Research Utilisation
Each of the projects has its own technology transfer strategy, under
separate Boards of Management, with separate commercial partners. In
general the technology transfer is through:
- seminars and short courses for industry
- public demonstrations of the applications
- staff secondment and exchange
- technology trials
- consulting
- system development
- software licensing
- software sales
The initial emphasis has been on stimulating interest in the market
through seminars, short courses, and public demonstrations. End-user
applications such as McIver and FRANK have attracted wide publicity and
are now well known within their target market in Australia. The
Cinemedia Swift system has also attracted wide publicity. The Resource
Discovery project has developed and deployed various Internet search
tools including HotOIL and ORION in end-user organisations. The On-line
Data Archives project has developed the CROP tool for wheat crop
forecasts based on satellite data for demonstrations to organisations in
the agribusiness data industry. This has now formed a base of interested
organisations and established the Research Data Network CRC staff as
experts in their field in Australia. There is now an increase in
requests for consulting and system development from local organisations,
which is beginning to form a revenue stream. For example, the On-line
Data Archives project carried out a contract for the Defence Science and
Technology Organisation (DSTO) for a distributed image archive system for
photo-reconnaissance data.
The projects regularly provide advice to government departments,
government enterprises, universities and small to medium enterprises on
implementation of information technology related to the research at no
charge. In some cases this advice leads to formal consultancies (for
example the Southern Health Care Network, and the Tasmanian Department of
Education) and joint ventures (for example Cinemedia).
Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are also addressed through providing
advice and seminars to industry groups such as the Digital Docklands
group in South Melbourne, and the film production companies in Crows
Nest, Sydney. These groups comprise many SMEs.
As the projects are maturing there is an increase in opportunities for
licensing portions of software developed by the projects for use in
larger products. For example the FRANK software is being commercialised
by third parties. There is also an opportunity to develop complete
end-user applications and either market them directly, or sell as a
complete package to a multi-national. For example, the Resource Discovery
project has made sales of its HotOil and Z39.50 software during 1997/98.
Cinemedia is working with ANSPAG on a joint venture to further develop
the Swift video-on-demand service for a range of application areas.
To improve links with end-users of telecommunications technology, Dr
Tonkin serves on the Board of the Australian Telecommunications User
Group (ATUG) which is one of the most influential industry
associations. This provides an opportunity to learn more about the
concerns of major corporate end-users, and to participate in creating a
new environment for Australian users to benefit from the advances in
telecommunications technology.
Excel Spreadsheet Attachemnt: Research
Utilisation
