New Data61 boss says businesses can turn COVID-19 to their advantage

The new boss of CSIRO's Data61 division, Jon Whittle, has warned companies not to take a sledgehammer to research and development budgets during the COVID-19 economic downturn, saying those that invest now will come out the other end with a competitive advantage.

Professor Whittle, who is currently the dean of the faculty of information technology at Monash University, is set to take on the top job at CSIRO's data science division in July, replacing Adrian Turner who resigned in 2019.

While companies are looking to conserve cash and save jobs, Professor Whittle said investing in cutting edge digital technologies would leave firms in a stronger position once the crisis abated.

"You can turn this crisis into an advantage," Professor Whittle told The Australian Financial Review.

"Looking at a history of recessions, those that come out best are those that think a bit differently, don't just follow the crowd and seize opportunities.

"Lots of companies were already thinking about applying machine learning [within their businesses] or natural language processing. The ones that come out of this strongest will be those that invest in digital technologies and embrace them in a way that can have short to medium term advantages."

I'm not your classic academic who sits in the ivory tower and never goes outside.
— Jon Whittle

While much of Professor Whittle's career has been spent in academia, he spent six years in Silicon Valley working as a senior research scientist with the NASA Ames Research Centre where he led artificial intelligence research for civil engineering and space technology development, including an air traffic control project.

He was also the founding co-director of the Monash Data Futures Institute and said he had always understood the importance of collaborating with industry and commercialising research.

"I'm not your classic academic who sits in the ivory tower and never goes outside," he said.

"A lot of my career has been academic, but it's all been about building partnerships with organisations outside of the universities.

"I think my view on innovation is that impact can happen in a lot of different ways, through start-ups, through partnerships with small-and-medium-sized enterprises and lots of companies, and by influencing policy."

Data61 was formed in 2015 after the National Information Communications Technology Australia group (NICTA) lost its federal funding and merged with CSIRO to cut costs and survive.

Becoming better at commercialising research has been a core focus of CSIRO boss Larry Marshall, who created the ON accelerator program to help scientists think commercially. It also underpinned CSIRO's Strategy 2020.

Some of the spin-outs from Data61 to date have included drone start-up Propeller Aero, AI decision-making software company Opturion and healthcare video conferencing company Coivu.

Innovation rankings

But while Strategy 2020 was highly successful in helping CSIRO become more commercially savvy, it did not help propel the country up the global innovation rankings in the way Dr Marshall had hoped it would.

Professor Whittle said while Australia didn't lack talent, with numerous top universities in the country, it was still losing some of its best and brightest to foreign countries.

"One of the key things that has to change is how we nurture and develop the innovator.
— Jon Whittle

"If you go overseas and go to Silicon Valley or Singapore, you'll come across amazing Australian entrepreneurs all the time who are taking a leading role in innovation around the globe," he said.

"One of the key things that has to change is how we nurture and develop the innovator. We do a great job of training PhDs in basic science, but maybe not a great job in teaching them ... how to innovate from it and commercialise it. I want to make that more effective."

It's really about the mindset and we have to create that mindset.
— Jon Whittle

Professor Whittle recalled a story of speaking to a master's student from Stanford University and hearing about how she had started a company while studying full-time. When Professor Whittle had expressed his amazement, the student had told him that if she hadn't started a business, she'd have been the only master's student in her class not to.

"It's really about the mindset and we have to create that mindset," Professor Whittle said.

Acknowledging the rapid digitisation of businesses in all industries that had occurred in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Professor Whittle said Data61 would have a role to play in the post-pandemic environment.

"Companies are talking about reducing their property footprint and giving people more flexibility," he said. "That will accelerate digital transformation and the role Data61 is playing on the leading edge of innovation.

"We develop new technologies, so we have a key role to play in not just enabling the bog standard transformation, but the most cutting edge."