The latest scorecard on innovation and productivity in New South Wales presents a state with solid, even above average, skills that with more application could do better. The minister for Innovation, Science, and Technology – just one of his five portfolios – Anoulack Chanthivong, said it was a “wake up call”.
At the scorecard launch yesterday (22 August), Chanthivong was reported saying, “We can’t keep continuing what we are doing and expecting a different result. We actually have to change.”
2024 Scorecard Snapshot
Productivity
- annual GSP/GDP per capita growth: 7th out of 13 economies for cumulative growth since 2012. First in Australia, well behind Singapore, Korea and Israel;
- annual labour productivity growth: 8th out of 13, average annual growth rate of 0.7 per cent.
- skilled workforce: 5th out of 13; and
- net zero economy: renewable energy generation increased fivefold in last 10 years to 31.3 per cent, still behind the national average.
New Industry Creation
- start-ups and scale-ups: highest share in Australia of start-up and spinout companies coming from universities and research institutes;
- 7th out of 14 countries on operating number of start-up and spinouts per 10,000 population; and
- venture capital investment: ranked 7th on a share of GSP/GDP behind California, Singapore, and Israel, but ahead of Canada, Germany, Japan, and the rest of Australia;
Research
- patent applications: 9th out of 13;
- collaboration: bottom tier for university-industry co-authored publications; and
- business R&D investment: 10th out of 13 on percentage of GDP or GSP.
The NSW Innovation and Productivity Scorecard is produced by the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council (IPC). Made up of leaders from industry, government, and academia, the council advises the state government on innovation-led economic development and productivity to “ensure ongoing prosperity for the state”. This year was the fourth edition.
Vow founder and CEO, George Peppou, is a member and project champion on the IPC and said “New South Wales is not performing as well as it could in the global innovation market because it is not an environment that actively supports long-term success and prosperity.
Peppou was part of a panel discussion at the launch. Media reports said he highlighted differences between the local operating environment and those in other countries.
“I spent a lot of time in countries outside of Australia and you see these policies that are set and then maintained for decades… Other regions [have] policy set in the eighties that are still operating dependably today,” he said.
From his experience building Australia’s first cultivated meat company that is now available in three restaurants in Singapore, Peppou said Australian policy was defined by tedious and costly grant programs that had caused the company delays and late cancellations.
Peppou told Chanthivong, “If there’s one thing I can say to you, Minister, just set policies and don’t touch them, regardless of whether it is a Liberal or a Labor policy.”
Perhaps ambitious considering in September last year, Chanthivong announced the development of an innovation blueprint. This followed the department’s budget being more than halved in the state budget and preceded its dismantling altogether. The blueprint is yet to have appeared.
Professor Patricia Davidson, the former vice chancellor of the University of Wollongong is also a member and project champion on the IPC.
“Fostering innovation is an intentional and dynamic process, requiring not just creativity and resilience but targeted policies and incentives.
“New South Wales boasts the highest state share of new start-up and spin-out companies arising from universities and research institutes in Australia, but it lags in the number of operating start-ups and scale-ups per 10,000 population, ranking seventh internationally in 2024.
“Having the courage to meaningfully address barriers and facilitators is important,” Davidson said.
Peppou reiterated the fact innovation and productivity are global competitions.
“Talent, capital, and businesses base themselves in locations that drive their long-term success and prosperity,” Peppou said
New South Wales ranked eighth out of 13 economies for labour productivity growth and seventh on GDP per capita growth.
Productivity growth has slowed to less than one per cent a year, but Peppou said it wasn’t for lack of “raw potential”, with the state having a “very well-educated workforce, high-quality researchers, and high concentrations of venture capital”.
“If our goal as a state is to deliver is to deliver high-quality, well-paid jobs and widespread economic growth through a world class innovation system, something needs to change,” he said.
The Scorecard Companion Report is here.
