Opinion: Brain drain

Parker has identified a gaping hole in our research efforts and that hole is right slap bang in the middle. We’ve got the people with the skills to do high level research in academia.

We’ve got the people with the high level money to make high tech products. But we’re lacking the glue between the two according to Parker.

Well, the sad thing is that the CSIRO was supposed to be that glue, yet due to years of funding cutbacks that outfit has become more and more commercial and less focussed on bridging the gap between pure research and pure commerce.

And unless we can convince Michael Phelps to migrate to Australia, don’t count on a swimming pool-led economic boom ay time soon. What we desperately need is massive support for our bright young things so they won’t wander off overseas or just plain give up altogether.

We’ve already got our famous sports institute hell bent on increasing the swag of medals we collect at the Olympics, so how about building a famous brains institute as well?

Come on Julia Gillard, you seem to be keen as mustard on education, and at least half, and quite probably more, of the bright young things are girls. So lets see what they can do, and let’s tell the whole nation so we can all cheer them on and be proud of their work.

Then NICTA, and maybe a revitalised CSIRO, can get to work building the bridges between the inventors and the manufacturers.

Surely our brightest and best deserve more exposure than just a couple of minutes at the end of the ABC’s Catalyst program. But, hey, that’s more exposure than they used to get, so at the very least head on over there and be amazed at what our Aussie inventors are achieving. Oi, oi oi!