IBM goes global with the launch of an Australian R&D lab

Australia will be at the forefront of world efforts to tackle a range of global problems - from managing natural disasters to harnessing the power of biotechnology - with a new IBM R&D lab opening in Melbourne.

Launching the research and development lab, Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr and the Premier of Victoria, Ted Baillieu, agreed the lab was another major win for ICT R&D in Australia.

The Commonwealth Government provided $22 million to support the lab, which will apply advanced computing to work towards better management of natural resources, diseases and agricultural yields. The lab will employ about 150 researchers over the next five years.

“This is a first-class research facility that will enhance Australia’s strong research base and attract the best people from Australia and around the world,” Senator Carr said.

“I’m pleased that IBM has already started assembling a world-class team, both from local and international research talent. It will give postgraduate students opportunities to experience research at a world level.”

IBM and its partners at the University of Melbourne will apply their substantial research and computational expertise to address a range of national and world challenges. They will also focus on frontier technologies to help build and transform Australian industries.

Senator Carr said the government is particularly pleased that the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN) - which will provide the lab’s research with high-speed transfer of real time data - was one of the reasons that IBM was attracted to Australia.

“The lab sets a new model for public-private collaborative research which is central to Australia’s innovation agenda,” Senator Carr said.

“This is a strategic win for Australia and recognition that the country is able to compete for global investment opportunities and help create high-skill, high-wage, sustainable jobs for the future.”

Baillieu said IBM’s decision to base the facility in Victoria was a testament to his state’s credentials as a major source of innovation and ICT investment.

“Today’s opening and this investment by IBM proves once again that Melbourne is a vital regional hub for global innovation and technology R&D,” Baillieu said.

“This confirms our place in the world as a first-class destination for investment and research and a great location for collaboration between government, industry and the research community.

“We want Victoria to grow well and IBM’s new R&D Laboratory is part of a new technologically driven age which will help deliver increased productivity, the key to sustainable ongoing economic prosperity.”