Senator the Hon Kim Carr
Minister for innovation, Industry, Science and Research

Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy
Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate

Budget 2009: Providing certainty for National ICT Australia

The four-year funding extension of $185.5 million to National ICT Australia (NICTA) announced in the Budget will ensure the long-term viability of this vital centre of research excellence.

"With funding certainty to 2014-15, NICTA will continue to generate significant economic and social returns for the Australian community and attract increased investment from other partners," the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, said tonight.

"NICTA is a world-class information and communications technology (ICT) research and commercialisation facility that is a key asset in Australia's innovation system. It facilitates a national approach to ICT research with four state and territory government partners and participation by seven major Australian universities," the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, said.

NICTA's accomplishments include:

• key national researchNICTA successfully attracts and retains high-quality researchers, whose work advances national priorities such as security, transport, the environment, broadband, water management and health, including medical implants such as the bionic eye.
  
  
• ICT skill developmentNICTA's key role in ICT PhD training and in fostering an entrepreneurial approach in its students was highlighted in the Government's recent response to the 2020 Summit.
  
  
• industry developmentwith five research labs (two in Sydney and one each in Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra), and more than 250 research staff and 300 supported PhD students, NICTA is also a key contributor to Australia's ICT sector and digital economy.
  
  
• successful commercialisationsto date, NICTA has created four start-up companies that have generated 62 new Australian jobs and has entered key commercial collaborations with a number of world-leading ICT multinationals and Australian small-to-medium enterprises.
  
  
• international collaborationNICTA is heavily engaged in overseas collaborations to ensure that Australia is at the leading edge of global innovation developments critical to Australia's digital economy.

Funding for NICTA is jointly delivered by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and the Australian Research Council.

ends

Date: 12 May 2009
Contact: Tim Marshall (Senator Conroy's Office) 0408 258 457 
Catriona Jackson (Senator Carr's Office) 0417 142 238