R&D Collaborations Offer Scope For Innovation

Collaborations between the State’s universities and the business community offer much scope for innovation but many business people are unaware of the opportunities that exist, according to the latest the South Australian Business Chamber-Statewide Super Survey of Business Expectations (SOBE).

Businesses that have worked with researchers report positive outcomes but almost half the respondents to the September quarter SOBE were not aware of government grants and tax incentive schemes to support investment in innovation by the corporate sector.

The latest SOBE explored the R&D issue with a series of supplementary questions and elicited some surprising results from the 215 respondents.

When asked if they had accessed grants or tax incentives to assist a company to become more innovative, and whether that endeavour had been successful, 23.7% of respondents replied ​‘yes’. A further 4.2% of respondents said the grants they had accessed had not been helpful.

However, 72% of respondents said they had never accessed a grant or tax incentive with a view to making their organisations more innovative.

The low take-up rate of grants and incentives is hard to reconcile with the fact that 91.5% of respondents agreed with the proposition that being innovative was ​‘important to the success of your business’.

On the specific question of whether the individuals surveyed had ever partnered with, or considered partnering with, with one of the State’s universities in a collaborative innovation project, and had that linkage been successful or otherwise, 12.7 per cent reported that they had achieved a successful outcome.

Only 1.7 per cent of the respondents reported that their partnership with a university had not produced a positive result.

Read the full story on how R&D collaborations can offer innovative solutions in The Pulse – a quarterly partnership of news and information between the South Australian Business Chamber and Statewide Super.

Other feature stories on the theme of innovation in the current issue of the The Pulse, include:

• Expert commentator, Dr Fiona Kerr, Systems and Neural Complexity Specialist, University of Adelaide, describes how the human brain is the key to innovation and the ways in which we can grow ​‘new brain’.
• How is the digital age transforming the way business is conducted?
• Statewide Super Chief Investment Officer, Con Michalakis, discusses the economic challenges facing South Australia.
• Pitstop Marketing director, Georgi Roberts, explains how to use social media as a business tool.
• State Director of Microsoft, Dr Eva Balan-Vnuk, highlights the benefits of collaborating to achieve creative thinking and innovation.
• Statewide Super puts the spotlight on innovation in fashion.
• Cyber security firm, CQR, details the ways in which companies can defend themselves against online threats.

Media Contact

Sonia Bavistock
Media & Communications Executive
0477 006 475
soniab@​business-​sa.​com