FUTURE & INNOVATION
Is Australia really an innovation nation ?
By Gaia Grant and Andrew Grant
Australians may be the proud originators of a range of interesting inventions including the Hills Hoist , the refrigerator , the black box flight recorder and the electronic pacemaker , but can we call ourselves an innovation nation ?
A timeline of Australian inventions shows that the production of recognized useful inventions has in fact slowed a fair bit in the 21st century . Additionally , Australia appears to be stalling or slipping in global innovation rankings , with a 17th position in the 2015 Global Innovation Index .
What ’ s more , recent studies have revealed that only 16 % of Australian businesses have a high performing innovation culture , compared with 44 % of the global top 100 companies .
So what ’ s the problem ? Is it time to change the game and start competing differently ?
First , build a creative culture to support innovation
Australia actually comes top in the global rankings when different measures are used . When creativity capability measures are used , instead of simply calculating the number of patents registered ( which has been the standard innovation measure until recently ), Australia excels .
Out of 139 countries measured in the 2015 Global Creativity Index , Australia has been identified as having the best culture to support innovation .
The key factors that build a creative culture , according to urban studies researcher Richard Florida from the University of Toronto , are what he calls the three T ’ s : Technology , Talent and Tolerance . Australia has scored highly on the last two of these measures ,
56 ModernBusiness October 2016