Innovative industries like Electronics are set to contribute more to the state than the mining boom according to Prof Roy Green of the University of Technology Sydney. The professor said “… and we are seeing that in defence, electronics generally, and food production, because of the approach to innovation, we have become very good at it.” (1)
Adelaide has a much higher density of Electronics companies than the rest of Australia and the reason for this goes back many years. The Defence Science Technology Organisation (DSTO) has a significant chunk of its operations in Adelaide. In 1946 it started as the Long Range Weapons Establishment which supported the Woomera test range which is still the largest weapons test range in the world. This seeding has lead to a steady supply of highly capable R&D staff, principally in electronics. The permeation of expertise and other strategic reasons brought large companies like Philips to Adelaide as well.
As most electronics companies in Adelaide are driven by innovation in their own areas and are not in head on head competition with each other, there tends to be an easy openness around design, manufacturing and material intelligence. The collaboration that results makes for improved design efficiency and this shows in the results. While most of Australia’s manufacturing is struggling or in decline, electronics in Adelaide grew by 11% per year from 2004 to 2011. (2)
Adelaide does not have the extreme low cost base required for manufacturing consumer electronics products but when it comes to the incredibly diverse variety of electronics that enables our world, Adelaide is a major contributor.
(1) Adelaide Advertiser, 31 August 2012, Page 33 article by Michael Milnes
(2) Technology Industry Association’s Response to DMITRE’s Manufacturing Green Paper 2012 (Commissioned Report)
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