May 2003

• Regional Infrastructure: New Economic Development Opportunities for the Hunter, Illawarra and Western Sydney Regions (Research)
  May 2003 | National Economics; Austin Thompson & Associates; SGS; INSTATE
  How can some of Australia's oldest regional hubs be rejuvenated for improved economic performance?  This was the central question put to a series of decision makers at regional workshops in 2001.  A number of key insights were established which could help revive these regions to capture their share of growth in the increasingly globalised business environment including increasing investment in 'knowledge' infrastructure, like technology parks, industry clusters and education/business linkages that turn regions into hubs of high performance industries and focusing greater attention on infrastructure that connects people and places in and between regions, particularly transport and telecommunications, because of their role in stronger business and economic performance.

  The report also recommended better and more imaginative alignment of State and regional responsibilities for infrastructure planning and use and actions to build more effective partnerships between the public and private sectors for managing and financing infrastructure.

• Knowledge Management - the New Frontier for Productivity? (Discussion)
  Wed May 07 2003 | Dr Richard Hall, Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research & Training (ACIRRT) of the University of Sydney; Peter Curran, GPC Electronics