RMIT, UTS to stimulate Australia's tech sector

RMIT University and the UTS will this week launch separate facilities with the potential to bolster Australia’s technology sector.

RMIT and NICTA will launch a $1.5 million data analytics lab at the university’s School of Computer Science and IT.

The new facility will aim to become a hub for advanced data analytics projects for researchers as well as Victorian and Australian businesses. It will launch on Thursday.

It will be be led by Professor Mark Sanderson and Professor Timos Sellis, and accommodate 18 doctoral students, 4 postdoctoral fellows and international visitors.

The lab will specialise in user and data analytics projects with applications in industries including health, logistics, smart cities, the environment and security.

“Data analytics - and big data - is one of the next big waves of ICT innovation, with PricewaterhouseCoopers recently predicting it offers a $3.8 billion opportunity for Australian businesses,” Sellis said.

“The NICTA RMIT Data Analytics Lab aims to open up these opportunities to Victorian business and government partners.”

The University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) will meanwhile use Thursday to launch a new tech precinct aimed at growing jobs in Australia’s start-up sector.

Intersection: Sydney's Digital Creative Hub will serve as a start-up incubator. It has the support of corporates, start-ups, and creative, education and government organisations.

UTS Deputy Vice Chancellor for Resources Patrick Woods said the university’s location in Ultimo is ideally placed to serve the high concentrations of entrepreneurial organisations in Ultimo, Surry Hills and the Sydney CBD.

“Sydney is a global innovation leader, with NSW home to 40% of Australia’s creative and digital industries and City of Sydney data showing a 252% jump in workers in those industries in Pyrmont and Ultimo over the past six years,” he said.

But studies show that Australia is well behind other countries in terms of the number of start-ups operating and their access to funds and supporting services, he said.

“Study after study has shown that for our economy to thrive in a digital age we need a strong start-up sector that is well supported by innovative companies and partnerships between education, government and the community. Intersection has been created to connect large companies with start-ups, develop programs of events, mentoring and internships, and raise Sydney’s global profile through collaboration.”

Image courtesy Nathan Larkin under CC