New home for NICTA gets the pollies' nod

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 03 December 2009 09:27

IT Industry - Development

NICTA's head office and new laboratory was officially opened today

NICTA's Australian Technology Park laboratory and corporate head office has been officially opened by Stephen Conroy, Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, and Barry Buffier, deputy director general of Industry and Investment NSW.

NICTA is Australia's ICT research centre of excellence.

"NICTA is a world-class innovation player and helps demonstrate the great capacity for Australia to lead the world in the digital economy," said Conroy.

"This new facility will strengthen NICTA's ability to foster ICT innovation and skills, driving the development and commercialisation of Australian technology," he added.

The new laboratory houses around 134 researchers, corporate staff and 63 PhD students in state-of-the-art, energy-efficient premises, NICTA officials said.

It was built by the NSW government. "The Government is aware of the vital importance of NICTA's place at the centre of a vibrant hub of research and development that is world-class and produces work of global significance," said Treasurer and Minister for State Development Eric Roozendaal.

"We are confident of the power of this hub, employing the best scientists to create economic growth, jobs, and to attract global companies to invest in NSW," he added.

Research projects at NICTA cover a wide range of fields, including automated surveillance, biomedical applications, decision support, software development, and ultra-high-speed wireless networks.

NICTA has already spun out four companies: Audinate (IP networking for professional audio), Open Kernel Labs (advanced operating systems with world-record microkernel performance), 7-ip (wireless telecommunications), and Monitoring Division (optical fibre performance monitoring).