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Global Regional Strategic

Global Regional Strategic is a ‘direction’ - integrating lines of Frontiers Insight research and technical analysis plus creative development into a long-term evolving contribution to regional development, thinking and doing.

suntreeFrontiers Insight-Sandra Welsman are based near Armidale in northern NSW, Australia. Backed by experience across many industries and of working and living in cities s well as regions, we develop strategic projects for industries, enterprises and communities in regions, nationally and beyond. FI core work

Australia’s inland regional communities, businesses, governments, agencies and key industries – agriculture, tourism, mining, and services – now need to think differently. Populations are declining and ageing faster than in cities. Agriculture has been the backbone to many regions, but is now less than 3% of Australia’s economy. Mining is less than 5%. Young people reasonably look to knowledge and service sectors in the wider world for their long-working futures.

Issues for enterprises and communities in Australian inland regions have many parallels nationally and globally. Across the world, cities dominate in terms of population, wealth and power. However, regions and their people oversee the world’s physical space, ecology, food and shelter resource systems, and in many ways, define the culture and character of each nation.

In Australian regions, business opportunities, both for companies and the work of universities and  educators, often pivot on embracing ‘regionality’. There are ‘naturally regional’ industries and a few activities that cities tend to leave for regions. Agricultural, resource, energy and tourism sectors feature – but even these are macro-managed from cities around the globe.

And regional people – some 30% of Australia’s population (including coastal areas) – face particular challenges in transport, communications, health, education, professional services, work opportunities …) that they need to understand and manage themselves.

Regional to Global Enterprise - research-knowledge-action collaborationThis collaboration concept is based on Australian and worldwide reality that City ways do not translate directly to regions – distance, time, culture, capacity are substantial issues.

Noting needs of regional people worldwide for aligned, focused and questioning research efforts, and that regional universities and institutes often need the ‘regionality’ card to compete with city researchers for funds, Sandra Welsman has constructed an original business model for boosting applied research, across-sector education, and useful extension. The RGE model features:

  • a collaborative venture to harness capacities across one lead university, with strategic industry partners, to build research and education activity, outputs, income and impact
  • integrated research, education and business programs aiming to extend developments into local, national and global regions with partners on a commercial, sociological and aid bases
  • focus on value-adding applied research: actively mining huge quantities of published research and world knowledge across disciplines and to channel this into five linked  programs aiming to address regional industry, business and community barriers- globally
  • outputs and outcomes: major innovation and research projects, published reports and papers, implementation partnerships with industries, communities and global-local public agencies; plus measurable engagement and impact, and enhanced status .

The search for an entrepreneurial lead university-institute is underway (contact FI). Key features of the Regional to Global Enterprise concept and its ‘triple helix’ action agenda>, purposefully challenge institutional traditions. Overall, the opportunities this RGE model presents for a lead university, its partners and staff have risen with Global Financial Crisis pressures, and with sharp performance expectations confirmed by Ministerial announcements in 2009 (post Australia’s Higher Education and Innovation reviews in 2008).

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Being Global Regional Strategic …

Sandra Welsman and Frontiers Insight integrate thinking across many Australian industries and regional and economic issues. We have long and active experience across multiple sectors including those still vital to inland regions -

  • Rural-regional research into Law, Education, Health and Environments including ongoing regulatory reviews and submissions for rural and agrifood industries. Regulation strategies
  • Agriculture and Agrifood manufacturing; Bio-sciences, and Manufacturing
  • Resources based industries – mining, electricity, water, plus

Newer investigation areas, including

  • Healthcare  – a major regional service and skills issue area but tied in resourcing to populations and their issues
  • Tourism – a major regional income-generator, with rising potential, but structural and economic challenges for aspiring businesses.

This work (regional activities and outputs) - and many ideas flow into the Regional to Global Enterprise collaboration concept. But challenges to traditional university and academic ways are also part of the package. Dr Sandra Welsman will discuss these tensions in her paper – Regional to Global Enterprise – A collaboration to extend academic work: helix potential, systemic problems. >> | ssrn

This has been presented to the Triple Helix VII International Conference on University, Government and Industry Linkages, Glasgow, June 2009. On Triple Helix thinking and struggle … >>

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