Report: Blue Sky Queensland 2023

The Blue Sky Queensland - Bold Ideas for a Bright Future report highlights key discussions and insights from the 2023 Queensland Futures Institute’s Policy Leaders' Forum.

The key theme  was the innovative developments being undertaken by the State as we grapple with shifts across research translation, technology development, biodiversity loss and economic diversification.

SPEAKERS

DR. NADINE OSTERN
Cisco Chair in Trusted Retail,
Queensland University
of Technology

Dr. Lara Herrero

• As a medical doctor with experience in an emergency department, and as a
  researcher, I have experience in science and technology across health and
  medicine in Queensland and Australia more broadly.
• Basic science is foundational for all endeavours. However, we are currently falling
  short in this area, and need to act now to support educational outcomes and foster Queensland’s human capital.
• Over the past 20 years, there has been a shift towards funding only translational
  research. This funding is tied to short timeframes, which is resulting in poor
  outcomes, as well as disheartened junior scientists who cannot translate research in these short grant periods. We must reprioritise funding for basic research which underpins the translational research to improve these outcomes.
• To achieve this, basic research cannot rely solely on government funding;
  philanthropy, commercial funding and industry involvement are essential.
  Additionally, a long-term perspective is needed as this research results in longer term returns.
• Collaborative agreements are also needed to bridge the gap between researchers, philanthropy, and commercial support. These can only be achieved by strengthening relationships and improving communication between these players.
• There is also a role for teachers to promote STEM and innovation through
  education, fostering students’ ideas which often lead to the best innovations
  in research.

Assoc Prof. Carissa Klein

• In my field of conservation science, our goal is literally, not metaphorically,
  blue sky - and achieving this requires the preservation of nature.
• Queensland is the most biodiverse state in Australia with attractions like the Great
  Barrier Reef, Simpson Desert, and ancient rainforests. Nature clearly plays a crucial role in our wellbeing and economy, but we are experiencing biodiversity loss like we’ve never ever seen before.
• Globally, biodiversity loss is at unprecedented levels, and Australia ranks second
  in this alarming trend. Queensland is a global deforestation hotspot due to weak
  environmental regulations which are leading to land clearing at staggering rates. In addition to our greenhouse gas emissions, these poor environmental practices pose a significant threat to the future of our natural assets like the Great Barrier Reef.
• A new global initiative - the Nature Positive Future initiative - is a glimmer of hope, uniting governments, businesses, and philanthropists to address the urgent need for biodiversity restoration.
• We are in a ‘nature debt’, where we are destroying nature faster than we can
  restore it. Nature Positive aims to find creative, short-term solutions and involves
  collaboration between various sectors to regenerate biodiversity and mitigate
  this trend.
• While the Australian Government supports the initiative and is also proposing
  legislation and a potential ‘nature repair market’, there is a significant funding gap which may require a ten-fold increase in current funding to overcome. There is clearly a strong need for collaboration with industry, through private funding, as well as by leveraging knowledge and skills to support this effort.
• However, there is a significant challenge in understanding the business opportunities and developing financial tools and mechanisms to facilitate a rapid
  transition to nature-positive practices. For example, the flooding around Brisbane
  River – which has been caused by damage to catchments – requires investment
  in biodiversity to regenerate catchments to reduce flood risk. There is a clear
  relationship between the cost of this flooding risk and the potential investment in
  mitigation measures. Investing proactively, rather than facing the costs of the next flooding event, will not only reduce this risk but also benefit biodiversity upstream and contribute to carbon reduction.
• The Nature Positive movement offers an opportunity for researchers and industry
  to collaborate on practical, effective, and profitable solutions to issues such as the
  above example and will drive a significant societal and industry shift to reverse the decline of biodiversity in Queensland and globally.

Dr. Nadine Ostern

• In the trusted retail sector, we are focusing on emerging technologies in both the
  retail and service sectors. We are now facing a significant challenge is ensuring
  continued trust in these technology- and data-intensive environments.
• Initially, this might seem less crucial than other sectors like saving oceans or
  medical research, but technology underpins all our industry sectors and research
  areas. Technology is pivotal in creating value in personal, work, and societal aspects of our lives.
• Recent events, such as the Optus incident and OpenAI leadership changes are
  creating challenges around maintaining an optimistic perspective and trust around technology. This is reflected in two trends which are currently playing out in the market, particularly in the retail/service sector.
• Firstly, the adoption of technology by businesses is being imposed on customers
  but primarily benefiting businesses. An example of this, is the use of a camera/
  sensor system at check-outs, which are being used for theft detection. Secondly,
  technology is used with the customer, benefitting both customers and businesses – we see less of those solutions. For instance, self-check outs could also prevent overpayment instead of theft only to benefit the customer as well.
• To unlock the potential of technologies in retail and the service industry more
  generally, businesses must become ‘trust architects’, and better design these
  systems to build trust with customers. In the above example, there is a missed
  opportunity to create value in built trust, in that the system could have also
  prevented overpayment (items being scanned twice).
• Businesses must advance beyond the use of technology by itself, by instead
  thinking about the opportunities this presents to build trust with customers. To
  become trust architects, businesses must reduce uncertainty and vulnerability
  for customers, leveraging opportunities to demonstrate that they care for their
  customers and build confidence in retailers’ use of technology.

Assoc Prof. Cori Stewart

• My blue sky vision for Queensland is to become a leading manufacturing state,
  driven by the need to diversify our economy after our mining and resource boom.
  Creating high-value industries across the state is crucial for addressing the
  economic challenges we face.
• While we already have some industrial policy settings in place to support this,
  Australia, and therefore Queensland, ranks lowly among developed nations in
  manufacturing capability. Despite our skills and research capabilities, the Harvard
  Economic Index ranks Australia 93rd of 113 countries in terms of our economic
  complexity. This reflects our dependence on mining exports, which is particularly
  relevant for the Queensland economy.
• To tackle this, we must focus on diversifying and growing industries, considering
  workforce needs across the entire value chain. We must leverage new and existing opportunities across sectors, such as in the medical and biomedical industry, and in critical minerals and clean technology. Clean technology creates a significant opportunity given the scale of the energy transition locally, and opportunity to create new export markets – such as through green hydrogen or local manufacturing.
• Strategic policy decisions and investment are essential for the success in these
  areas – particularly in local manufacturing.
• A challenge we have seen in the past is that the ideas and companies which start
  locally are quickly attracted overseas to be developed. We need to create an
  economy which fosters innovation and new ideas which can be realised locally and contribute to Queensland’s long-term economic growth.
• The adoption of technology may solve this problem by enabling Queensland
  businesses to compete globally. However, despite fast consumer adoption of
  technology, our industries - particularly manufacturing - lag behind. Overcoming
  this will require supportive policy and regulatory settings as well as collaboration
  between universities and industry. This will be crucial to ensuring Queensland’s
  industries and workforce are equipped for the rapid adoption of technology needed to support capability development.
• We must urgently match the pace of technology development in addressing this
  challenge, moving beyond discussion and towards implementation.
  
  

Dr. Lara Herrero

• There is strong competition in the Asia Pacific, but we have a strong biomedical
  industry in Queensland. We can achieve this target not only in the region but
  globally through strong investment and collaboration across education and industry.
• More broadly, we are unlikely to compete in terms of profit with the commercial
  and economic strength of the pharmaceuticals industry in the U.S. However, if we
  reframe the target in terms of health outcomes, we are likely to be at the forefront of this industry within the decade. 

Assoc Prof. Carissa Klein

• Several centres of excellence and research centres are currently working with
  industry to determine how businesses can become nature-positive. As a general
  framework to guide how businesses develop the implementation detail, there are
  three steps businesses can take. Firstly, they must avoid environmental impacts
  where possible. Secondly, where they cannot avoid, they must minimise these
  impacts. Lastly, they can exceed the scope of their own impact, for example, by
  entering into a nature repair market and buying biodiversity credits. 

Dr. Nadine Ostern

• Businesses need to change their mindset to acknowledge that trust can become a competitive advantage, rather than being viewed as an afterthought.
• In the current economic climate, supply chain and workforce pressures and the
  associated costs are hindering businesses’ ability to compete. Because of this, trust is becoming increasingly important as these traditional competitive aspects are becoming harder to leverage.
• Technology creates an opportunity to build this trust. But while many businesses
  believe customers are not ready for adoption, we are seeing customers already
  showing a willingness to trust new technology developments, as exemplified
  by widespread use of ChatGPT. This highlights that customer trust for similar
  technologies can vary across contexts – while people may use certain technologies personally, they may not be comfortable with their use by businesses. For example, customers may share data when online, but not trust retailers when it is being collected in person.
• In this sense, building trust in businesses’ application of technology is essential. Given Australia is a moderate follower in technology adoption, there is an opportunity to leverage learnings from other advanced markets, like China, to understand the best applications of each technological development.
• For example, in China, AI is used to create virtual influencers that are indistinguishable from real people. While these specific uses may not adapt well to Australia’s consumer culture, these learnings and innovations can nevertheless be leveraged to understand potential opportunities.

Assoc Prof. Cori Stewart

• We must diversify Queensland’s economy – “Let’s make it here!”

Dr. Nadine Ostern

• We need to build trust and be aware of the digital world and technological
  possibilities ahead of us. We must build the foundation for leveraging technology
  tomorrow, today

Assoc Prof. Carissa Klein

• • Let’s make it here, in a sustainable way so that we can protect our biodiversity and achieve a nature-positive state.

Dr. Lara Herrero

• Let’s empower our young kids and our junior scientists because they are the ones
  who will shape the future.
• Basic research is a long-term game – so will require a long-term strategy to support this sector in the coming decades and achieve meaningful research outcomes.

Dr. Lara Herrero

• Over the past 20 years, there has been a consistent trend in research funding not
  matching the rate of growth, nor number of PhD graduates.
• The ARC linkage program and the Advance Queensland program are commendable government initiatives, which have created partnerships between the government, universities, and industry.
• There is a continued need for a pipeline from basic research through to translation and application – and this requires a commercial understanding from individuals in academia and vice versa to recognise the commercial potential of research.
• Another critical element is the ability to commercialise research outcomes
  through patents. Without this protection, it is unlikely that research will attract
  commercial interest.
• It will remain important to maintain collaboration between academia and industry to achieve this translation and commercialisation.

Assoc Prof. Cori Stewart

• Queensland’s medical industry has seen significant successes, such as Sanofi,
  which have attracted attention due to government support.
• ARM Hub originated from QUT and was established independently for medical
  translation work – as this was the model that was determined to be required.
• Now, it’s more likely that a lab-to-market innovation strategy would get leverage in the technology and science translation space.
• These approaches were considered in the U.S., with the Biden administration
  selecting a place-based economy and innovation systems approach over a lab-to-market strategy. This focuses on attracting companies and enhancing the
  investment landscape for research and development translation.
• Queensland has excelled in attracting investments for medical and biotech,
  establishing itself as a medical powerhouse. While we have seen significant
  investment in medical/biotech in Australia, technology and science has not benefited from such funding.
• However, there’s a lack of industry policy at the federal level, with the National
  Reconstruction Fund seen more as a fund and loan system than a comprehensive
  policy. The absence of a cohesive industry policy has created challenges in
  coordinating and understanding priorities at a deeper level to guide research
  and translation.
• Overall, while research investment in Australia has declined (with health and
  biomedical research being relatively better off than other sectors), there will remain a continued need for investment and commercial involvement in research.

Assoc Prof. Cori Stewart

• Eventually, our economy will need to completely shift away from mining and we
  will have a fully diversified economy. We are currently extracting and exporting raw materials, including lithium, without much value addition. To thrive, it’s crucial to leverage our strategic advantage and add value to these products onshore.
• Our biodiversity can offer a strategic advantage, and we can also create an
  opportunity to integrate indigenous knowledge into the economy.
• While critical minerals will gain importance, adding value across all sectors is
  essential for sustainable growth. Therefore, onshore value creation should also
  be achieved through manufacturing. This would also leverage the strength of
  Queensland’s manufacturing workforce, which is particularly skilled and innovative across the value chain.
• It is critical to continually work to diversify these areas and deliver this strategic shift towards a broader economy.