NICTA aims high with Victorian R&D boost

Gordon Peters
Monday, 18 October 2010 02:28

IT Industry - Development

Australia's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Research Centre of Excellence - NICTA - will use the $33 million funding allocated by the Victorian Government to its Victorian Research Laboratory (NICTA VRL) to significantly expand the facility over the next four years with the aim of becoming the state's largest ICT research facility.

Welcoming the decision by the Victorian Government, NICTA CEO Dr David Skellern, said the Victorian Research Laboratory is going from 'strength to strength,' and he added 'the lab has outstanding research projects that attract international attention and praise.'

Dr Skellern said the funding will allow NICTA to continue to build ICT capabilities, 'while answering the hard questions in IT and communications research.'

Victoria's Information and Communications Technology Minister John Lenders announced the funding in the past few days, saying that it was part of the State Government's $110 million ICT Action Plan.

NICTA VRL director, Prof Rob Evans, said the government funding would allow NICTA to continue to build capability and deliver ICT value and impact to Victoria and Australia. 'Our research into water management, the advanced nanoeletronics for the Bionic Eye and infrastructure planning are examples of the impact we are delivering for Australia.'

According to NICTA, proposed funding of its Victorian facility is expected to result in an effective spend of $150 million over the next four years, which includes cash funding from the Australian Government as represented by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and the Australian Research Council, the Victorian State Government and in-kind contributions from the University of Melbourne and other Victorian universities.

NICTA Chairman, Neville Stevens AO, said the ongoing support from the Victorian Government was critical to the development of world-class, strategic research that puts Australia at the leading-edge of global ICT research.