The Andrews Labor Government has appointed an Innovation Expert Panel to strengthen Victoria’s position as Australia’s innovation and tech hub.
Speaking at the PauseFest innovation festival in Melbourne, Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis said the Labor Government had secured some of the country’s leading innovators, company directors and CEOs, with women again dominating the panel’s make-up.
Two-thirds of the appointed panel will be entrepreneurs with experience in turning bright ideas into commercial realties – and they will share the table with some of the country’s key drivers of technology innovation from the university and private sectors.
The Innovation Expert Panel will analyse and provide advice to the Government about new models for innovation, emerging trends and issues, disruptive technologies and their potential to impact business growth across all industry sectors.
Victoria’s Lead Scientist Dr Leonie Walsh will chair the panel, with other members including:
- Brett Adam, VP Engineering and Managing Director, Zendesk
- Dr Joanna Batstone, Vice President and Lab Director IBM Research – Australia and CTO IBM Australia and New Zealand
- Marita Cheng, Founder, 2Mar Robotics
- Dr Kate Cornick, Managing Director, Rision
- Tessa Herd Court, CEO and Director, IntelligenceBank
- Mohinder Jaimangal, Director and Principal, Curve Tomorrow
- Jonathan Jeffries, Co-founder, Onestack
- Emily Lee, Managing Director, Mercer Capital, Non-Executive Director at TBG Diagnostic Limited and Managing Director, Lanka Graphite Limited
- Adam Nowiski, Director (APAC), Nitro, Inc.
- Dr Buzz Palmer, CEO, STC Australia
- Dr Melis Senova, Founder and Chief Entrepreneur, Huddle
- Kerri Lee Sinclair, CEO, QSR International
- Chris Thomas, Managing Partner, Differential
- Adrian Turner, CEO, Data61
Quotes attributable to Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis
“This new Panel is not just about leading Australia on innovation, which we are, it’s about helping us become the number one tech destination in the Asia Pacific region.”
“We are well on our way to building a very strong innovation system here in Victoria and this talented group of industry leaders will help strengthen our position as a serious global competitor.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020