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KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY NEEDS SMARTER POLICIES
26 July 1999

The President of the Australian Academy of Science, Professor Brian Anderson, says that, in order to compete in the international knowledge economy, Australia needs systematic policy instruments to address shortcomings in education, research and industry. His comments are in an article in the latest issue of the Newsletter of the Business/Higher Education Round Table.

The round table is a forum where leaders of Australia’s business, research and academic communities examine issues of mutual interest.

Professor Anderson, who is also Director of the Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering at the Australian National University, said a 1998 Australian Research Council review of information technology sounded ‘a deafening siren for Australia, a siren directed at governments, universities and business.’

He said, ‘Australia is moving backwards, relative to its competitors, in terms of the supply of professional IT staff and trained researchers for business and academia.’

He pointed to government policies which have made science and engineering degrees more expensive. ‘These problems have been exacerbated by the substantial lowering of government appropriation funding for universities, especially when computed on a per-student basis.’

The Federal Government has also made investment in industrial research and development less attractive. ‘The problem of corporate under-investment in research and development needs addressing in the most determined way,’ he said.

Professor Anderson concluded, ‘Australia will only remain among the advanced countries through the production and exploitation of knowledge. If a company has knowledge, it can make profits. If a nation has knowledge, it can survive and prosper in an information revolution. But we must have a change of public policy settings and private attitudes.’

The full text of Professor Anderson’s article is available from the Academy’s web site at www.science.org.au/reports/bhert2.htm