What is ‘industry led’ research?

The term ‘industry led’ is commonly heard from government when the topic of applied research is discussed. Often when government establishes a new initiative, the first step is to engage with industry to obtain input to ensure that industry priorities are considered. Will this make the whole initiative industry-led? Is this enough?

In February 2016, ACRI was invited to present to the Joint Select Committee’s public inquiry into Trade and Investment Growth. As part of the presentation, ACRI’s CEO, Vicki Brown, presented ACRI’s operating model to senators as a truly industry-led model. Not only was ACRI established by industry and state governments, without any federal funding, creating an industry-led organisation, each and every piece of research or analysis undertaken by ACRI is proposed by industry, developed with industry guidance and endorsed by industry before commencing. Then upon completion of the research, industry guidance is used to refine outcomes before they are developed to a level of quality sufficient for industry to endorse.

The Joint Select Committee recognised the strength of ACRI’s operating model and even went as far as to say:

“This committee talks a lot about lack of collaboration between universities and industry. The way I see your role is that you are a bridge between the universities and the industry, because you understand what the universities can offer. You understand the problems industry wants to solve. In that sense, you are a really good model that potentially could be copied to other industries.”

With such a ringing endorsement of the model delivered, it is clear that there is something here worth building on.

Another key benefit of the ACRI model presented to senators was the ability to obtain research outcomes and innovative solutions for the benefit of the entire sector though ACRI’s international partnerships. For example, ACRI’s partnership agreement with the UK Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) that enables the exchange of Level Crossing safety outcomes. This allows ACRI Participants to benefit from protected research undertaken in the UK RSSB that would otherwise be unavailable in Australia.

Bringing such a clear and direct benefit to Australia ensures ACRI can deliver value to our Participants while continuing to support trade and investment growth for the entire sector through improved efficiency and productivity.

For further information on participating in ACRI, please contact:

Tristan Hogg

E: tristan.hogg@infrastructure.gov.au

T: 02 6274 7525