News

Creating virtually-connected innovation hubs to drive economic growth

In the last few years, virtually connected clusters have emerged in the United Kingdom, South-East Asia and everywhere in between – CNBC included Bangalore, Dublin, Hong Kong and Copenhagen on its list of up-and-coming global technology cities. Next Generation Clusters, a paper by networking and technology services firm Cisco, explores the idea that virtually-connected clusters shouldn’t be limited by geographical proximity. It also highlights the ways that these clusters can fuel the shift towards an open, borderless innovation and drive economic growth: Community trumps geography – Social networks and online collaboration tools have made it easier than ever for digital communities to form…
Silicon Coast
June 16, 2014
News

Small business is missing the mobile, social, cloud revolution

Most companies that live and breathe the online revolution are smart smaller firms that use online tools to run their core business better to cut costs, reach customers and suppliers, innovate and get more control. Many others, however, are falling behind, according to a new Grattan Institute discussion paper. If advanced online technology becomes the norm among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) - which employ two-thirds of private sector workers and contribute more than half of Australia’s private sector GDP - the productivity gains will spread through the whole economy. Businesses need to explore and exploit four online toolsets to…
Silicon Coast
June 12, 2014
Business Profiles

Traffika

Traffika’s founder and Managing Director Matt Forman has been living on the Sunshine Coast for nine years, moving here from Brisbane to raise a family. He started Traffika five years ago and now has 16 staff based on the Sunshine Coast, two in Melbourne and 20 in their Asia office. “We are entirely Cloud-based and use the full Google suite, which has allowed us to grow the business cost effectively.” Focused on digital business generation, Traffika works with corporate, government and enterprise sectors, including retail, financial and professional services. “A lot of the work we do can be delivered online,…
Silicon Coast
June 12, 2014
News

CoderDojos coming to Sunshine Coast

Free weekly coding clubs are set to start on the Sunshine Coast, where children as young as seven will be able learn how to code, develop websites, apps, programs, games and much more. Demand is running hot from children of all ages and the coding clubs, called CoderDojos, are due to start in August at the Institute of Professional Learning, based on the University of the Sunshine Coast campus. Demand is equally strong from Sunshine Coast parents, who want their children to have richer and deeper computer experiences than they can provide in the home or school environment.  The CoderDojo…
Silicon Coast
June 6, 2014
News

Big bang disruption: The innovator’s disaster

Article by Paul F Nunes and Larry Downes As business costs are driven ever lower, some companies are creating disruptive products that, right out of the gate, are simultaneously better and cheaper than existing products. The upshot? Success for those who play by the new rules of strategy and competition - and disaster for incumbents who can’t adapt fast enough. Nearly everything you think you know about strategy and innovation is wrong. The most recent round of improvements in information technologies has changed the game once again, driving down costs and prices over time. The challenge now for innovators is…
Silicon Coast
June 2, 2014
News

How collaborative consumption is changing the labour market

Companies must evolve their business models to avoid becoming disintermediated by customers who connect with each other, according to CareerOne CEO Karen Lawson. Speaking about collaborative consumption at last week’s Sunshine Coast Business Expo, Ms Lawson said this trend was becoming more prominent and would significantly change consumers’ spending and buying habits, as well as recruitment processes within businesses. Collaborative consumption – also known as the sharing economy – is where consumers are keen to rent, lend, swap, barter, gift and share products and services rather than owning products. “We’re moving from a world where we’re organised around ownership to…
Silicon Coast
June 2, 2014
News

Three smart building blocks for digital service delivery

The Broadband Today Alliance (BTA) has released a White Paper “What makes a Smart Community” which describes the building blocks required for digital service delivery, based on the three elements of Smart Infrastructure, Smart Capacity and Smart Innovation. According to the White Paper, the ability of communities to turn to digital technology to create high quality employment, increase community participation and make themselves great places to live, work, start a business and prosper in the future is vital. BTA President Michael Whereat said Smart Communities were cities and regions which used information and communications technology (ICT) to enhance and diversify…
Silicon Coast
May 28, 2014
News

G20 Global Business Challenge

The G20 Global Business Challenge (G20 GBC) is a global business competition leveraging the talent from the world’s top graduate schools in collaboration with industry and the research community. The challenge for 2014 is to develop innovative solutions to use, recycle and/or manage water to achieve beneficial large scale impact. Competing teams will face off over two rounds to progress to the finals to be held in Brisbane as a lead up to the G20 Leaders Summit. Round 1 is a virtual round - open to any team of postgraduate students from both business and technical disciplines - where they with pitch their…
Silicon Coast
May 28, 2014
Business Profiles

Kunara

Kunara Organic Marketplace has grown from a niche store into a corporate business, with plans to expand nationally over the next few years. In the past 18 months, Kunara has experienced a 40 percent growth, with the implementation of three new business areas: a garden centre and café, the natural food store, and a wholesale/manufacturing warehouse. Natural Foods Manager Ryan McLintock says these new value add aspects have contributed to the rapid growth and increased employment opportunities, with staff numbers jumping from 55 to 160+. “Over the past year we have been consolidating our supply chain, manufacturing and packaging of…
Silicon Coast
May 9, 2014
Business Profiles

Aluminium Balustrade North Coast

Aluminium Balustrade North Coast (ABnc) has been operating on the Sunshine Coast since 1981, manufacturing and supplying aluminium products for commercial and residential applications. The company introduced an IT strategy about five years ago and currently runs eight ‘best in class’ programs, including Cloud-based project management software which captures lead information, processes quotes, shop drawings, workflow collaboration and financial data. “Digital technology is my passion and hobby, and it’s something which has given the business a real competitive edge. It’s about leveraging technology to get the best results...” General Manager Sam Bevis says the technology has allowed ABnc to implement…
Silicon Coast
May 9, 2014
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