Regional Advantage and Innovation: Achieving Australia's National Outcomes

457 Pages·2013·3.92 MB·English

by  Dr. Susan Kinnear

Regional Advantage and Innovation
.
Susan Kinnear (cid:129) Kate Charters (cid:129) Peter Vitartas
Editors
Regional Advantage
and Innovation
Achieving Australia’s National Outcomes
Editors
SusanKinnear KateCharters
CentreforEnvironmentalManagement ManagementSolutionsQueensland
CQUniversity Brisbane,Queensland
NorthRockhampton,Queensland Australia
Australia
PeterVitartas
SouthernCrossBusinessSchool
SouthernCrossUniversity
Lismore,NewSouthWales
Australia
ISBN978-3-7908-2798-9 ISBN978-3-7908-2799-6(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-7908-2799-6
SpringerHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2012952475
#Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2013
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Foreword
ThehistoryofAustraliacanbereadasahistoryofadialoguebetweenits‘centre’
and its ‘periphery’: a dialogue symbolised by the continuing imbalance between
populationdensityandproductivity,as,despite80%ofourpopulationstillliving
lessthan50kmfromthecoast,itisthewealthfromaproductiveruralandregional
Australiathatunderpinsournationalqualityoflifeandwell-being.
Thiscollectededition,drawingasitdoesfrombothacademicandpracticefields,
isatimelycontributiontothecurrentimportantconversationabouttheplaceinthe
nationalfutureofAustralian‘regions’.Astheauthorshighlight,thetermitselfhas
multiplemeanings,butinournationalcontext,itusuallyimplies ‘anywhereother
than the capital cities’. These are historically, culturally and politically important
landscapesandinthis,theseconddecadeofthetwenty-firstcentury,aswebeginto
‘disappear’ the tyranny of distance through new technologies, regions have again
emergedasbeingunderstoodtobecriticaltothenation’sfutureprosperity.
Drawingona breadth ofnationaland internationalliterature, and through case
studies, the authors put the proposition that it is through innovation, which they
argue,is‘everyone’sbusiness’,thatdeterminingandnurturingregionaladvantage
lies.Theyalsoputthestrongcasethatthecurrentopportunityofincreasedpolitical
regional advantage should be leveraged now to ensure that the balance of invest-
ment between regions is maintained, that rigorous tools for enabling evidence-
based policy be developed and that ‘collaboration, coordination, cooperation and
leadershipbefosteredandchampioned’forfuturesustainability.
The crucial link between people, their communities and the regions in which
theylive,formsanimportantthemetothebook.Thearrivalofnewcomers,bringing
withthemenergy,enthusiasmandadesireforsocialinvestment,givesregionstheir
‘engine’ for change. Some of the case studies highlight how important the
connectionsbetweenlong-termresidentsandnewcomersaretoenablingcreativity
andinnovation,butalsotolonger-termculturalandsocialcapitalbuilding.
For regions to be able to realise their full potential, partnerships across sectors
arevitalandthisiswheretheRuralIndustriesResearchandDevelopmentCorpo-
ration plays its part in supporting government and industry partnerships in
innovation,specificallythroughcross-sectorinitiatives,suchasresourceandlabour
v
vi Foreword
competition, transport,infrastructure and regional community transformation. For
exampleChap.14detailstheresultsfromonesuchcommissionontheintroduction
ofbroadbandtoregionalTasmania.
Thisbookraisesmanyimportantissuesforfuturediscussion,aswellasoffering
interesting and relevant case studies as examples of practice. I am certain it will
proveavaluableandusefuladditiontopolicymakers,practitioners,academicsand
communitymembers,andIcommendittoeveryonewhoisinterestedandinvolved
inthefutureofruralandregionalAustralia.
ProfessorDanielaStehlik,
Chair,RuralIndustriesResearchandDevelopmentCorporation
Acknowledgements
The editors gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided by Management
Solutions Queensland during collation of this book, particularly Jessica Shelton
andLiz Boulton.We alsovery much appreciatethe work donebyGail Tucker of
CQUniversityonformattingandfigures.
WethankRoyMorganResearchAustralia(HowardSeccombe,AnneBallagny),
whogenerouslygavetheirtimeandorganisationalresourcestoconductthesurvey
ofregionalsmallbusiness,asdescribedinChap.19.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge the organizing committee of SEGRA
(Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia) and its conference
participants, who have contributed to and developed the debate of regions and
communitiesoverthepast15years.
vii
.
Contents
PartI Regions,RegionalAdvantageandInnovation
1 AnIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
SusanKinnear,KateCharters,andPeterVitartas
PartII CommentaryandAnalysis
2 InnovationinRegionalAustralia:Effective,Lagging
orUnder-Utilised? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
KilianPerrem
3 TheChallengesofDeliveringa‘SustainableAustralia’ . . . . . . . . 41
JamieQuinnandSoniaKirby
4 TransitionsinRegionalDevelopmentPolicy:Comparative
toCompetitiveAdvantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
TonyMcCall
5 IntegratingInnovation,SustainabilityandRegionalDevelopment
Goals:DeliveringonNationalPolicyThrough‘Regional
Collaboratives’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
SusanKinnearandIanOgden
6 SmartCompanies,SmartRegions—TheInnovationChallenge
forRegionalBusiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
RowanGilmore
7 RegionsandInnovation:AReflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
GeoffEdwards
ix