The ABDC is calling on the Federal Government to have ‘An Economically Prosperous Australia’ as a National Research Priority and to include business and economics research in the National Research Infrastructure Roadmap.

In its response to the National Research Infrastructure Capability Issues Paper, the ABDC says an economically prosperous nation is needed to achieve the objectives of the current national research priorities.

It questions the current narrow definition of ‘infrastructure capability,’ which largely excludes business and economics research. It says the definition does not take into account the significant number of Australian business schools with very high international research rankings.

The ABDC is also concerned about the lack of investment in significant research infrastructure that underlies a lot of business and economics research, like ‘big data’ from financial markets – research vital to translating world-class science outcomes into significant commercial successes.

The key ABDC Recommendations are:

• National research priorities should include ‘An Economically Prosperous Australia’
• Australia’s infrastructure capability should include business and economics research. Failure to recognise its importance will ultimately limit the potential for Australia to translate world-class science into commercial successes
• Consistent with the government’s desire for greater university-industry convergence, the roadmap should recognise the commercial potential of research infrastructure as a relevant (but by no means first order) consideration
• Shared services infrastructure – whether data collection and curating, computing power or research support (e-research) – should be seen as equally valuable as infrastructure facilities.

To view our full submission, see link below.