INNOVATION

Smart Australian companies and research centres participating in PACIFIC 2019 will get the opportunity to sell their new ideas, technologies and products to the Australian and international community.

The Innovation Pitchfest, organised by Industry Defence Security Australia Limited (IDSAL) in partnership with the Defence Science Institute (DSI), the Defence Innovation Partnership (DIP) and Defence Innovation Network (DIN), will take place during PACIFIC 2019 at Sydney’s International Convention Centre.

This will provide an opportunity for DST Group, academia and Industry researchers and innovators to present new innovations and research projects to a mix of potential customers, research partners and venture capitalists.

Expressions of Interest from Industry, Start-Ups and Publicly Funded Research Organisations (PFRO) to participate in the Innovation Pitchfest at Pacific 2019 will be called for shortly. This event will be comprised of a series of three minute “pitches” aimed at demonstrating Australian innovation, research collaboration and development strengths.

Participants in the three minute pitches must communicate:

• Uniqueness and novelty (i.e. the innovation).
• Application or end goal of the innovation.
• What they are looking for from the audience – finance, know-how, a partnering agreement?
• Where future collaboration may be of benefit (and from whom).
• Can be openly presented without fear of IP theft.
• Can be explained in an engaging manner to a general audience in 3 minutes.
• Avoid being seen simply as a sales pitch.

The pitch sessions are to be seen as an opportunity to showcase an innovative idea/technology application/product in in early stage of its development (pre-commercialisation) to an audience including Primes, OEMs, Defence customers/users, research professionals, venture financiers and critical/interested peers. In providing this forum during the PACIFIC 2019 Trade Days participants can take advantage of an advertised event in a prominent area of the exhibition, utilizing a fast-paced and engaging presentation approach to ensure audience attention for the entire duration of their presentation. The final day of pitches will conclude with judging and the award of prizes. Participants will be offered training, free of charge (excepting travel), in the art of the “Three Minute Pitch” (locations yet to determined).

The Innovation Showcase is a collaborative event supported by Industry Defence and Security Australia Limited (the organizers of PACIFIC 2019), the Defence Science Institute (DSI), Defence Innovation Partnership (DIP) and Defence Innovation Network (DIN). The prize-giving ceremony will be integrated with the presentation of the PACIFIC 2019 Innovation Awards on Wednesday 9 October.