2015 veski residency with Dr Siobhan Jordan

1 December

23-30 November 2015

The 2015 veski residency with Dr Siobhán Jordan, Director Interface Scotland, was not only timely as Australians debated the innovation agenda, but also it catalysed industry leaders, sectors and Government to really look at ways that business can access academia for the benefit of economic development.

The 2015 veski residency was made possible with the support of Monash University.

Dr Jordan and her team at Interface have been unlocking the expertise in Universities and Research Institutes for industry for the past decade with clear economic and social dividends for Scotland.

Throughout the residency week Dr Jordan demonstrated how the Interface model has broken down barriers to establish credibility and serve as the front door to all Universities and Research Institutes for SMEs.

She said Interface’s proactive approach had streamlined the matchmaking process and addressed issues including diverse sector engagement, IP agreements, and developing specs to communicate business need clearly to academia.

Program of activities 

Dr Jordan introduced her model to the business community through the RMIT Business Breakfast and a series of private meetings, a facilitated conversation and events orchestrated by veski.

A series of strategic roundtable meetings for sectors including Food and Drink, Future Industries, Start up initiatives and Creative Industries, demonstrated the ways Interface has fostered commensurate sectors in Scotland, to produce new products, develop international markets, raise capital, increase productivity and boost employment.

A lunch meeting with a strong cross section of Victorian innovation and commercialisation specialists showed the clear economic dividends of business working with academia in tech transfer and explored topics including incentives for academics, matching SME’s with research teams, scale for larger organisations, communicating benefits and funding models.

Dr Jordan met with the Deputy Vice Chancellors for Research from Victorian and Tasmanian Universities. She also visited the Monash precinct and CSIRO growth centres to share her model and explore the challenges Universities face in connecting research with business.

The highly successful residency week concluded with Dr Jordan’s key note address at the veski: new horizons event in Melbourne - where she outlined some of the issues Australia will face if an Interface system were to be implemented and, how Scotland has made progress through its willingness to collaborate and its culture of can do will do, to make it happen.

veski looks forward to continuing its residency program in 2016 to bring highly relevant and valuable thought leaders and specialists to stimulate conversation, policy, and action for economic growth.

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