Sunshine Coast Regional Innovation Project Team (#SCRIPT)

Regional Innovation Benchmark

SCRIPT is a collaboration of local entrepreneurs, businesses, government stakeholders and community members dedicated to growing innovation and business capacity within the Sunshine Coast region. The Sunshine Coast has a strong Innovation Ecosystem and this funding allows for greater networking and enables more entrepreneurial activity, resulting in more jobs and a boosted economy.

SCRIPT received $0.5M through Advance Queensland’s Advancing Regional Innovation Program. The funding was collectively matched by over 30 Sunshine Coast organisations – providing over $1 million over three years to develop innovation and entrepreneurial activities across the region.

The Sunshine Coast is fortunate to have an established and active Innovation Ecosystem and SCRIPT works to increase these connections and relationships.

The region’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem has increased by 48% between 2016-2019, with the number of organisations, programs, events and initiatives growing from 62 to 92 across the Sunshine Coast and Noosa local government areas.

This culture has been encouraged and supported by Sunshine Coast Council, Noosa Council and Regional Development Australia Sunshine Coast along with their project partners (collectively known as SCRIPT) who together have laid the groundwork, through a myriad of platforms, courses and programs, over many years to ensure local businesses had the tools to grow and scale up.

To bring about these outcomes, activities and resources are aligned to the following key priority areas: Smart Cities, Food and Agribusiness, Health and Wellbeing, Sustainability and Environment and Creative Industries.

RIB case stidies

Criteria

To help fuel innovation, SCRIPT invests in collaborative activities that build capacity in businesses, showcase excellence, incubate and accelerate new solutions and support entrepreneurs and innovators in turning their ideas into commercial reality.

SCRIPT supports projects which help to connect, educate and inspire members of the Sunshine Coast community. SCRIPT invests in projects which (at the very least) are new and different and demonstrate:

  • Sunshine Coast Benefit
  • Validated Demand
  • Co-investment & Collaboration
  • Longevity
  • Accountability

The impact of SCRIPT projects and programs is measured against clear economic outcomes, such as:

  • Job Creation
  • Talent Attraction
  • Company Migration
  • Improved Productivity
  • Growth in Sales/Exports
  • New Products, Services & Business Models
  • Increased Capital Investment
  • Furthered Connections
  • Supply Chain Linkages
  • New Partnerships
  • Educating & Informing Locals
  • Cross-Sector Innovation & Collaboration

How can I connect into the Sunshine Coast Innovation Ecosystem?

 

Governance

The regional innovation program is governed by a Steering Committee comprising regional leaders with expertise in innovation, entrepreneurial activities and who also have an interest in the Sunshine Coast’s economic pillars and priority areas. The Steering Committee meet monthly (typically the third Monday of every month).

 

Annual Stakeholder Report

The Annual Stakeholder Report highlights the important role SCRIPT plays in growing innovation, business capacity and employment across the region.

 

​Steering Committee

The SCRIPT steering committee is a skill-based group of highly talented and awarded business people:

  • Myles McNamara, CEO (Eye On IT) Chair
  • Paul Fisher, CEO (Regional Development Australia Sunshine Coast Inc)
  • Anthony Dow, Economic Development Manager (Noosa Council)
  • Anne Lawrence, Head of Industry Development (Sunshine Coast Council)

Regional Innovation Coordinator (RIC)

The Regional Innovation Coordinator is Toni Binstead. A Transformation Specialist and Entrepreneur, Toni has spent a large amount of her career as a “trouble-shooter” for corporate business. Her clients have included major banks, financial institutions, and universities. Toni has extensive experience working with SMEs, working as a Business Mentor since 2003. She works closely with local entrepreneurs, small business and start-ups to innovate, trouble shoot and scale. Toni can connect you into our thriving innovation ecosystem here on the Sunshine Coast.

Entrepreneur in the Region (EiR)

The Entrepreneur in the Region (EiR) project ran from August 2019 to May 2020. Leigh Kelson is a serial entrepreneur, cloud computing pioneer, and media tech veteran, Leigh has founded ten ventures over the last 30 years and had a number of successful exits. Over his career, he’s raised more than $100 million in funding and overseen two successful IPOs on the Australian stock exchange. In the EiR role, Leigh assisted entrepreneurs and early-stage ventures to scaleup and commercialise.  Download Leigh’s Bio here.

Background

The SCRIPT initiative was developed through extensive consultation with the community and business sector.  A public community contribution document was developed to assist with SCRIPT scoping in addition to workshops, interviews, webinars and other stakeholder meetings.  SCRIPT is committed to fuelling the culture of innovation on the Sunshine Coast.

Funding Partners

The funding was collectively matched by the below organisations:

SCRIPT Partners
SCRIPT Stories
Script Newsletter Archive