International Public Works Conference in Perth
Speaking at the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia’s biennial conference, President of the Institute Engineers Australia – WA Division, Professor Peter Lee said that there is an urgent need to grow Australia’s science and technology. He told the 400 delegates from across Australia and overseas that without greater commitment to research and development we will become increasingly reliant on imported technology.
“Adhering to triple bottom line practices means we must utilise technology to its fullest,” Prof Lee said. “Governments must make hard decisions and take a more focused approach to R&D, particularly when the market fails.”
Keynote speaker, CEO of Continuum Resources, Roger Loweth, said that healthier and wealthier societies are dependent on how we go about building new knowledge and then putting this together for everyone’s benefit.
With ‘innovation’ as the conference theme, the organisers put much effort into providing a full program of keynotes, technical papers and seminar sessions reflecting the broader membership base of IPWEA. During the conference, IPWEA’s commitment to innovation and state of the art technology was demonstrated through an arrangement reached with Channel 31 to televise the opening panel session, plus a live video link up with four panellists attending the conference and a further three located in Victoria.
The televised session saw three panellists arrive in the auditorium on Harley Davidson motorcycles. However, Chairman of the Commission for Integrated Transport in the UK, David Begg, selected a more sustainable mode of entry, riding a bicycle.
The panel discussed whether Australians are innovators, and identified potential barriers to innovation. Dr Bob Brown said that Australia has great scientists but they often lack the skills, drive and finances to bring their innovations to the marketplace. Dr Jenny Stewart said that serious thinking needs to go into policy development to create a tax system that supports innovation and R&D.
Panellists agreed that fear of failure stifles many good ideas. Learning from mistakes is vital, as is recognising that making mistakes leads to progress . Fostering innovation must become an inherent part of organisational culture.
Improvement in how we communicate successes particularly through the media, and encouraging innovation, first in schools and then into the workplace, were advocated by the panellists.
With Best Value now legislated in Victoria, other States are carefully watching its progress. The video link up session discussed this concept in depth. From Melbourne, Executive Director of the Local Government Division of the Department of Infrastructure, Prue Digby, was joined by CEO of Banyule City Council, Doug Owens, and Branch Secretary of the Australian Services Union, Darrell Cochrane.
Panellists in Perth, all from Victorian Councils currently implementing Best Value, included Warren Roberts (Rural City of Wodonga); Bernie Cronin (Wyndham City Council); Malcolm Styles (Rural City of Wangaratta); and Lyndon Webb (Shire of Wellington).
Prue Digby described Victoria’s approach to Best Value as being a legislative framework that was non prescriptive and a flexible process based on continual improvement. It is a whole of Council approach for working with its community to set standards covering services, processes and functions that are delivered,” she said.
Malcolm Styles said that by taking into account factors such as quality, response, cost and effectiveness Councils can package services according to what the community wants.
“This is a move away from CCT where the focus was on dollars rather than service,” he said
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