated with current wage stagnation.
<h2>Too obvious to ignore</h2>
During the boom, high prices for coal and iron ore masked Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-would-it-take-to-raise-australian-productivity-growth-83505" target="_blank">deteriorating productivity performance</a>. Now mining no longer contributes to growth, the impact on our national income has become all too obvious.
That’s why it was so important to Malcolm Turnbull to reinvigorate the <a href="https://www.afr.com/leadership/innovation/malcolm-turnbulls-innovation-lovefest-20151210-glkiwk" target="_blank">national innovation and science agenda</a> with a focus on startups and business-university collaboration, after Tony Abbott’s $3 billion cuts to Labor’s programs.
And why it was then so disappointing he could not build on his agenda for an “ideas boom” to replace the mining boom.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sfCjdToaXwU?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" width="440" height="260"></iframe> Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull launches the National Innovation and Science Agenda in December 2015.
The Coalition government has cycled through three prime ministers and six industry ministers. It continues to cut science and innovation programs. Its latest budget “savings” included $4 billion from the Research and Development Tax Incentive scheme, $3.8 billion from the Education Investment Fund and $2.2 billion from higher education.
As a result, Australia’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jul/10/australias-spending-on-research-plummets-far-below-oecd-average" target="_blank">total spending on research and development</a> is now just 1.88% of GDP, from 2.11% five years ago. The government contribution (0.57%) is where it was in the 1980s. Meanwhile Japan and Sweden are committing more than 3%, and Korea and Israel more than 4%.
<h2>Small target strategies</h2>
For any mention of innovation and industry policy in the current election campaign, you have to look hard.
The Coalition has confined itself to some low-key announcements on a new space agency, defence innovation, genomics, food, marine science and manufacturing.
It has rejected or parked the recommendations of its own <a href="https://www.afr.com/news/economy/we-still-dont-have-a-joined-up-innovation-and-research-system-20180131-h0r12c" target="_blank">Innovation and Science Australia 2030 strategy</a>, including using any savings from winding back the R&amp;D Tax Incentive to promote high-growth export opportunities.
Labor has committed to a <a href="https://www.innovationaus.com/2019/05/170-boost-for-RD-Tax-Scheme" target="_blank">“collaboration premium”</a> to encourage business engagement with universities and the CSIRO as part of a restructured R&amp;D Tax Incentive (another key recommendation of the 2030 strategy).
However, it will also “bank” the Coalition’s savings to achieve its budget surplus. In this context, it will be all the more challenging for a new Labor government to achieve its R&amp;D target of 3% of GDP, given that this will require additional investment of at least $20 billion.
In addition, Labor has announced an “off-budget” $1 billion Manufacturing Future Fund and a series of initiatives on renewable technologies, biofabrication, food and fibre, artificial intelligence, blockchain, space, hydrogen, electric vehicles and “digital skills hubs”. In an important symbolic gesture, it has also promised to rescue CSIRO climate science.
These initiatives are clearly worthwhile, but do not restore the funding that has been lost, let alone increase it.
If new policy must be paid for, why not cut expenditure that actually impedes economic transition? The <a href="https://theconversation.com/estimating-the-cost-of-fuel-tax-credits-is-a-tricky-business-62777" target="_blank">diesel fuel tax rebate</a>, for example. This $6 billion scheme, whereby taxpayers subsidise fuel costs for the resources sector, is equivalent to almost half the entire annual budget outlay for research and innovation.
<h2>Weighing the costs</h2>
Most successful economies around the world use “knowledge foresights” to identify national priorities in areas of existing or potential competitive advantage. They have long-term, coherent <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-things-about-innovation-australia-can-learn-from-other-countries-50966" target="_blank">policy frameworks</a> for pursuing these priorities.
Australia’s next government will have a chance to devise such a framework, in cooperation with business, unions and research organisations. Of course, it will require substantial public as well as private investment. But we can no longer afford a “do nothing” approach.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116966/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/roy-green-3866" target="_blank">Roy Green</a>, Emeritus Professor &amp; UTS innovation adviser, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936" target="_blank">University of Technology Sydney</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-the-only-way-to-save-australia-from-a-deep-hole-but-innovation-policy-is-missing-in-action-116966" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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