R&D is a People Business

ANU College of Systems & Society Showcase, 
Photo by Tom Worthington CC-BY 21 October 2025

Professor Roy Green reviewed the new Acton Institute for Policy Research and Handbook on Innovation Ecosystems, highlighting the need to address placemaking, economics, business and governance. But I suggest more important, are relationships. R&D is about people working together, something neglected in PhD training. The Canberra Innovation Network is an example of a place which does this well. Another example was the Australian National University gymnasium yesterday, where the ANU College of Systems & Society students were showing off their projects. This was a mix of research projects and industry ones. As well as academics, there were business people who projects were for, wandering around. I bumped into an ex-student, now successful in industry who won a prize for their group project previously. 

He argues that policy effectiveness depends less on the volume of expenditure and more on the coherence of the system surrounding it.