Adelaide’s CORE Innovation Hub to bolster collaboration between startups and mining companies

A centre to strengthen ties between Australia’s mining and tech industries will be established in Adelaide to drive innovation across the sector.

Unveiling the new CORE Innovation Hub in the Lot Fourteen innovation precinct, Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the focus was to create valuable working links within one of South Australia’s most important sectors.

CORE joins a growing list of peak groups based at Lot Fourteen in the heart of Adelaide, with plans to operate a satellite hub at the Tonsley Innovation Centre in the city’s south.

The announcement is part of the Copper to the World Conference in the South Australian capital — an annual event that has been forced online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A new open source digital map created for the hub was also unveiled at the conference.

The map pinpoints the state’s key mining and resources companies, innovative startups, along with technology and academic research clusters.

“CORE Innovation Hub will provide opportunities designed to activate and support innovation and new technologies, including the transfer of ideas and solutions between the emerging space, defence, energy and resource industries,” Minister van Holst Pellekaan said.

“This will allow the energy and mining sectors to sit at the forefront of technology, share enterprising ideas, new ventures and creativity with the best and brightest out there.”

CORE is centred at the Stone & Chalk startup hub, with its satellite office at Tonsley connected to the SA Drill Core Reference Library.

Lot Fourteen is also home to the Australian Space Agency and the Australian Institute of Machine Learning,

CORE Innovation Hub state manager Renee Hakendorf said key focuses included helping industry newcomers build relationships with the right partners to grow and to help major companies find talent and cutting-edge equipment or technology.

The hub aims to draw together leading minds to de-risk projects within the mining and resources sector, to reduce production costs, increase reliability and forge partnerships to trial new technologies.

“We are looking at bringing technology to a global audience and how we can provide a sand pit for innovation testing,” Hakendorf said.

“Managing a remote workforce has become very important as well.

“Jobs growth now more than ever is critical in South Australia, and by encouraging learning and collaboration CORE will assist the sector to embed emerging skills in areas like data analytics, automation and artificial intelligence across their existing workforce.”

Hakendorf said the next stage was to engage with the community to draw in new members and to launch a series of training programs over the next few months.

Support for the hub comes through the state government’s Economic and Business Development Growth Fund.

Lot Fourteen is a globally connected innovation precinct building on South Australia’s leading abilities in space, defence, artificial intelligence, future industries and entrepreneurship.

Tonsley brings together research and education, early-stage and established businesses and the wider community across four sectors, including mining and energy services, and cleantech and renewable energy. It is also home to the SA Drill Core Reference Library and the Onshore Petroleum Centre of Excellence.

This article was first published by The Lead.

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