Government Seeks An Interest In Incubators
The Age
Tuesday August 24, 1999
THE Federal Government is calling for expressions of interest to manage incubator centres to be set up in every mainland state and territory under the BITS (Building on IT Strengths) program.
Around $78 million has been allocated from the 16.6 per cent sale of Telstra for establishing the centres.
Aimed at small-to-medium business, it is envisaged they will provide expert financial, management, technical advice and resources to new and aspiring technology companies as well as foster the exchange of ideas, people and resources.
The Government is looking for ``suitably expert agencies", which may be state-government-based, private sector or academic organisations, to manage the centre.
A spokesman for Senator Richard Alston, the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, said the Government was ``open to suggestions" in regard to management of the centres.
He added that while the Government realised it would have to be ``involved from day one", private sector involvement would be crucial to the success of the program and said the success of programs in Israel had shown the importance of private-sector involvement.
A series of information sessions for those interested in managing the centres will be held in each capital city in the second half of September.
In addition to the incubator centres, the BITS program has allocated a further $40 million to an information industries R&D test-bed infrastructure program and $40 million toward developing Tasmania as an ``Intelligent Island".
Anyone wishing to register their interest in managing a centre are asked to submit contact details to BITS@dcita.gov.au by 30 August.
© 1999 The Age
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