Episode 54 - Innovation As Central to Sustainability, Not Just Productivity with Greg Harper

In this episode, I had the opportunity to chat with Greg Harper, a longstanding colleague and friend, who has been on the tech transfer and commercialisation journey for many years. In this conversation Greg shares some of his experience and perspectives following his time at CSIRO, as a board member at Meat and Livestock Australia, senior leadership roles within the Agriculture Victoria and, most recently, at University of Melbourne.

Greg shared some of his early journey into technology transfer from his post doc at the National Institute of Health, Uppsala University and CSIRO, where he became involved in market orientated science, and the development and delivery of products to market, in a broad collaboration led by Professor John Hopwood, that created enzyme-replacement therapies for children suffering from mucopolysaccharidosis.

We quickly turned our discussion to more contemporary issues in the Australian innovation system, reflecting on the recent economic roundtable and calls for improved productivity (which we have discussed on some of our other recent podcasts). We discussed the notion that there is an over representation of research but relative under representation on translation in the local innovation and productivity discourse. This line of thinking connects back to the discussion with Catherine Livingstone in Episode 50 and the National Innovation Policy Forum Prequel podcast with Catherine and David Thodey in Episode 53. We explored how tech transfer has “fallen through the gaps” in Australia, with the Productivity Commission setting it aside for SERD to address, and the rise of a startup ecosystem that may be a proxy for externalising tech transfer from research institutions. Greg, with some insight from his daughter, then introduced the broader notion of innovation as central to sustainability—not just productivity. This invited some reflections on what sustainability means as a central tenent of innovation.

I started reflecting on Victor Pantano’s recent observations that there is international demand for Australian innovation and asked Greg why that demand isn’t appearing locally. Greg thinks this is a networking and relationship challenge more than an alignment problem and that research and industry are not communicating in similar languages. We spent some time, given our shared interest and experience in the bioeconomy and agrifood, reflecting on the communication and alignment challenges around bringing digital and biophysical innovations to market. Patience was discussed as a missing ingredient in the domestic private sector (or innovation demand side), and contrasted this with the longer term, patient funding that can be found in other jurisdictions. We touched on venture in Ag, noting this was an in-depth discussion with Roger Wyse earlier this year.

Greg and I then reflected on role of the board and strategy following the article that we published through the Acton Institute last month, exploring the important role that the board should play in setting the culture and risk appetite. While we had discussed this with Anne-Marie Perret for new ventures, we focussed this discussion on the role of established companies and their boards, and two lenses for boards to use—the growth and opportunity lens and its link to the governance, regulation and compliance lens. We explored the question of how a board gets a contemporaneous measure on risk appetite and profile.

Greg then reflected on his experiences at MLA and the commercialisation of VIAscan, an automated carcase digitisation and assessment technology developed through MLA investments, and the board processes associated with taking risk for long-term industry benefit. We explored this as an example of the importance of complementary technology, disruptors, timing and patience in bringing a technology to market.

I asked Greg about the role of boards and management teams in building absorptive capacity and how this ties back to the risk culture. Greg suggested that we are demographically challenged in that the younger we are, then higher risk appetite we might have. Greg brought this to life through an ag-production lens and the importance of regions and community in setting a culture of innovation and risk taking.

We closed out our discussion around Greg’s sabbatical with Professor Soren Salomo at the Technical University Berlin, and reflecting on NorVic Foods— the team led by Lisa Birrell, and how ecosystems form and are assessed.