This BioMelbourne Network event recap was written by our Marketing and Communication Assistant, Ms Michelle Steeper.
Leaders of Victoria’s health industry joined a Town Hall conversation with the Minister for Innovation and Digital Economy, Hon Philip Dalidakis, MP on Thursday 25 October to explore his vision and priorities for health innovation. This event was hosted by CSL, held at the Mercure, and provided BioMelbourne Network members with insights in the lead up to the state election.
The focus of Minister Dalidakis’ message was around working together to create inclusive sector partnerships that focus on patients and the people whose lives we seek to improve. The topics discussed included:
- breaking down barriers to make Victoria an epicentre for R&D and commercial alliances on a state, national and global level
- working together with other parts of government to provide seamless outcomes and to produce a holistic view of the health industry rather than siloed industry approaches
- making innovation a mindset and a culture
- targeting commercialisation while also supporting research for the sake of research
- investing more into the Development side of R&D
- attracting international talent to Victoria while also having a boomerang effect for Victorian start-ups and entrepreneurs to return to Victoria
- the announcement of the establishment of Australia’s first industry-standard biobanking facility to link researchers and local biotech companies with other established international networks of biorepositories.
Attention moved to the audience with attendees posing questions about how Victorian SMEs can complete the innovation cycle and successfully market and implement their new technologies across Australia.
When asked by the audience about how the Labor government will work to reconcile the difficulties experienced in the innovation cycle due to disparities between state and federal markets, Minster Dalidakis outlined examples of cross-border projects between NSW and Victoria in other industry sectors and the desire to expand this approach to include health industry projects. Dalidakis further expressed his ability and desire to work with state and federal governments to address the difficulties experienced by SMEs in the implementation and adoption of Victorian-made technologies into the health system.
In response to a question on assisting businesses to be global and expand internationally, the Minister highlighted the 16 global Victorian Government offices set up to aid companies in their exploration of overseas markets, while also acknowledging that going global can be a multifaceted issue.
Lastly, Dr Krystal Evans asked Minister Dalidakis what we, as an industry, can do for him. Dalidakis concluded by congratulating BioMelbourne Network members for their time and investment into the sector, encouraged the sector to hold the government accountable for their vision of the health industry and to “be loud and be proud”.
Read more about BioMelbourne Network’s health industry priorities for Victoria 2018 state election.
