**Embargoed until 17 December 2009**
Australia is being left behind in high-technology development
Government and industry are being warned that the lack of an effective high-technology framework
is stifling the growth of Australias IT sector as local innovators head offshore to undertake important
research and development. The CEO for Australian software developer
QSR International, John
Owen, says it is vital that Australia develops a successful high-tech industry which is recognised and
exported throughout the world.
Australia
needs to move past
the digging it out of the ground and growing it mentality on which we have
based our export industry. We have excellent innovation that goes on throughout Australia on a regular basis
but without an effective framework for research and development, this innovation is either developed overseas
or never sees the light of day," he said.
A case in point is the creation of the black box used on board aircrafts around the world. Many people
wouldnt be aware that the technology was invented in Australia but developed and commercialised overseas.
This is but one example of how Australia is particularly poor at nurturing and promoting home grown
innovation."
Mr Owen says that many new companies find it difficult to break into mature international IT markets due to a
lack of government and industry support when promoting and exporting new technology products.
At the moment there are many countries in Europe far smaller than Australia which are renowned for their IT
prowess, for instance the development of Nokia in Finland or Ericsson in Sweden. However nothing high-tech
will come to mind if you ask a European about Australia.
We need to have a dramatically improved framework to actively encourage and ensure that we can not only
develop new technology but that we can commercialise and market it internationally as well. Its unfortunate
that a company thats developed something fantastic in Australia would feel the need to list in America, where
venture capitalists are more likely to back new technology, because they wont get the support in research and
development at home, he said.
QSR Internationals outstanding achievements
in the development, manufacturing and exporting of worlds
best practice qualitative
data analysis software has shown that Australian designed and manufactured IT
products can become successful on a global stage. The company exports to 150 countries and is the market-
leader in a competitive international field.
In the past 12 months, QSR has been recognised for its achievement at a range of domestic and international
awards and has taken out the top honours at both
The Age/D&B 2009 Victorian Business of the Year Award
and the Dell Small Business Excellence Award in Australia. QSR has also won the prestigious 2009 Market
Research Society/Association for Survey Computing Award for Technology Effectiveness which was
announced in London this week and is part of the United Kingdoms premier market research awards program.
QSR is currently listed for a second international award, being the 2009 Global Dell Small Business Excellence
Award, where the company will represent Australia and compete against winners from 12 other countries.
Businesses which operate in the IT sector must work together and share skills, knowledge and experiences,
while government needs to be more proactive in funding research and helping smart industries develop a good
international reputation for IT innovation," Mr Owen said.
In Australia we have the ability to become internationally recognised as a hub for cutting edge technology if an
effective framework is put in place.
As the development of
high technology
continues to grow and expand
across the world, we need to move beyond the success of our primary industries and expand and diversify
Australias export market into the IT sector."
Media contact:
To interview QSR International CEO John Owen, phone Kate Bright, Sauce Communications on
0427 728 245 or email kate@saucecommunications.com.au
Please note a media backgrounder on QSR International follows.
Media backgrounder:
QSR International is based in Australia, with offices in Europe and North America.
From its Melbourne base and with a staff of nearly 65, it has become the worlds largest qualitative
research software developer.
QSRs flagship products NVivo and XSight are developed end-to-end in Australia and are sold in
more than 150 countries. The data analysis software allows users to upload and analyze video, audio,
images and text side-by-side. Its powerful analysis tools help users to interrogate their data - testing out
theories, identifying trends and cross-examining information.
QSR was the first in the world to deliver qualitative research software programs in Japanese and
Simplified Chinese. The company's NVivo 8 software is also available in German, French, and Spanish.
QSR customers are drawn from the academic, government and commercial sectors and its largest
geographic markets are the United States, Europe and Australasia.
More than 400,000 customers use QSR software and more than 500 organizations hold site licenses for
its products, including the Childrens Hospital Boston, the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, sports
coach UK, market research giant GfK-NOP, the Victorian CFA and virtually every major university in the
United States, Europe and Australasia.
QSR is the most published software developer in the qualitative research field - its software is cited in
textbooks, research literature, journals and blogs worldwide.
QSR International is the only developer in its field to earn Microsoft Gold Partner status and ISV
competency.
All QSR software developers are Microsoft Certified Professionals and all software testers have
International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) certification.
An early adopter of emerging technology, QSR was amongst the first software developers in the world
to utilize .Net and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express. The company was also the first in its field to
develop software using Microsoft XP guidelines and to receive Microsofts Certified for Vista
accreditation.
QSR won the 2009 Dell Small Business Excellence Award in Australia, and will compete against 12
other countries for the 2009 Global Dell Small Business Excellence Award. QSR was also named as the
winner of the IT & Business Services Category in The Age / Dun & Bradstreet 2009 Victorian Business
Awards and went on to be named 2009 Victorian Business of the Year in the same awards.
QSR won the Information and Communications Technology category at the Governor of Victoria Export
Awards in 2008, 2006 and 2001. It was highly commended in the same category in 2004 and 2002. The
Company has also been named the winner of the 2009 MRS/ASC Technology Effectiveness Awards in
the United Kingdom for its software NVivo 8. It was selected as a finalist for its XSight software in 2007
for the same award. In addition, QSR was selected as a finalist in the Applications and Infrastructure
Tools category in the 2007 Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) iAwards.
While QSR International was formally established in 1995, the company has its origins in 1981 when
the first software product, NUD*IST, was developed.