Australia’s Strategic Examination of Research and Development explained what is wrong with the national R&D system, why reform is needed and how the system could be fixed. It did not explain how its recommendations would be implemented. In this new book, John H Howard examines how the SERD review lost its way and identifies the institutional machinery required to turn diagnosis into durable reform.

The Sydney Plan places Bradfield beside the Sydney CBD and Parramatta as an anchor of the metropolitan economy. Drawing on more than ninety case studies behind The Handbook of Innovation Ecosystems, this Insight sets out what the international evidence says about the places that succeed, how ecosystems create value through productivity, resilience and conferral, and the three questions the Bradfield Development Authority now needs to answer about vision, integration and lived

Australia already has many of the institutional ingredients needed for effective innovation ecosystem development. The problem is coordination. This Insight suggests a new Australian Innovation and Industrial Strategy Commission designed around Cabinet authority, statutory coordination, and federal engagement. Drawing on overseas experience and Australia’s constitutional realities, it argues for a practical model that aligns innovation, industry, research, and place-based dev

The Denholm Review presents Australia’s innovation system as a reinforcing flywheel coordinating research, firms, and growth. This Insight challenges that framing. It argues that the central constraint is the absence of strong market formation, capital depth, and global integration. Without these, policies risk improving internal coherence while failing to generate globally competitive outcomes. The question is whether Australia is building a system it can manage, or one that

People regularly ask whether innovation districts can be deliberately created or whether they emerge beyond policy control. This Insight argues that districts arise through a small number of recurring pathways rather than a single replicable model. Drawing on international experience, it shows why policy outcomes depend less on ambition than on correctly diagnosing which pathway is plausible in a given context. Replicating the Silicon Valley or China approaches is fraught.

Innovation policy increasingly targets precincts and districts. But the evidence used to guide investment is often metropolitan in scale. This Insight argues that innovation outcomes emerge from the interaction of metropolitan enabling conditions and district-level mechanisms. It explains why single-scale analysis misleads policy, contrasts Australian governance with North American and European cities.It outlines a nested framework better suited to AI, productivity, and place

Innovation precinct strategies routinely promise "chance encounters" and "spontaneous collaboration" as if bringing talented people together in well-designed spaces automatically produces productive connections. The evidence is weak. Many precincts deliver proximity without interaction. Tenants occupy adjacent floors for years without substantive engagement. Shared amenities become places where people check phones rather than start conversations. My latest Innovation Insight

In today’s constrained fiscal environment, governments are rightly asking hard questions. Why should public funds support innovation districts and precincts unless there is clear evidence of productivity uplift, industry renewal, or public benefit? This Insight explores the economic, industrial, and civic value of innovation ecosystems. It argues for a shift in focus—from short-term outputs to long-term productivity gains. It also offers a practical framework for measuring wh

Crises aren’t just moments of danger—they’re windows of opportunity for transformative change. This Innovation Insight explores why mission-oriented innovation policy (MOIP) has become a global force for tackling society’s biggest challenges. The secret behind MOIP is a compelling narrative that empowers governments to move beyond simply “fixing” markets and instead actively shape them, fostering innovation that addresses real-world needs, to reframe policy, for the public

John H. Howard, 15 April 2025 This Insight explores the growing significance of innovation ecosystems in driving economic transformation...

This policy insight evaluates the current state of innovation policy through a multidimensional lens that complements existing frameworks.

What does the NSW Innovation Blueprint 2035 actually commit to? This analysis examines the strengths and gaps in the state's innovation stra