ISSUE 01 RESOURCING SA Spring 2015

Investment International Innovation

Tonsley, Australia’s first innovation district, is ticking all the boxes and poised for international growth and investment attraction.

It began with a far sighted economic vision to create a high value industry base supported by research, education, innovation and collaboration. Now the Tonsley precinct in Adelaide’s southern suburbs is playing its intended role and helping businesses move up the value chain and into global markets.

The South Australian Government has invested substantially in Tonsley, contributing $253 million in a long term commitment. It’s an investment that is expected to pay off with more than $1 billion in private investment anticipated over the coming years.

The redevelopment of Tonsley began in 2012 as a 20-year project, but just over three years on its already raking in design awards and is home to more than 30 companies and 8500 students.

So what exactly is Tonsley? It’s an innovation district, created to encourage and facilitate collaboration between businesses and attract and retain highly skilled employees. Tonsley helps industry, researchers and entrepreneurs work together and apply new ideas and innovation. It combines training, tertiary education, research and development, professional development, business mentoring and acceleration programs.

In June 2015, the precinct was awarded the prestigious 6 Star Green Star – Communities certification by the Green Building Council of Australia. But aside from its environmental credentials, Tonsley is home to global players as well as innovative start-ups. A case management approach is applied, tailoring offerings to investors from set-up right through to business development.

The precinct focuses on sectors where South Australia is economically strong and expected to outpace average global growth.

One of these is mining and resource services and

Tonsley has already proven to be an ideal home for companies in remote mining technology, deep exploration, precision engineering and simulation. Relevant education facilities are on site, and the new State Drill Core Library, to be completed in 2016, will provide easy access to the State’s inventory of drill cores.

Clean technologies and renewable energy is another targeted sector, with TAFE SA’s Sustainable Industries Education Centre (SIEC) the anchor investor in this space, and international partnerships such as Prospect Silicon Valley in the United States under development.

Tonsley is also a natural fit for health and medical devices and assistive technologies, with Flinders Medical Centre close by and the university’s Medical Device Research Institute on-site. An exciting cluster of industry activity is fast developing at the precinct under the banner of MedDev SA.

Adelaide is recognised as a cost competitive city for software development and Flinders University’s School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics, together with Simulation Australasia (the national peak body for the simulation industry) have both found an appropriate home at Tonsley.

One of the world’s largest engineering and advanced technology firms, Siemens, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the South Australian Government in 2012. Siemens’ turbine maintenance and repair facility commenced operation at the precinct earlier this year. Large equipment for the oil & gas industries is overhauled onsite – work that was previously sent offshore. Siemens Executive Vice President - Energy, David Pryke claims Tonsley is the best example in Australia for such a technology precinct.

Flinders University’s $120 million Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics School also opened at Tonsley this year. Two thousand students and 150 staff already use the new campus.

The building also houses the Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology (NanoCentre), Hills Innovation Centre and Flinders University’s New Ventures Institute, which provides pathways to company formation and links to the Flinders Business School.

TAFE SA’s $119 million Sustainable Industries Education Centre opened last year to 6500 students and has already won several national and international design awards.

Others at Tonsley include Signostics – a designer, manufacturer and exporter of hand-held ultrasound devices; ZEN Energy Systems – the largest solar energy provider in South Australia and currently in discussions with Origin Energy to deliver a large scale solar array (up to 3MW generation capacity) on the roof of the precinct’s Main Assembly Building; and the Onshore Petroleum Centre of Excellence training facility – a collaboration between Santos, Beach Energy, Senex, the South Australian Government and TAFE SA to develop a skilled workforce for the expanding onshore petroleum industry.

The precinct boasts ample room for more innovative, collaborative residents and Tonsley is on the lookout for investment from companies aligned to its target sectors interested in becoming a part of Australia’s first innovation district. An investment mission is scheduled for the UK and Europe in December to launch the development to international markets. To find out more about this or about Tonsley, visit www.tonsley.com

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Recreational area at Tonsley

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