KEY POINTS
- National ICT Australia (NICTA) is a national centre of research excellence funded jointly by the Federal Budget, Australian Research Council (ARC) and the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE).
- A further four years of funding for NICTA from 2011-2015 was announced in the May 2009 Budget.
- NICTA’s purpose is to ensure Australia participates in key emerging information and communications technologies. Its goals are to:
- develop world-class ICT research capabilities in existing and emerging fields within Australia
- increase the availability within Australia of world-class ICT research skills by providing postgraduate training and attracting ICT researchers from overseas
- exploit the commercial potential of its research outcomes for the national benefit
- act as a catalyst for the development of networks and clusters of ICT industry activity.
- NICTA is a not-for-profit independent company, limited by guarantee. Its four founding members are the ACT Government, the NSW State Government, The Australian National University and The University of New South Wales.
- In addition to its founding members, NICTA has seven partners: Griffith University; the Queensland State Government; Queensland University of Technology; The University of Melbourne; The University of Queensland; The University of Sydney; and the Victorian State Government.
- NICTA has over 400 staff including researchers, researchers seconded from Universities and support staff (engineers, programmers and assistants).
- In 2008, 307 students received financial support from NICTA for their studies. A total of 107 PhD and masters students have graduated from universities through NICTA-run programs since its inception.
- NICTA’s commercialisation activities include: creating spin-off companies; entering into technology licensing arrangements; and initiating joint research projects. NICTA has generated four spin-off companies to date: Audinate, Open Kernel Labs, 7-ip and Monitoring Division.
2008 Review
- The Government's current funding agreement with NICTS made provision for a comprehensive review of NICTA's performance to take place in 2008.
- The 2008 Review was undertaken by a panel of independent experts.
- The final report of the 2008 Review of NICTA was lodged by the Review Panel in March 2009. Public release of the report will be at the discretion of the relevant Ministers.
FACTS AND FIGURES
- The Australian Government investment under the current and previous funding agreements totals $379 million, covering the period 2002-2011. NICTA will now receive an additional $185.5 million for the period 2011-2015, taking the total Australian Government commitment to $564.5 million.
- Funding is being reduced by five per cent cumulative per annum from 2011-12 through to 2014-15 in recognition of NICTA's more mature stage of development and its increasing ability to attract funding from other sources, including commercial revenue.
RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS
Some of NICTA’s most recent achievements include:
- In September 2009 NICTA announced that under a new two-year agreement it will collaborate with Singapore’s A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R) to develop and demonstrate fast, low-cost, temporary mobile wireless communications networks.
- NICTA and the ACT Government have launched a Government technology cluster to support and strengthen Government ICT industries in Australia. The ACT Government is providing $150,000 to help establish the cluster in 2009–10, with a commitment for a further $100,000 per annum through to 2011–12.
- In August 2009, NICTA announced the completion of the world’s first formal machine-checked proof of a general-purpose operating system kernel. There is now a way to mathematically prove that the software governing critical safety and security systems in aircraft and motor vehicles is free of a large class of errors. The Secure Embedded L4 (seL4) microkernel, designed for real-world use, has potential applications in defence and other safety and security industries. NICTA will shortly transfer its intellectual property to NICTA spin-out company Open Kernel Labs.
- In June 2009 Red Lizard Software announced the release of an innovative de-bugging software called Goanna™ that can dramatically reduce development time and radically improve software quality.