FIAL Main - Technical Insights #Fial Reports

TCI Oceania Conference 2022

Thu, 26 May 2022 09:53:16 +1000

Clustering for Scalable Impact

The power of collaboration through Clusters was unleashed at the 2022 TCI Oceania Conference in Cairns - ‘Clustering for Scalable Impact’.

Every few years, the TCI Oceania Chapter hosts a conference to discuss the latest ideas on Clusters. This year the conference was run in beautiful, tropical Cairns. The theme for the 2022 conference was Clustering for Scalable Impact. The event provided the perfect platform to connect, share ideas and network face-to-face with stakeholders far and wide.

A total of 63 people attended nine sessions over the course of one and a half days, led by 10 international, forward-thinking keynote speakers including Merete Daniel Nielsen, Prof Madeline Smith, Dr Allan O’Connor, Dr Sam Bucolo, and Dr Emily Wise.

More than 10 Clusters from six sectors within Australia gained access to tools and expertise surrounding designing and operating a Cluster for sustainability and scale.

Discussions centred on the topics of collective leadership, Cluster impacts by design and how Clusters are building for sustainability and scale. Participants also dove into the notion of building trust, unlocking the power of collaboration and measuring the impact of collective leadership, all to amplify a Cluster's overall impact.

"The power of collaboration means people are open to conversation, people are building relationships and people are prepared to share. These three elements, alongside the journey of building trust, will strengthen and build momentum post-conference for Cluster's and their respective sectors," said Mirjana Prica, Managing Director of FIAL and Chair of TCI Oceania.

"This had to be the best thing I have done to date as chair. So many great connections were made, my brain is buzzing with extra ideas that I hadn't even thought of. We got to work on our cluster in today's workshop which was quite a beautiful exchange of energies, ideas and hard questions." - Irene Pollak from Circular Economy FNQ.

The connections generated at this conference are essential to collectively scale-up small-to-medium enterprises across all sectors, including Australia’s Food and Agribusiness sector. Event partner, FIAL, has been a key driver of Clusters within Australia's Food and Agribusiness sector. They have supported the establishment and growth of 12 Clusters nationally, including the Tropical North Queensland Regional Food Network based in Cairns.

Newfound learnings of Clusters and how they can foster collaboration, growth, trust and innovation will aid in this objective and resonate nation-wide across Australia’s Food and Agribusiness sector and all sectors.

About TCI Oceania Chapter: TCI Oceania is one of formal regional Chapters of the TCI Network, which is the leading global network of people and organizations working in clusters and innovation ecosystems around the world.

Clusters are geographically proximate groups of interconnected companies, including government, research and industry, allowing businesses to collectively create a local ecosystem to foster trust and knowledge, and drive innovation and growth.

Case study produced by FIAL Project Officer, Amber Keep

Social Glue

Fri, 03 Dec 2021 14:14:42 +1100

How to create social glue: a good practice guide

In developing clusters or applying circular economy principles to your region, there are six dimensions to improve your strategic planning process and create social glue.

By social glue we mean the invisible threads and soft infrastructure that create community- driven interconnections between people within a region; to share tacit knowledge and develop deep personal linkages to build foundations for regional development and economic growth.

In How to create social glue: a good practice guide, we explore best practice across the literature and our own experiences with clusters here in Australia.

Read the guide here

The A$200 billion opportunity in 2030 for the Australian food and agribusiness sector

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 17:24:32 +1100

Capturing the Prize

From droughts and bushfires to a pandemic, Australia’s food and agribusiness industry (Industry) has navigated major disruptions in recent years. These events aside, the Industry has an immense opportunity before it to deliver greater value for the Australian economy. We must look to invest and innovate to ensure our ongoing resilience and prosperity – 'business as usual' (BAU) will not suffice.

In this context, The Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre (FIAL) commissioned a report Capturing the Prize that identifies 19 Growth Opportunities with the potential to grow the Industry’s annual value-addition capability from its current $61 billion per annum to over $200 billion per annum by 2030. The Growth Opportunities identified in Capturing the Prize are supported by 10 Future Trends impacting food production and consumption in Australia and its key export markets, and have the potential to boost the Industry’s competitiveness, stimulate employment and economic significance.

These Growth Opportunities are underpinned by rapidly emerging technologies, which transform how food is produced, how it is distributed and tracked in the supply chain, shifting consumer preferences, and how it finally reaches our plates. Capturing the Prize has identified that this potential transformation of the Industry could create an additional 300,000 jobs by 2030. View the full report below.

View Full Report