Creating a National Prototyping Facility would tackle the 'missing middle' of product development, keeping Australian ideas, innovation and entrepreneurs onshore, and securing the country's future prosperity.
In its Pre-Budget submission on behalf of more than 225,000 scientists and technologists, Science & Technology Australia has called for strategic investment in industry development to create a prosperous Australia made from Australian ideas.
While Australia has world-class STEM-skilled research expertise to innovate, too many great ideas never become economy-boosting products because of the challenge of developing early-stage prototypes prior to scale-up. The proposal put forward by STA would see the creation of a nationally-coordinated network of facilities to support pre-market development, testing and scale-up.
"Prototyping products to give business the confidence to invest is the missing middle of Australia's manufacturing capability," said STA Chief Executive Officer Ryan Winn.
"Because the country doesn't have this, our best innovators and entrepreneurs are forced to develop and test their products overseas, or worse, great ideas are simply shelved."
"Australia's early-stage business ventures and researchers looking to translate and commercialise work need access to a national facility to test product viability, trial designs and optimise manufacturing processes."
"This proposal would ensure that more Australian ideas and innovations are turned into the products, services and jobs of tomorrow. It would fill a significant gap in the country's capability, and ensure that Australia's businesses have the support they need to help transform our economy."
Spanning the 'valley of death' stages of innovation, the National Prototyping Facility would deliver crucial government support to de-risking the proof-of-concept and early scale up stages of product development, enabling industry to invest with greater confidence.
"Australia has the research smarts, and it has government initiatives working to support advanced manufacturing. This year's Budget is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring those things together by tackling what's missing," said Mr Winn.
