1.
Enabling Queensland
‘Enabling technologies’ provide
the opportunity to transform
existing industries and develop new ones. For example,
information
and communication technology (ICT) can help improve products, systems
and
processes across a range of industries as well as being an important
knowledge
industry in its own right. ICT in Queensland is particularly
important
because of the size of the state and its decentralised
population.
Technologies such as the Internet and mobile telephony are already
transforming
the way Queensland Government agencies and service providers deliver
vital
services such as health and distance education, as well as helping to
connect
urban, regional, interstate and international communities and
businesses.
Biotechnology allows us to
identify, understand, manipulate,
improve and control living organisms, and has an enormous range of
applications
in areas such as health, sustainable agriculture, rangelands
management,
marine science, mining and environmental management.
Queensland’s unique
biodiversity and impressive scientific
research capacity has already helped to build a world-class
biotechnology
industry that is attracting significant investment and fostering
collaborative
research partnerships with interstate and overseas partners.
Smart materials are changing
the way we produce devices
and expand capabilities. The market for light metal alloys is
expected
to grow strongly, driven by worldwide demand in the construction,
transport
and packaging, and telecommunication/electronics industries. The
automotive industry provides potential for the substitution of light
metals
for steel alloys as manufacturers target a 40% reduction in vehicle
weight.
Nanotechnology, or molecular
level engineering, enables
us to manipulate individual atoms and molecules, making it possible to
build machines the size of human cells or create materials with desired
properties. Nanotechnology is predicted to have a similar impact
to ICT, biotechnology and advanced materials as a platform for
improving
the way almost everything is designed and made.
Priority goals:
1.1. Improve ICT and
transport links between urban,
regional, rural and remote Queensland, inter-State and international
communities.
1.2. Improve sustainability
and economic viability
of regional and rural communities.
1.3. Establish Queensland as
a leader in the development
and commercialisation of biotechnology and utilisation of life sciences
technologies for the betterment of society.
1.4. Further develop
Queensland’s strengths in nanotechnology.
1.5. Reduce production costs
of light metal alloys
and components/sub-components, focusing on energy, infrastructure, and
labour.
1.6. Reduce the cost of
technology uptake in industry
(pure and applied research and component and sub-component
manufacturing).
1.7. Establish strategic
alliances with significant
global enterprises such that our technological efforts in products,
processes
and skills development are driven by global as well as domestic
demand.
1.8. Enhance the properties of
light metal alloys and
their engineered products to provide superiority in cost and
engineering
performance in materials and products designed from the alloys.
2.
Environmentally Sustainable Queensland
Managing Climate Change
Climatic change and variability
have a significant
economic and social impact on Queensland communities. For
example,
tropical cyclones, floods, prolonged droughts, dust storms and bush
fires
create significant costs in terms of damage to major infrastructure and
agricultural losses.
Queensland’s unique marine and
terrestrial ecosystems
are highly susceptible to climatic change as some species have limited
climatic range for survival. Understanding the nature of possible
climate change, its impact on the environment, and identifying and
developing
appropriate adaptive management and mitigation strategies will help to
protect the state’s natural assets.
Queensland is also looking to
take the lead in reducing
greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainable economic
development.
R&D efforts will be focused on reducing emissions from fossil
fuels,
developing more efficient and sustainable methods of exploration and
production,
and developing new and renewable energy sources. This will help
to
ensure security and diversity of Queensland’s energy supply, and
underpin
the growth of high-value minerals processing and technological services
industries.
Priority goals:
2.1. Enhance the
understanding of climate change
trends on regional, State, national and global scales including the
effects
of climate trends on shorter-term phenomenon such as “El Nino”.
2.2. Enhance understanding
of the economic, social
and environmental impacts of climate change, and identify the best
management
strategies.
2.3. Improve climate
forecasting, water management
and urban design (including house design).
2.4. Monitor and adopt
developments in adapting
to climate change (e.g. adaptation of plants and animals, rural
and
coastal impacts, drought, bushfires and dust storms).
2.5. Enhance technology for
the sustainable and
efficient production, conversion and utilisation of fossil fuel and
renewable
energy sources.
2.6. Apply new exploration
technologies to help
discover new energy resources and define expansions to known
deposits.
2.7. Apply sustainable and
efficient technologies
for extraction, processing, conversion and delivery of energy resources
(including cleaner technologies, waste and water reduction and use of
by-products).
Sustainable Queensland
Coastlines / Great Barrier
Reef
Queensland’s way of life,
culture and population growth
are strongly aligned with its catchments and coastal zone.
Queensland’s
coastline includes land and marine environments of international
significance,
such as the World Heritage areas of Fraser Island, Great Barrier Reef,
and the Wet Tropics. Much of Queensland’s wealth is generated
from
the coastal zone and from its cropping and grazing lands away from the
coast.
Unless the catchments and
coastal zone are managed
sustainably, the concentration of human activity will impact adversely
on the quality of our natural environment, the economic prosperity
derived
through industries and the quality of life enjoyed by Queensland
communities.
Water and its quality is the
key to living and economic
development and is the driver for a range of ecosystems. Surface,
ground and marine waters require protection from contamination by
chemicals,
nutrients and sediments.
For example, salinity is
becoming a major threat in
Queensland with 107,000 hectares of land showing signs of salinity, of
which 40,000 are unable to be used for production. Queensland
also
has more than 500,000 hectares of agricultural and pastoral land that
is
acidified or is at risk of acidification, particularly in higher
rainfall
coastal areas used for intensive agriculture.
R&D aimed at developing and
refining predictive
and monitoring systems will lead to resource management systems,
policies,
procedures and processes for sound decision-making to ensure the
sustainability
of water, land and vegetation resources.
Priority goals:
2.8. Provide for the
protection, conservation, rehabilitation,
management and sustainable development of catchments and coastal zones,
including their resources and biological diversity.
2.9. Maintain the cultural
heritage of catchments
and coastal zones for future generations to value, enjoy and
appreciate.
2.10. Support research that
facilitates a coordinated
and integrated approach to the ecologically sustainable development of
catchments and coastal zones.
2.11. Enhance scientific and
community knowledge
of natural resources and the effect of human activities on the natural
environment.
2.12. Contribute to
exploration, knowledge, protection
and sustainable development of Australia’s broader marine environment
including
the 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
2.13. Identify the causes of
and solutions to land
and vegetation degradation and to the maintenance of water quality, and
enhance community knowledge of sustainable water, land and vegetation
management
and restoration practices.
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