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back to article Australia's opposition cuts funds to IT research outfit

National ICT Australia (NICTA), the IT research organisation established by a Liberal/National coalition government in 2002 may not survive the next government of that political persuasion, after the body that funds it was earmarked to have its funding cut. Australia goes to the polls on Saturday, with the right-leaning …

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  1. Charles Manning

    Is NICTA actually a good deal?

    I'm not an Australian, but here in NZ we have a similar government program that pisses tens of millions of dollars against the wall.

    Sure, they do get some achievements but the same money could achieve far better outcomes if spent differently. There are many small companies that could generate amazing results with just 1M or so of funding. That money could enable 20 or so small companies to do good stuff rather than one large government organisation soak up the funding and achieve standard government outcomes (ie. not very much).

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    1. Stiabhan
      Reply Icon

      Re: Is NICTA actually a good deal?

      Companies - especially small companies - generally aren't doing cutting edge research. NICTA has done world class work in medical implants (the Bionic ear), dependable systems (one and a half billion phones run NICTA software!), formal methods, networks and more. The people doing this are PhDs and NICTA has spun off companies based on their research (Open Kernel Labs, Red Lizard Software, Incoming and more). If NICTA closes then many of these people will go overseas and leave us to continue our slide into becoming a technical backwater.

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    LNP policy

    Give to the rich and take from the poor.

    Abbott is a tech luddite.

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    1. RealFred
      Reply Icon

      Re: LNP policy

      Stop chanting slogans. They make you appear stupid and uninformed, while not adding anything meaningful to the conversation. Name some things that the Research Organisation have produced to bolster your argument.

      Didn't think so

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      1. Keefey
        Reply Icon

        Re: LNP policy

        Implantable, manageable pain control

        Australia's first working bionic eye

        Embedded virtualisation software used in over 1 billion mobile phones

        The reduction of millions of on-road miles by large-scale supply-chain companies through use of their software

        There you go.

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  3. poopypants

    It seems strange at first glance

    I'm pretty sure it won't make any difference to the election outcome, though.

    In Australia elections are never won by oppositions. They are lost by governments. All Labor had to do to stay in power was not piss people off. Unfortunately, achieving that for six or more years is something that few leaders of any political persuasion ever manage.

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