Monday 30 May 2011

AIC CEO to step down

After eight years at the helm, the CEO of the Australian Institute for Commercialisation Dr. Rowan Gilmore today announced that he would be relinquishing his role effective mid-June.

Announcing the move, Dr. Gilmore said that his time leading the AIC had been exciting and one of immense change in the innovation landscape. “I am humbled to have been able to serve in the capacity of CEO for eight years and help to grow an organisation like the AIC from its earliest origins”.

Noting that business investment in R&D had doubled over the past decade to record levels, he said that over the same period, “the AIC through its TechFast program has pioneered the concept of ‘demand-pull’ commercialisation, helping businesses use research to solve their problems or grow their markets. It seems obvious now, but when we started, commercialisation was principally about pushing intellectual property (IP) out to either new start-up companies, or seeking licensees with specific use for that IP. Adaptation of IP at the request of existing small businesses was simply not part of the landscape.”  The TechFast program has since been replicated by numerous governments in Australia and globally, as a contributor to helping small firms improve their use of R&D.

“I am also proud of our TechClinic program, which has helped to establish new value chains and assisted small businesses understand where they fit in that value chain, and how they add value. Our TechClinic methodology was recently considered a global first by the International Commercialisation Alliance at its inaugural March meeting in Ottawa”.

Chair of the AIC, David Barbagallo, said “Rowan has been a superb and effective leader of the AIC, motivating his team of business experts to assist entrepreneurs, researchers, and small business in the commercialisation of their IP. Since Rowan joined the AIC, his team has helped more than 2000 companies, educated nearly 3000 individuals through its Commercialisation Bootcamps and Ideas2Market programs, and put together over 200 collaborations between industry and research organisations or other businesses, and helped establish new value chains in sectors such as cleantech, energy, and agriculture. Independent economic analysis has shown that the impact of this is impressive. TechFast alone has added over $350M in company revenues to the national economy each year, and created up to 1000 new jobs.”

Dr. John Kapeleris, currently Deputy CEO, will be interim CEO of the AIC.
 

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