Beyond mining and agriculture where Australia is renowned as an innovation leader, if you mention our lack of a strong innovation and science culture the conversation invariably turns to the supposed global exemplars, Israel and Singapore.
Both are small nations punching well above their weight on the research and development (R&D) front.
Yet both countries are quite unique in the way they approach R&D investment. In Singapore’s case, the government plays a huge role in promoting local talent and also by attempting to attract innovators from overseas.
According to Sigalit Klimovsky who is a partner in Israeli venture capital firm, Grove Ventures, the country’s booming innovation scene does not cut across every sector.
“It really depends on how old a company is or how large it is when it comes to innovation. It’s the newer corporates that are much more likely to adopt state-of-the-art practices.”
“For example, some of our banks are advanced and some are not. Technological advances like the mobile wallet aren’t used as widely as they’re used here in Australia or Europe for example,” Klimovsky says.
Read the article by Mark Eggleton in the Australian Financial Review.