Image: The CSIRO.

 

By Cameron Drummond

 

GOVERNMENT science and research agency CSIRO will be opening an office in the US for the first time, in an effort to promote Australian innovation overseas.

The CSIRO US office will be based in the southern San Francisco Bay Area of Silicon Valley; working closely with American research, industry and business partners to bring Australia’s capabilities to the US marketplace.

Foreign Affairs minister Julie Bishop said the move would capitalise on the CSIRO’s already strong relationships with science and industry leaders including NASA, Bayer LLP, Boeing and the Gates Foundation. “The office opening will support the government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda, which is fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship,” Ms Bishop said. “It follows the February 2016 launch of the Government’s innovation Landing Pad in San Francisco where our start-ups are already winning contracts.”

CSIRO chief executive Dr Larry Marshall said he was excited by the opportunities CSIRO US presents for Australia. “To accelerate innovation rates in Australia we need to accelerate international engagement, especially in regions where there is a significant opportunity to return value to Australia; from this point of view the US is a no brainer,” Dr Marshall said. “Our focus is firmly on bringing benefit back to Australia and that philosophy will be applied to everything we do in the US.”

CSIRO Global general manager Nigel Warren anticipated CSIRO US would help put Australian breakthroughs at the centre of the world’s research and technology frontier. “CSIRO will support the Australian government and partner with the research sector and business – playing the role of Australia’s innovation catalyst on a global scale,” Mr Warren said. Mr Warren said that CSIRO US expected to open its doors in the first half of this year, and was actively seeking involvement from Australian researchers and other collaborators.

 

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