— B/HERT Round Table to discuss industry challenges to be held at Curtin University —
Curtin University along with Cisco and Woodside are hosting the ‘Big Data Analytics’ Business/Higher Education Round Table (B/HERT) today (Tuesday 17 February) at Curtin’s Bentley Campus.
During the round table, leaders from across the country will tackle the big challenges researchers and industry face in trying to unlock the potential of ‘Big Data Analysis’.
Professor Graeme Wright, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Development, Curtin University said with major research infrastructure investments by government, industry and universities, Western Australia and Australia are well poised to provide economic and social impact for the nation if it can unlock the potential benefits that are on offer.
“These investments are attracting computational scientists, data analysts and companies from all around the world especially those looking to build on the leading-edge technologies being developed for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA),” Professor Wright said.
“However, key stakeholders are facing a number of challenges including the limited capability available needed to produce the increasing number of tomorrow’s data scientists and the task of building an effective partnership environment between industry and research providers.
“Curtin is well placed to help unlock economic and social benefit for our industry partners. We have been a major player in the development of Australia’s capability underpinning the SKA and have built a broad base of computational and data scientists. I look forward to discussing this further and the challenges faced with industry during the round table.”
Representatives from Woodside, Cisco, SIRCA, CSIRO, other Australian universities and industry will attend the one-day event. Outcomes from the round table will be used to inform government, universities and industry on the development of more effective partnership models for generating economic and social benefit for Australia.
With increasing competition, industry leaders Cisco and Woodside are looking to invest in big data research where they can form effective partnerships with research organisations internationally and locally.
Senior Vice President, Strategy, Science and Technology at Woodside, Shaun Gregory said Woodside’s focus on technology and innovation is essential to unlocking future growth.
“Woodside has a long history as a successful operator of oil and gas. We have a drive for innovation and partnerships and look forward to helping develop Big Data Analytics in WA,” Mr Gregory said.
Kevin Bloch, Chief Technology Officer, Cisco Australia and New Zealand, said the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation and data analysis requires an ecosystem of players across industry, academia and government to apply technology solutions to solve major industry challenges.
“This next phase of the internet, which we refer to as the Internet of Everything (IoE), has the potential to
unlock Australia’s next wave of productivity, innovation and job growth. Globally, IoE is a $14.4 trillion
opportunity across many industries including mining, energy production, agriculture and manufacturing.
Cisco is working to bring together Australia’s research organisations and industry, to deliver on those
opportunities,” Mr Bloch said.
B/HERT’s round table program is a forum for dialogue and engagement between universities and
business to promote effective and productive working relationships among the sectors. This round table
forms part of an important national conversation about building an innovative economy that will enable
Australia to achieve better alignment between education and a highly skilled 21st century workforce.
