New analysis of the state’s innovation system shows NSW leads the nation when it comes to harnessing opportunities from new investment, ideas, industries and talent.
The NSW Innovation and Productivity Council’s 2024 Scorecard compares NSW against domestic and international jurisdictions using a range of data sources and metrics to highlight opportunities for the state to perform even better.
The report card shows that NSW outperforms the rest of the nation in new startup and spinout companies arising from universities and research institutes, and tops Canada, Germany and Japan on venture capital investment as a share of Gross State Product (GSP) or Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
While NSW beats other Australian states when it comes to economic and productivity growth the report card finds there is room for NSW to improve productivity growth when it comes to international comparisons.
The scorecard has been released as the NSW Government continues to work on its Innovation Blueprint, which will set a clear framework for the way businesses, universities and government work together.
View the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council’s 2024 Scorecard Dashboard and accompanying Companion Report.
Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology Anoulack Chanthivong said:
“The ability to innovate across the economy will be crucial to creating the jobs of the future and tackling our biggest challenges, including rebuilding manufacturing in NSW.
“The scorecard shows that NSW is a national and global leader but there’s much more to do to ensure government, industry and communities are working together for maximum impact.
“The NSW Innovation and Productivity Scorecard highlights the strengths of our innovation system but also gives us a good indication of where we should be focussing our efforts to capture new opportunities or improve outcomes.
“We’ll be using this work to strengthen the Innovation Blueprint and putting in place a clear strategic direction for growing and supporting the NSW innovation sector.”
NSW Innovation and Productivity Council Chairman Charlie Taylor said:
“Our latest Innovation and Productivity Scorecard is a comprehensive analysis of NSW’s place in the global innovation context and outlines where we can sharpen our focus to achieve long-term success.
“NSW has a highly educated and skilled workforce underpinned by our world-class universities and researchers.
“We also have a wealth of ambitious startups, supported by strong venture capital, that are developing innovative products and services.
“These ingredients combined with meaningful support for innovators through collaborative and effective programs will optimise NSW innovative capacity based on good evidence ensuring a meaningful relationship between the Government, industry and the innovation ecosystem.”
Investment NSW Deputy Secretary Rebecca McPhee said:
“The NSW innovation system is evolving and government policy is evolving alongside it.
“To continue to mature and take advantage of new opportunities, we need a strong strategy. We’re working across the innovation system on a NSW Innovation Blueprint which draws on the best available evidence, such as the 2024 Scorecard, to chart a clear course forward for our state.”