IBM chooses Australia for research and development laboratory
October 2011
IBM’s Research and Development – Australia lab will be the company’s first laboratory combining research and development in a single organisation.
Australia’s world-class talent in innovation, its robust economy and its investment in a high-speed ubiquitous broadband network are just three of the reasons why this country was chosen as the location for IBM’s new Research and Development Laboratory.
Technology and innovation company, IBM, already has a proud 78-year history in Australia. During this time, the company has applied its expertise, global scope and innovation to help Australia compete in the digital economy.
Each year, IBM invests an average of US$6 billion globally into research and development. The new R&D laboratory is the first lab of its kind to focus on research and development. It is located on campus at the University of Melbourne and will employ 150 researchers within the next five years.
IBM’s Director, Research and Development – Australia, Mr Glenn Wightwick said the laboratory will provide Australia’s technical and research community with more opportunities to collaborate and develop innovative solutions relevant to Australia.
“IBM chose Australia because of the availability of worldclass talent, its robust economy, opportunities presented by its investment in a high-speed ubiquitous broadband network and the strong support of the Commonwealth and Victorian governments,” Mr Wightwick said.
IBM’s first lab to combine research and development
IBM considered a number of possibilities as locations for a new lab. Australia was shortlisted in late 2009 with the assistance of the Australian Trade Commission and the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR).
IBM Research and Development – Australia will be IBM’s first lab that combines research and development in a single organisation, focused on accelerating progress towards a smarter planet. IBM believes that linking R&D will help accelerate innovation into the marketplace.
Enhanced training and interaction opportunities at the University of Melbourne
Co-locating the lab with the University of Melbourne will create many different opportunities for interaction and collaboration. The lab will provide enhanced skills training for undergraduate and PhD students and post-doctoral research scientists.
“The University of Melbourne is recognised internationally for its excellence in research, teaching and knowledge transfer. IBM has held a strategic partnership with the University of Melbourne for four years — and a number of collaborations have already evolved.
“We anticipate broadening our research collaborations with the University of Melbourne and other universities and research organisations in Australia as a consequence of the establishment of this new lab,” Mr Wightwick said.
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Australian IBM researchers
Image courtesy of IBM |
R&D focus on areas of importance to Australia
IBM’s worldwide network of R&D laboratories focuses on applied and exploratory research and development projects to help clients, governments and universities solve real-world challenges, undertaking work “where it makes sense,” according to Mr Wightwick.
The Australian R&D laboratory will concentrate on the themes of Smarter Natural Resource Management; Smarter Natural Disaster Management and Healthcare and Life Science Analytics.
“Taking the opportunities presented by Australia’s unique challenges in the natural environment, researchers will work in a number of key areas and develop techniques to expand and integrate current expertise,” Mr Wightwick said.
For example, in the area of Smarter Natural Resource Management, researchers will work on resource discovery, production, supply chain and advanced operation techniques. These techniques will be applied to Australia’s natural gas, oil, water and mineral resources in the context of their role in liveable cities.
In the area of Smarter Natural Disaster Management, researchers will work on a number of projects such as real-time event processing, weather modelling and traffic management to assist in emergency response.
Collaboration between IBM and the University of Melbourne is already underway in computational life sciences. The work will be extended to a broader set of topics in healthcare and life science analytics.
“These research areas intersect with a number of key challenges facing Australia and are aligned with the Australian Government’s key research priorities. These areas complement IBM Research’s strategic direction and the company’s broader vision to build a smarter planet,” Mr Wightwick said.
“The sort of problems we are going to tackle in Australia require a broad range of interdisciplinary expertise, and being co-located with a world-class research university, will enable us to draw upon this skill base,” he said.
Building on Australia’s capability
The laboratory will enhance Australia’s ability to attract and retain top technical and research talent and the R&D outcomes are expected to result in future export earnings.
In addition, IBM reported that the country’s investment in a high-speed ubiquitous broadband network offered a strong opportunity for innovation in Australia. The Australian Government announced in April 2009 an investment of up to $43 billion over eight years to build and operate a superfast National Broadband Network. It will serve 100 per cent of Australian businesses and homes via fibre, wireless and satellite.
“The new lab will focus specifically on creating new innovation through research and rapidly accelerate it into the market by closely linking research scientists with development engineers from concept through to marketplace delivery,” Mr Wightwick said.
“Through the IBM Research and Development – Australia lab, IBM is looking to achieve significant science breakthroughs, create high-value research jobs and generate substantial local knowledge and intellectual capital,” he said.
About IBM
With operations in over 170 countries, IBMers around the world invent and integrate hardware, software and services to help forward-thinking enterprises, institutions and people everywhere succeed in building a smarter planet. In 2009, IBM Australia exported $A530 million of software, services and human capital to the Asia Pacific region.
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