In a world where technological generations now live and die within months, can another government review truly capture the lightning-fast pace of innovation? Two years after ChatGPT’s launch transformed our understanding of artificial intelligence, we’re facing a critical question: Are our innovation assessment methods becoming obsolete before the ink on the report has dried?
Australia’s innovation landscape tells a stark story. We’ve plummeted from 55th to 102nd in the Harvard Economic Complexity Index, a precipitous decline that demands more than traditional bureaucratic soul-searching. The challenge isn’t just about understanding our innovation ecosystem—it’s about reimagining how we nurture and accelerate technological breakthroughs in an era of unprecedented change.
Consider the breathtaking velocity of recent technological transformations. The journey from the ENIAC computer in 1945 to today’s AI-driven technologies has compressed decades of innovation into mere years. When I first encountered computing via punch cards in the early ’70s, the idea of conversational AI or neural interfaces would have seemed like pure science fiction. Now, these technologies are not just possible—they’re rapidly becoming commonplace.
The transformer mechanism described by Google researchers in 2017 didn’t just advance machine learning—it rewrote the entire rulebook of technological innovation. ChatGPT and its successors have demonstrated how quickly breakthrough technologies can move from theoretical concept to global phenomenon. The time between laboratory conception and widespread adoption is now measured in months, not decades.
Our current innovation review approach risks becoming a retrospective exercise—an autopsy of technological opportunities already lost. By the time a high-powered government board completes its comprehensive examination of the R&D ecosystem, the technological landscape will have shifted. We need a more dynamic, real-time approach to understanding and supporting innovation.
What might this look like? Instead of traditional lengthy reviews, we need:
– Rapid, continuous assessment mechanisms that can track innovation in near-real-time
– Flexible funding models that can quickly pivot to emerging technological frontiers
– Direct channels between researchers, entrepreneurs, and government decision-makers
– International collaboration frameworks that transcend bureaucratic boundaries
Countries like Israel and Singapore offer compelling alternative models. They’ve created innovation ecosystems that are less about rigid planning and more about creating adaptive, responsive environments where breakthrough ideas can flourish.
The stakes are too high for business-as-usual. Our global competitiveness depends on our ability to not just track innovation, but to actively cultivate an environment where breakthrough ideas can emerge and scale at unprecedented speeds.
Another government review won’t solve our innovation challenges. What we need is a fundamental reimagining of how we support, measure, and accelerate technological progress.
The future of Australian innovation isn’t waiting for a committee to finish its report. It’s happening right now—and we need to be ready to catch it.
