GEN Australia 2023 Research Champion Award
On behalf of GEN Australia and the Australian innovation ecosystem, we were honoured and humbled to receive the Research Champion Award at the 2023 Melbourne Global Entrepreneurship Congress last week
Among the many amazing events of the last week at the Melbourne 2023 Global Entrepreneurship Congress was receiving the Research Champion Award for GEN Australia for our work in ecosystem mapping and policy mapping, and contribution to the GEN Research Community and relaunch of the GEN Atlas.
Every award is earned on the shoulders of giants. This award in particular is shared by a cohort of national and global community of inspirational leaders.
On a personal note, my PhD journey is a credit to my supervisors Retha Wiesner, Aastha Malhotra, and Char-lee McLennan who guided me down productive paths. The core premise in my research relating to economic development, rural communities, sustainability, and community resilience was inspired by thought leaders before me including John Cole who provided early mentoring in the ways of holistic sustainability, Jim Cavaye who developed models for roles and functions to transform rural economic development out of hands-on regional innovation extension, and Geoff Woolcock who provided community resilience indexing and impact measurement.
The direction of my research was transformed by a visit to the Kauffman Foundation and a conversation with Andy Stoll who not only said 'Yes' to a random guy from Australia asking questions but asked me back to attend the inaugural 2017 ESHIP Summit. Andy along with the team including Philip Gaskin, Victor Hwang, and Cecilia Wessinger transformed my views on ecosystem building through mentoring, the ESHIP Summits, and the later ESHIP Goal Champion network.
I would not have had the opportunity to test ideas if not for the support of my roles with the Ipswich City Council's incubator Fire Station 101 and the Office of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur under the leadership of Mark Sowerby and Steve Baxter. The period between 2012 to 2018 was a phenomenon in the Australian innovation ecosystem, creating opportunities for discoveries and new fields of research. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's $1.1 billion National Innovation and Science Agenda facilitated an explosion of innovation activity and created fertile ground for innovation ecosystem research.
The period was a catalyst for leaders forging new paths in the Australian innovation ecosystem, many of whom I admired and aspired to emulate and now later call friends. While there are too many influences to name and at the risk of offense through omission, a few who share in the credit for my personal journey and have influenced where the ecosystem is today include:
Peter Ball from Greater Outcomes as we tested social enterprise accelerator programs in schools,
Bruce Stronge from Outfit who led the Brisbane chapter of Random Hacks of Kindness as we explored measuring the impact of hackathons,
Dianna Sommerville who connected leaders across Australia as part of the Regional PitchFest and later brought us together for the unique 8point8 conference,
The team involved with the Startup Catalyst excursion program, including Aaron Birkby, Peter Laurie, and Breanna Barnes connecting innovation ecosystem leaders with a deep dive into other global ecosystems
The local Queensland innovation ecosystem leaders who generously gave their time and insights over the years. While there are too many to list, the collective wisdom that has contributed to the current strength of the local ecosystem is significant: Darren Rogan, Monica Bradley, Joe Hoolahan, David Masefield, Joy Taylor, Eleanor Carey, Troy Haines, Sharon Hunneybell, Jarryd Townson, Craig (CJ) Josic, Mark Phillips, Linda McCall, Daniel Johnsen, Anne Lawrence, Paulette Oldfield, Mark Gustowski, Philippe Ceulen, Tim Hui, Steve Butler, Tom Allen, Jason Lowe, Baden U'ren, Nicole Dyson, Cat Kitney, Kate Montgomery, Tara Diversi, Luis Arroyo, Steve Dalton, Sue Keay, Lara Wilde, Chris Boden, @Bernie Gary Swanepoel, Colin Graham, Nathan Luu Nguyen, Nimrod Klayman, Mark Paddenburg, Richelle McNae, Retha Scheepers, Bernie Woodcroft, Victor Vicario, Marc Orchard, Dan Swan, PhD ... and so many more
Current research into the Australian innovation ecosystem is a collective effort with significant strengths.
The federal government's Department of Industry, Science, and Resources has a long history of innovation research under leadership including Frank Tonkin and now Sandra Roussel, including the Australian innovation system monitor and the innovation metrics review.
There is some great work coming out of state programs including Queensland's Advance Queensland monitoring and evaluation frameworks with Nicole Blackett and Santi Owen, Victoria's LaunchVic ecosystem research, New South Wales Innovation and Productivity Council research, and Western Australia's Spacecubed and Lottery West innovation index society.
Dedicated university centres including the Adelaide Business School's Entrepreneurship Commercialisation and Innovation Centre with Professor Paul Steffans and Queensland University of Technology's Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research (ACER) with Associate Professor Rui Torres de Oliveira.
QUT's ACER has been particularly influential for me and the national and global entrepreneur research ecosystem in my time there as a Research Fellow working with Associate Professor Char-lee McLennan on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, learning from her work with Vibhor Pandey integrating with government data sources through the LABii platform, and learning and sharing at the annual Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research Exchange.
The most valuable research comes with direct application, to which I credit the support and impact focus of the Rural Economies Centre of Excellence (RECoE) at the University of Southern Queensland. The team is a source of support, inspiration, leadership, and friendship as we focus on applied research to transform regions for Australian and global impact. I am grateful for the leadership of the Institute for Resilient Regions' Prof Hon. John McVeigh, RECoE Director Assoc Prof Ben Lyons, and my colleagues Geoff Woolcock, Saleena Ham, Marlyn McInnerney, and Fynn De Daunton. I also have to give a shout-out to my PhD students from whom I learn much on a daily basis, including Moudassir Habib researching the uptake of AgTech, and Chris Rhyss researching acceleratior impact with a focus on veterans.
I am also grateful to the universities, government agencies, foundations, incubators, corporations, and peak bodies that we have partnered with over the years to advance our collective understanding of innovation ecosystem impact, including the Australian Department of Industry, Logan City Council, Moreton Bay Council, Sunshine Coast Council, Bundaberg Regional Council, Ipswich City Council, Red Earth Community Foundation, University Southern Coast, Fortescue Metals, AusAgriTech, Flexible Workspace Australia, Queensland Department of Agriculture, Austrade, The Office of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur, South Australian Government, the Queensland AI Hub, Gold Coast (GC) Hub, Flinders University, the Limestone Coast Region, Western Australian government, Spacecubed, and Lottery West.
I acknowledge the leadership of the GEN Australia board who over the past year have inspired and guided our impact, including the chair and Queensland Chief Entrepreneur Julia Spicer AOM, Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre CEO Matt Salier, and GEN Global president Jonathan Ortmans. I am appreciative of the operational support from Grant Downie who has helped with the execution of GEN Australia's activities.
Credit also needs to go to those who raised their hands leading up to the GEC to support in their areas of expertise in various capacities including some as GEN Australia Leads: Emma Coath (food and agriculture), Thomas Gooch (space), Renu Kannu (energy and resources), Margaret O'Brien (youth and schools), Buzz Palmer (health and life sciences), Martin Schlegel (sports), Tristonne Forbes (creative industries), Mick Liubinskas (climate), Julia Spicer (rural), Leslie Delaforce (Indigenous entrepreneurship), Warwick Peel (sustainable development goals), Rebecca Rozencwajg (female entrepreneurship), Matt Salier (universities), Cheryl Mack (investment), Kate Cornick (investment), Georgia McDonald (incubation), and David Burt (philanthropy).
Finally, a shout of appreciation needs to go to the GEN Global Research and Policy team for driving and facilitating the global research agenda under Director of Policy and Research Matt Smith and the team including Associate Researcher Tom Hancock.
At the Melbourne GEC, we held a research summit where we discussed what is next for entrepreneur ecosystem research. The discussions align with the future of research to expect from GEN Australia, aligned with GEN Australia's five areas of impact:
Clarity through mapping and research: supporting every region, sector, and focus area to have a clear, visual representation of those supporting innovation and entrepreneurship;
Connection and connectivity of data, resources, and networks: supporting interoperability of data across platforms and regions, and broad sharing within regions and across region and sector boundaries;
Capability and capacity of mapping support: supporting the advancement of professional development for those providing mapping and research services;
Collaboration for shared research outcomes: supporting communities of practice around dedicated research practice areas including the development of an innovation ecosystem cartography centre of excellence;
Advocacy and promotion of ecosystem research: supporting the development and awareness of best practices and leveraging metrics and research to direct funds towards localised and national ecosystem research.
That I sat down to give credit to a few people and ended up thinking of a few hundred is a testament to the collective recipients of this Research Champion Award. On behalf of GEN Australia, I am grateful to leaders across the Australian and global innovation ecosystem who build our collective understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship to inform policy, improve programs, and ensure opportunities are available for everyone.