Australia’s Aus4Innovation program, which was launched in Vietnam earlier this year, help nurture innovative ideas and promote the partnership between Australian and Vietnamese organizations, said Rebecca Bryant, Charge d’Affaires a.i. of the Australian Embassy to Vietnam. 
Rebecca Bryant, Charge d’Affaires a.i. of the Australian Embassy in Hanoi. Photo: The Australian Embassy in Hanoi
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Deeper, stronger ties between our innovation systems is a key goal for our strategic partnership with Vietnam and the Innovation Partnership Grants provide excellent opportunities to nurture innovative ideas, the diplomat said the Aus4Innovation Partnership Grant Awards held in Hanoi on October 9, according to the Australian Embassy in Hanoi.
Echoing Rebecca Bryant, Vice Minister Bui The Duy from the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) said the innovation partnership between Australia and Vietnam has proven to be an effective mechanism for the two countries to share best practice and models to enhance the innovation systems in both countries.
Three projects have been awarded prizes for the first round of the Innovation Partnership Grants, part of the Australian Government’s Aus4Innovation program.
The projects, with allocated funding totaling more than AUD1.6 million, were selected from 115 applications for their outstanding initiatives and potential positive economic and social impacts.
Winners of Aus4Innovation Partnership Grant Awards. Photo: The Australian Embassy in Hanoi
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The three initiatives will be implemented by Australian universities in collaboration with universities and research institutes in Vietnam.
(1) University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Vietnamese National University of Engineering and Technology (VNU-UET), who will transfer of a university commercialisation model and demonstrate its application in water treatment and monitoring systems using industry 4.0 technology;
(2) University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) and Research Institute for Aquaculture number Three (RIA3), who will produce a hormone that will boost productivity of sea cucumber farming; and
(3) The University of Sydney and the National Health Strategy and Policy Institute (NHSPI), who will introduce a breakthrough methodology to transform breast cancer diagnostic efficacy.
The Aus4Innovation program launched the first round of Innovation Partnership Grants earlier this year, providing financial support to help scale already tested activities that address emerging challenges or opportunities in any sector of Vietnam’s innovation system. Round two will be announced later this year.
This is an important part of the AUD 11 million, four year (2018-2022) flagship Aus4Innovation program to help strengthen the Vietnamese innovation system and prepare for Vietnam’s economic and digital future.
It is co-funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and InnovationXchange (IXC), managed by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and in strategic collaboration with the MoST.
