Entrepreneurs and a robot give Minister a high-tech welcome

Leeanne Enoch, State Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy and Minister for Small Business, took the time to meet Dewey, the Council’s Library Service Robot, while in town this week. 

As part of her visit to announce $500,000 for Noosa and the Sunshine Coast from the State’s new innovation fund, the Minister toured Noosa’s high-tech Cooroy Library, with its grassed roof and technology centre. She also met-with Noosa-based entrepreneurs.

Last year, Cooroy Library was named one of the world’s coolest libraries. Noosa Library Service was the first public library in Australia to enlist the help of a NAO Humanoid robot to provide coding and computer programming training to residents.

Council’s Economic Development Manager Anthony Dow said the local entrepreneurs who met with the Minister welcomed her comments about support for technology businesses.

“Her comments about the potential for state governments to provide more opportunities for smaller, innovative businesses to compete for government contracts were certainly well received,” Mr Dow said.

“The feedback from local businesses is that sometimes the opportunity to work with a government agency, or at least to be given a chance to pitch for a big government contract, can do more for a business’s success than receiving a government grant.

“The Minister was also open to suggestions that the State could play an important role in attracting talent to regional areas. This may be necessary to fill a gap in skills, which new technology businesses identify as essential to their growth.

“Local business Alkira, which has designed a website navigation technology to make computing easier for the vision-impaired, certainly impressed the Minister with a demonstration of their product,” Mr Dow said.

The Minister also met representatives from Peregian Beach-based email software developer Atmail, healthcare professional development company Osler Technology based at Noosa Junction, as well as thedocyard, which provides secure document technology and professional services to the legal sector.

Representatives from both Innovate Noosa and Create Noosa, two recently formed organisations with a focus on innovation, also met with the Minister at Cooroy.

12 June 2017