'Knowledge Economy has to be more than Rhetoric'
24 July 2004
The 'knowledge economy' and other such phrases are being used
with abandon at present but many advocates seem to be bereft of
ideas on what such phrases mean, let alone how to make progress
toward them.
Whilst we pay lip service to such phrases on this Coast, there
seems to be suspicion or reluctance to pursue strategies to become
'smarter' or produce that 'knowledge economy'.
Acceptance of such concepts necessarily means reassessing
priorities, and even redefining what governments have traditionally
done. The Gold Coast and this State Government have developed clear
ideas about their commitment, their incentives and the urgency of
the issue. The Gold Coast's Economic Development Strategy is an
exemplar of why they are going to power ahead in producing jobs. By
the same token the State has generated an impressive range of jobs
in its pursuit of a knowledge economy in recent years.
Universities all over the world are also becoming more socially
conscious, and as they become more powerful in generating and
commercialising the outcomes of research, so they are influencing
more obviously the development of their societies.
At the University we have been the recipients of one good news
story after another in recent months, and 2005-2008 is shaping up
to be our most significant period of growth since opening in
1996.
After years of struggle we are poised to make an even bigger
impact on the Coast underpinned by a new fairer funding formula,
more scholarships, a regional loading, increased bandwidth, more
State Government support for the Incubator and Technology Precinct,
Maroochy Council's backing for the Technology precinct, Italian
Cassamarca Foundation support for language programs, the mounting
community support reflected in the successful $0.5 million
fund-raising campaign for the Art Gallery, and the huge reductions
in the cost of public transport to the University. And the list
goes on.
USC is continuing to be a success story with an unmatched growth
trajectory. If we can continue to have even wider community backing
then the returns to the 'knowledge economy' of the Sunshine Coast
are inestimable.
Yet even with this mounting success, I was struck this week with
the ways in which the scale of support is being extended to
overseas universities which are driving 'knowledge economies'.
One university with which I was engaged before leaving the UK in
1975 has recently been advertising 73 new professorial positions,
bringing its total to 400, just behind Cambridge's 457 and ahead of
Oxford's 188. In addition, the salaries being offered are twice or
three times higher than in Australia. When you consider the
additional costs of support staff and research infrastructure,
these levels of investment are enormous, and cannot be achieved
without extensive local and national governmental support.
The most significant sums of course, still go to the established
universities with a long track record of research success in major
capital cities around the world.
There are signs with our own recent gains at USC, however, that
governments are also prepared to invest in regional universities
with demonstrably clear potential in 'Seachange' growth areas, for
example.
Arguably, our impact on this region can be much greater with a
fraction of the total monies, than can be made by established
universities with huge sums in already complex and job- and
culturally-rich cities. Of course, it depends on your criteria, and
whether your principal measures are 'world-classness' or local
quality of life, or a combination.
In any case, USC is set on a track to improve the quality of
life of residents whilst continuing to prove itself
internationally. With concerted local support into the future, the
regional benefits will continue to flow, and we really will have a
chance to be a 'knowledge economy'.
Professor Paul Thomas is Vice-Chancellor of University of
the Sunshine Coast