Cross Sector Technology SMEs are Essential for Australia’s Business Growth in the Space sector.

Cross-sector technology trends to improve performance in value chain automation; interoperability, industrial robotics and machine learning; IoT and AI; strategic partnering and solving large industry problems. Last week was the first of the sector and technology-focused sectionof the QuantumTX cross-sector ecosystem development program.  

The panel focused on the essential role small & medium businesses have in sectors such as the Australian space, mining, oil & gas and agriculture industries. The discussion commenced with Karl Rodrigues, Executive Director International and National Engagement at Australian Space Agency. Karl’s background in venture capital and small business sectors provide some excellent insights as the space sector continues to evolve and engage technology solutions from other sectors.

The expert panel also included Lauren Stafford, Woodside Energy Open Innovation and AROSE Partnerships; former MD of Scanalyse, Peter Clarke;and Greg Riebe, Board Director of Calytrix Technologies. The main take-ways for small businesses were;

· Understand the supply chain challenges of the sector to align business models and fill market demand gaps.

· Develop strong value propositions that direct where to position within the sector.

· Proactively seek strategic partnering with large suppliers already in embedded in market.

· Developing synergies with like-minded businesses to scale leaner and more rapidly.

· Competitive advantage focus areas with a higher likelihood of attracting international investment included technology in remote operations, automation, AI and data sciences.

· Covid-19 response and market conditions highlighted more sovereign capability for business continuity. It also created opportunities to work on-the-business to better know the target market and build trust in new relationships.

“Small & medium businesses can play an important role in scaling the Australian space industry. Australia has great capability in key existing sectors such as resources, energy, communications, medicine and more and it is these businesses that now have an opportunity to adapt those proven solutions to the needs of the emerging space sector. We encourage programs like QuantumTX, to play a role in creating those connections and opportunities across sectors whilst helping build capability.” Karl Rodrigues, Executive Director International and National Engagement at Australian Space Agency

The panel was preceded by a series of expert speakers on Cross-Sector Technology Trends.

Sharna Glover discussed the integration of value chains being essential to maximising efficiency in all sectors. Sharna is CEO of Imvelo, a Member of the ASA Advisory Group, a Board Member of the Robotics Australia Group, and an Affiliate Partner of QuantumTX. Calling from her eighteen years as a Director of Transformation in BHP, Sharna noted;

“This is the business model transformation that is enabled by digital technology, or Industry 4.0 as it is referred. Corporate culture and embracing innovative strategic partnering are going to be the defining ingredients for companies to unlock the transformation to accelerate value and mitigate risk.” 

“There is common thread in all resources – that of heterogeneity.  Whether we are talking mining, agriculture, forestry, or meat and livestock. An integrated value chain means that the value arising from heterogeneity can be extracted in near to real time”.

Jacqui Coombes, AMIRA Global CEO discussed Inter-Operability and how digitally linking components of the supply chain was essential. She also highlighted some key AMIRA research projects designed to bring communities together to solve major industry challenges and develop new technologies. These included projects to develop UAV-mounted geophysical sensor arrays and the potential Neerabup Automation and Robotics Park.

Tom Goerke, CISCO Australia’s Innovation Centres Director, spoke on trends in IoT and AI to improve performance, as well as providing examples to illustrate how innovation can occur at scale through digital connectivity. He also discussed the potential of combining sensing technologies with analytic software to solve new industry problems using the latest approaches and technology.

More information on Quantum Technology Exchange is at QuantumTX or Atomic Sky.