The NSW Government has invested in an innovative future with a $25 million allocation to National ICT Australia (NICTA) to help continue its world class research into information and communications technologies (ICT).
Minister for State Development Ian Macdonald said NICTA would receive $5 million a year in NSW funding until 2012. It follows an allocation of $20 million provided by the NSW Government to NICTA between 2002 and 2007.
The new five-year funding agreement means the NSW Government will provide a total of $45 million to NICTA over the decade from 2002 to 2012.
"This is a direct investment in NSW and Australia's innovative future," Mr Macdonald said.
"Information and communications technologies (ICT) underpin our modern services economy and help drive the future competitiveness of this State."
NICTA Chairman Mr Neville Stevens AO said: "The ongoing support from the NSW Government is critical to the development of a world class, strategic research facility that puts Australia at the leading edge of global ICT research."
ICT is a major driver of innovation, including in key sectors identified for innovative growth by the NSW Government such as financial services, manufacturing and freight and logistics.
An evaluation by the Department of State and Regional Development (DSRD) shows that in its first five years NICTA generated an estimated $168 million in benefits for NSW.
This occurred through the leveraging of Commonwealth funds for NSW-based research projects, the promotion of new investment at the Australian Technology Park at Eveleigh where NICTA is headquartered, contract and consultancy work for NSW organisations, and rental and payroll tax receipts to the NSW Government.
It is estimated that NSW's further five year, $25 million commitment to NICTA will generate more than $219 million in further benefits for the State, including the new investment at the Australian Technology Park.
NSW's investment in NICTA provides the State with world class research, commercialisation, education and industry collaboration in ICT.
Its work will help generate new jobs, investment and skills and contribute to NSW’s status as a leading ICT centre in the Asia Pacific.
NSW is home to NICTA's headquarters, two of its research laboratories and a research unit as well as over half of its staff and a significant proportion of its research projects.
To date, NICTA has amassed a technology portfolio of 60 patent applications and has created four new companies with more than 50 employees.
NICTA also helps attract skilled researchers and staff to Sydney and operates a large program for training ICT doctoral students in collaboration with its university partners. It helps those partners deliver advanced technical courses, interdisciplinary professional development programs, international exchanges and industry placements.
Ongoing NSW support for NICTA will see the employment of highly skilled research and corporate staff in NSW and support about 174 PhD students at NSW universities.
NICTA's continued presence in NSW will also help build a critical mass of research capabilities for NSW and act as a catalyst for ICT collaborations and networks.