Neil Freeman
ChampionManager Innovation, Rio Tinto
Western Australia is Australia’s largest state, as well as the world’s largest producer of iron ore and the third largest for liquefied natural gas. These heavy industries have traditionally overcome the immense logistical challenges involved in developing product and export streams within remote, harsh environments. However, the scale and maturity of the region’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem has lagged behind that in more diverse economies.
MIT REAP Team Western Australia’s goal is to develop a strongly collaborative environment based on a common understanding of shared goals in which entrepreneurial spirit and capability are proactively encouraged against the backdrop of the region’s industrial strength and unique indigenous culture and identity. MIT REAP’s foundational model of of consistent collaboration between key stakeholders in order to build entrepreneurial capability directly addresses one of the key challenges in WA’s innovation ecosystem: the need for a coordinated approach.
