10 May 2018
10/05/2018
NERA
welcomes the Australian Government’s commitment in the Budget 2018-19 to
continue support for the energy resources sector through ongoing funding of
science, technology, research and innovation initiatives.
NERA
opened its doors in 2016 as an independent, not-for-profit company with an
industry led Board, focused on working collaboratively with our stakeholders to
transform the productivity and global competitiveness of the energy resources
sector.
NERA was established with an initial four years of funding from the
Australian Government. In the two years since our inception, we have developed
a Sector Competitiveness Plan (SCP) in consultation with operators and the
supply chain (including SMEs, researchers and innovators) and we have supported
a wide range of technology and innovation projects to help foster the
industry’s efficiency, digital and low carbon transition.
In
this year's Budget, the Federal Government recognised the early success of NERA
and the Industry Growth Centres, extending our funding for an additional two
years until 2022.
This
extended timeframe will allow NERA to build on our early achievements, having
committed more than $10 million, which has been matched by our stakeholders to
a total of $24 million for 33 projects.
Our
project portfolio is underpinned by our Sector Competitiveness Plan – the
roadmap for the future of the energy resources sector in Australia - pointing
to a potential for $10 billion in value to be unlocked across eight knowledge
priorities.
We
are looking forward to releasing the 2018 update of the SCP in May 2018.
Other
relevant Budget details which impact the sector include:
- $20 million Export Hubs Initiative - The Export Hubs Initiative will help Australian
businesses to grow, export and increase local and regional jobs. It will
help the private sector develop local business hubs. Through the hubs,
local and regional businesses will learn from each other to support their
export growth. The Export Hubs Initiative will complement and build upon
Growth Centres’ existing cluster activities as well as other regional
development initiatives. The existing cluster organisations that Growth
Centres are currently working with will be able to take advantage of this
initiative. It will also fund new hubs.
- $29.9 million to build Australia’s
Artificial Intelligence capability
to support businesses and workers, including funding for CRC projects with
a focus on AI and a national framework to address standards and ethics for
the use of this technology.
- $20 million to support Australian innovation
in Asia. This will help capture
opportunities for Australian business, entrepreneurs and researchers in
Asia, a region that stands to deliver nearly two-thirds of global growth
to 2030 and continues the successful Australia-India Strategic Research
Fund.
- $4.5 million to encourage more women to
pursue STEM education and careers.
This will comprise the Women in Science Strategy and the development of
the Decadal Plan for Women in Science and includes the previously
announced Women in Science Ambassador.
- Over $260 million for Geoscience Australia to develop world-leading satellite infrastructure and
technologies.
- $160.9 million for Satellite-Based
Augmentation System (SBAS)
will deliver satellite positioning data across all of Australia and its
maritime territories with an accuracy of 10cm. Its complete coverage will
have enormous benefits for rural and regional Australia and sectors such
as mining and agriculture.
- $64 million for National Positioning
Infrastructure Capability (NPIC)
will establish a national ground station network to deliver positioning
data with 3-5cm accuracy within areas of mobile phone coverage across
Australia.
- $36.9 million for Digital Earth Australia to make a vast wealth of satellite data available to
businesses, researchers and the community.
The
NERA team is enthused and committed to working with the energy resources sector now and into the
future.