Lack of quantum research specialisation, a patchwork of different university IP approaches, increased security regulation impeding collaboration and little local capital is stymying business investment and seeing Australia lose its early research advantage, experts have warned.
At the same time there was a call on Wednesday for a national scheme for university intellectual property, with claims that having 30 different IP regimes across Australian universities is thwarting business investment in academic research. “We still have room to improve and this is one of the things I want to raise. And that is our relative specialisation is [ranked 46th]. And our focus on quantum research is 27 per cent below the global average while our citations are 60 per cent above the global average. This just means we are in the top five to 10 countries in the world in quantum in our research excellence, but to build capacity we need to lift our ability to specialise and focus,” Dr Foley later said.
Leading United Kingdom quantum physicist, Professor Sir Peter Knight, agreed this fragmentation was a real problem for Australia