KEY POINTS
FACTS AND FIGURES
The $40 million Intelligent Island Program was developed in 1999 as a special industry development program as part of the second sale of Telstra. It aims to create higher, long-term sustainable growth of Tasmania's information and communications technology (ICT) industry.
The program is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) and is managed by the Tasmanian Government’s Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDT).
Ongoing administration of the Intelligent Island Program is carried out by DEDT under the direction of a Project Executive comprising of the Secretary of the DIISR (or his nominee) and the Secretary of the DEDT (or his nominee).
In December 2005, the reallocation of Intelligent Island funds under Phase II was announced, with an in-principle allocation of $15 million to establish an ICT research centre for Tasmania, namely the Tasmanian ICT Centre (TASICTC), and up to $18 million allocated to the Market Access and Partnership Program (MAPP), a competitive, merit-based grant program designed to enable Tasmanian small to medium sized ICT companies to develop and commercialise their products or services for interstate or overseas markets. Following completion of the fourth and final MAPP funding round in August 2008, the MAPP component of the Program is now in administrative mode with all grant disbursements expected to be completed by 30 June 2011.
In December 2006, a funding agreement was approved between the Tasmanian Government and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), to enable CSIRO to establish and operate the TASICTC for a period of five years into. Importantly, CSIRO has committed to match the investment in the TASICTC, resulting in a total investment of some $30 million for the centre over the term of the agreement.
The primary goal in establishing the TASICTC is to support the Intelligent Island objective of contributing to the development of an internationally competitive ICT sector in Tasmania.
The centre’s objective is to develop a world-class ICT research capacity and conduct innovative applied research, initially in the areas of sensor networks, data management and robotics, and seek to commercialise outcomes from this research. In pursuit of this objective, the centre will engage and collaborate with the Tasmanian ICT industry, key ICT users and research organisations.
For more information about the TASICTC, visit http://www.csiro.au/resources/TasICTupdateJuly07.html
MAPP is being administered by the department over four rounds. The first two rounds were conducted in 2006, one round in 2007, and the final round in 2008.
For more information on MAPP, visit http://www.development.tas.gov.au/intelligent/MAPP.html