The government of New South Wales (NSW) has reportedly formed a five-year innovation collaboration with 11 public universities to offer funding for 100 innovation projects.
This move is part of the government’s plan to establish Sydney as the smart city of the future. The collaboration was executed through an MoU (memorandum of understanding) and will see 100 existing and upcoming university-based projects to be offered funding along with partnership from the state government. The projects are from a broad range of sectors including big data, cybersecurity, and AI among others.
The announcement of the state follows a federal government announcement made a fortnight ago that proposed initiatives worth AU$ 2 billion focusing on commercializing research, which includes AU$ 296 million over ten years to create nearly 800 fellowships and 1,800 PhDs focused on the industry. These announcements will be implemented if the state government wins the upcoming federal election.
Dominic Perrottet, the 46th Premier of New South Wales, expressed that the state houses some of the leading universities of the world, and the administration intends to reinforce its working relationships with the vertical to commercialize R&D leading local precincts where people reside and create jobs.
The universities involved in the collaboration include Charles Sturt University, Australian Catholic University, Macquarie University, University of New South Wales, University of New England, University of Newcastle, University of Sydney, Southern Cross University, Western Sydney University, University of Wollongong, and the University of Technology Sydney.
Barney Glover, the President of Western Sydney University and the convener of the NSW Committee of Vice-Chancellors of the universities stated that the university sector accepted the partnership of the government in bringing more research ideas that can be transitioned towards commercialization.
It should be noted that the AU$ 2 billion worth of initiatives would be an addition to the AU$ 247 million proposed for a program of Trailblazer Universities by the federal government a year ago.
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