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

Australia’s National AI Plan makes strong commitments to infrastructure and adoption, but leaves governance and liability unresolved. This uncertainty exposes SMEs to risk, complicates investment decisions, and weakens public trust. History shows that technologies such as electricity became dependable only when standards, liability, and oversight aligned. AI now requires the same institutional attention if it is to move from experimentation to reliable national infrastructure