Does Australia still suffer from Tech Cringe?
In 1950, the Australian writer and critic, A.A. Phillips introduced the term 'Cultural Cringe ' describing the tendency among Australians to perceive the work of their artists and writers as inferior to that originating from overseas, with a particular emphasis on Britain and the United States.
As far as I can discover, this term was expanded in 1984 to include the phenomenon of Technological Cringe [1984 Hansard] and [1984 Canberra].
Unfamiliar with this term at the time, I was immersed in my Physics studies at Adelaide University, and as I roamed the corridors of the physics department, observing the shells of old prototype satellites, I found myself contemplating the fate of Australia's space industry, and the fact that many people were completely unaware of Australia's achievements back in 1967 with the launch of (WRESAT ) - Australian becoming the seventh nation to possess a satellite and the third nation to launch one from its own territory. I also recall buying a MicroBee personal computer and arguing with the friends over the superiority of Australian technology.
In 1986 I joined CSIRO as an experimental scientist, and as a public servant, I would have been familiar with the comments made by the ministers Barry Jones and John Button. However, I cannot recall explicitly hearing this term until it was mentioned in relation to the ICT industry in 1998 [1998 - AFR].
Our confidence in Australia Tech started to build with a number of initiatives:
I suspect that this confidence collapsed in mid 2010's with the closure of the Australian automotive industries [2017 AFR] along with significant redundancies in major research institutes [2016 Conversation].
The term 'tech-cringe' then re-emerged in 2015 when attention shifted to the emerging National Innovation Science Agenda (NISA) and the need to increase the number of Australian tech firms, as discussed in the [2015 Conversation].
I personally experienced a low point in 2020 when the government declared a shift towards prioritising tech adoption over creation, as reported in the [2020 InnovationAus]. I believe a healthy equilibrium should be struck between the two. Mere creation without subsequent adoption is hallucination, while adoption without continuous creation amounts to mere consumption. Both creation and adoption are integral stages in the innovation process, and their symbiotic relationship is crucial for achieving meaningful impact and, ideally, transformation.
Why is this important?
Because - Culture eats strategy for breakfast
This statement is attributed to the influential management consultant and author, Peter Drucker . While strategy and policy hold significant importance for both companies and countries, the absence of a conducive environment, often encapsulated by culture, can impede the success of a strategy. Specifically, a culture characterized by "technological cringe" can profoundly affect the market reception of Australian technology. In such an environment, the Australian market may lack confidence in the quality and capability of homegrown technology, posing a considerable challenge to its successful sale and adoption.
This culture will have significant impact upon the levels of:
What can we do about this?
We need to start telling our tech stories!
Australia has some fantastic examples that I am aware of:
And Wikipedia has a list of Australian Inventions - but is far from complete!
But such stories are not changing our culture.
I recall as a teenager watching the ABC TV series The Inventors .
Perhaps we need something like this on Social Media.
I have attempted to tell my own story:
Beyond just sharing more narratives, it's crucial to refrain from undermining ourselves with economic complexity rankings , as highlighted in the [2023 InnovationAus]. While such statistics may be concerning, they don't accurately represent our full potential. Hidden complexities within METS supply chains, for instance, are not accounted for, emphasizing the need to shift our focus towards improving and enhancing the visibility of these capabilities.
I have attempted to do this in a number of articles:
In my own area of expertise, Australia has for decades, been a world leader in field robotics and remote operations - we need to take advantage of our strengths:
Fortunately there have been a number of recent developments, including the formation of a industry associations, that are positive
References
[1984 Hansard] AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT BOUNTY AMENDMENT BILL
"When dealing with government department suggestions that they suffer from a?technological?cringe?.... Their attitude is ''We can't have this tinny Australian stuff. We know the Americans can make the best''.' Dr Clive Coogan
[1984 Canberra] Warns of 'Luck country' apathy
Unless it shook off the effects of the "technological?cringe"?and recognised the benefits of becoming a leader in the field, there was little chance of competing in the computer industry, which by the end of the decade would be the largest single industry in the world.
[1986 - SMH] Minister accuses industry of??'technological?cringe'
[1986 - Hansard] MECHANISMS FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER INTO AUSTRALIA
It is true, as the report points out, that there is still a degree of?technological cringe in Australia. The report indicates that overseas technology is more highly regarded by Australian firms and consumers than our locally developed products and processes. It is certainly true that we need to overcome this?technological cringe?because there is no reason to believe that Australian-produced goods in this area are any less valuable or useful than those which are brought from overseas.
[1986 Canberra] Gorbachev's glasnost v Barnett's permafrost
Australians had a?"technological?cringe"?which led them to believe that Australians never invented anything worth?purloining.
[1986 Science] Australia Bids to Reenter the Space Race
"We often talk in this country about a cultural cringe, but I think we also have a strong technological cringe, a feeling that we cannot do things as well as other countries", "This has to change; we must use our industrial opportunities, such as those offered by space, to lift our technological skills" Kenneth G. McCracken
[1994 Canberra] Prince Charles and Bill Gates: our once and future kings
The cultural?cringe?behind the reporter's stock question to big-name visitors has all but been replaced by an information and?technology?cringe.?We?cringe?in the presence of the avalanche of new tools and trinkets regardless of their human significance, we?cringe?in the presence of Bill Gates, but above all we?cringe in the face of the "inevitable" future.
"Australia's technology industry is being held back by the Federal Government's lack of understanding, and by policies that do not adequately support the industry" Adrian Di Marco managing director of Technology One
[2015 The Conversation] It will take more than being ‘bouncy’ to fix Australia’s innovation?system
Why so few technology-based firms? The reasons are many, but fundamentally it goes back to technological cringe (if it’s invented here, there must be something wrong with it), and a belief (cemented into the public service) that any policy (such as supportive public purchasing) that assists an Australian firm to do anything at all is “protectionist”."
[2016 The Conversation] CSIRO cuts ‘will rob Australian industry of research?expertise’
Australia’s business culture is still focused on natural resources, agriculture and tourism, and that CSIRO has a crucial role in scientific innovation that is not being pursued by business. The private sector does not embrace R&D as it does in other nations. That is why is it so important to have CSIRO, as a relatively large and highly effective organisation that basically fills a very big gap” Simon McKeon
[2017 The Conversation] Collapse of Australian car manufacturing will harm R&D in other sectors
Importantly, the collapse of the motor vehicle industry could adversely impact the viability of the PSTS industry. This industry provides services in scientific research, architecture, engineering, computer systems design, law, accounting, advertising, market research, management and other consultancy, veterinary science and professional photography. Scientists in this sector, including CSIRO staff, are mainly involved in R&D activities.
[2020 InnovationAus] Uninspiring: ScoMo’s tech adoption fail
Mr Morrison centred his government’s digital policies around the quick adoption of overseas tech products by everyday SMEs rather than the creation of new technologies by startups and the likes". "It’s unfortunately uninspiring. It’s exactly the opposite of what we should be aiming to achieve in Australia” Niki Scevak
“Australia has a long history in space but a lot of people aren’t aware of it. There’s still a ‘technological cringe’ in Australia, but space isn’t just about the rockets anymore.” says Gorman
With the introduction, in 1979, of The Fairlight Computer Music Instrument (CMI), Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie brought digital sampling and sequencing to the music world, turning the recording industry on its head.
[2023 - Create] Australian computing’s trailblazing — yet forgotten — origins
In November 1949, CSIRO scientists in Sydney independently created what is now recognised as only the fourth digital stored program computer in the world: CSIRAC. It came hot on the heels of other first-generation computers created in the UK and the US only a year earlier.
Australia’s national pathology has always been anchored around a fear of abandonment – by the British Empire, by the US, by the free world – and a bristling resentment for being made to feel like that. Australia’s failure to understand its own influence is hindering its ability to shape global events. Put simply, Australia’s cultural cringe is directly undermining its national security.
[2023 - AIG] Understanding Australia’s declining R&D performance
"It is therefore concerning that Australia’s performance is going backwards. The rate of both business and government R&D has declined over the last decade, despite it being a time when technological change is accelerating. This decline is also an Australian problem, as rates have been stable or increasing in our advanced economy peers" Jeffrey Wilson
[2023 - InnovationAus] Public sector procurement reform to build local industry
"I’ve been told story after story of growing businesses receiving government grants to support the development of innovative products only to find at the completion of the grant process, a closed door awaiting them as far as government procurement is concerned" David Pocock
[2021 - InnovationAus] Australia’s economic complexity ranking now behind Uganda
Australia’s international ranking in economic complexity has fallen again, with the country now sat at 93 out of 133 countries in an index produced by Harvard University researchers. The Atlas highlights that the existing diversifying knowhow in Australia is insufficient to grow the economy and it is relatively difficult to diversify Australia’s exports by building on existing export products.
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4 个月Yes, it does. Rio Tinto did it, and now they trying the same in Serbia - we will NOT let them. Stop Rio Tinto@
Insightful discussion Elliot and love your reference to Drucker - Culture eats strategy for breakfast. The market adoption of new technology is a pet area for myself and is not a unique Australian challenge also. The adoption curve highlights pockets of adoption by early adopters of technology in Tier 1 miners and other early adopters . Many mining companies are littered in with failed technology projects due to overhyped expectations and under resourced execution. I think those that have succeeded have focused on core areas which have been standardised & validated quickly. The complex mining ecosystem of stakeholders and lack of standards , proprietary solutions, risk averse of mines and short term nature of planning horizon makes the transformational technology hard to embrace. A focus in incremental innovation , that is validated and easily executed can accelerate the adoption of technology and reach those majority laggards who dont have the mindset or maturity of early adopters. It is easier to reward mediocrity ( status quo) than embrace change, which is inherently what new technology creates. Off course the self validating nature of some new technology doesnt help, as you need to be solving today's problems also.
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11 个月Great article Elliot, your thesis is well supported. But some of us Aussie METS are well regarded nationally and internationally. We exits today 51yrs on because we listern to our customers then help them adopt fit for purpose technology solutions.
Elliot Duff thanks for the thoughtful reflections on the cringe. Yes, culture is an issue that was discussed at the National Innovation Policy Forum, and my fear is twofold. That we can intellectually discuss the importance of change and not implement, and that while the "innovation community" might initiate change, the strong normalising effect of broader Australian culture around risk and tall poppies, not invented here, etc may be overwhelming! On the Complexity Indices, while I understand that point we shouldn't get too hung up on these, government does, and as the major investor in the innovation system we need to at least take note of where we are. However, as the story goes, we are trying to get to our destination and while we wouldn't choose to start from here, here is where we are so need to understand the pathway from where we all find ourselves.