Prime Minister's Industry 4.0 Taskforce signs collaboration agreement with Germany

Two weeks ago, at Hannover Messe 2017 — said to be the world’s largest industrial fair — Australian and German industry groups forged closer ties to advance and modernise both countries’ manufacturing sectors.

The Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce in Australia, chaired by Siemens Australia and New Zealand CEO Jeff Connolly, and the Plattform Industrie 4.0 group from Germany signed a cooperation agreement which will see closer collaboration between the two countries in developing modern manufacturing sectors.

The partnership will create opportunities to advance and modernise both countries’ manufacturing capacities. It will enable the digitisation and linking of manufacturing processes along global value chains and create opportunities to generate economic prosperity.

German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Brigitte Zypries, Australian Ambassador to Germany Lynette Wood and Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel supported and helped celebrate the signing event at Hannover Messe.

Australian Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Arthur Sinodinos welcomed the commitment by Australian and German industry groups to work together to prepare our economies for the Industry 4.0 transition. This came just prior to the budget announcement of a $100 million fund for manufacturers to diversify and expand their businesses. As part of the funding, Sinodinos said $47.5 million will go towards an advanced manufacturing growth fund, $10 million towards innovation labs in Victoria and South Australia and $5 million towards maintaining engineering expertise by investing in student research.

Sinodinos said the cooperative work under the agreement would be supported by government, industry and standards and research organisations within both countries.

“I am particularly pleased that the agreement has a strong focus on supporting SMEs in both countries to seize the opportunities offered by Industry 4.0, including through access to a network of test labs. I would like to thank Mr Jeff Connolly, chair of the Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce, and the taskforce members for their efforts to date,” Sinodinos said.

Image caption: Jeff Connolly, CEO of Siemens Australia and chair of the Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce, signs a collaboration agreement with Plattform Industrie 4.0 group, represented by Hans Joerg Stotz of SAP. Supporting and witnessing the important occasion were German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Brigitte Zypries and Australian Ambassador to Germany Lynette Wood.