A NSW Government website
The NSW Government has developed a first-of-its-kind report to measure the state's innovation and productivity performance and compare NSW to other states and similar international economies.
The new NSW Innovation and Productivity Scorecard showed the State was a leader on economic growth in 2015-16, ranking second out of 10 locations on GDP growth, beating Victoria and Queensland and the national economies of the USA, UK, Canada, Singapore and Germany and the OECD average.
The scorecard also ranked NSW third for both business growth and labour productivity ranking above the Australian and OECD averages.
The State ranks fourth for business investment in R&D and has the highest number of startups in Australia and third highest internationally, but we can improve on venture capital firms and investment.
The scorecard has been developed by the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council, together with SGS Economics and CSIRO's Data61, underpinned by sophisticated data techniques.
It was launched today along with a report on how states and regions can support a strong ‘innovation economy’ and what NSW can learn from international experience. The report was commissioned by the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council and written by UK-based international cities expert Professor Greg Clark.
Chair of the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council, Neville Stevens AO, said the first scorecard shows NSW has a thriving economy, a highly skilled workforce, an active start-up sector and strong research sector.
"NSW is the engine room of the Australian economy and this new scorecard will give us what we need to fine tune our performance,” Mr Stevens said.
"This new scorecard is a first – it identifies how NSW compares to other states and international locations on a range of innovation and productivity measures.
"These insights will help inform policy to grow our innovation economy and deliver jobs for the future. The innovation economy can provide revenue for better infrastructure, health, education and public services to ensure NSW remains Australia’s economic powerhouse.
“NSW is working to improve innovation and productivity with initiatives including Jobs for NSW and the Sydney Startup Hub, the Sydney School of Entrepreneurship, and the Boosting Business Innovation Program.”
The scorecard compares NSW performance in three areas: research and collaboration; skills and enterprise; and growth and productivity.