Harnessing the value of innovation at IMARC 2015

IMARC featured a strong turnout from major and junior miners, METS, investors and potential investors, educational institutions and government bodies, across the 3 days of the conference.

World-class speakers and over 2500 delegates converged on Melbourne for the 2015 International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) organised by AusIMM (the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy) and Austmine.Key themes that emerged from the programme were:

• the practical impacts of innovation on current and future projects,
• the need for and benefits of collaborative research,
• lessons learned from other industries that have already grappled with rapid technology changes and disruptors,
• and the different forms of innovation, from new technology to new business processes and new approaches to financing.

A particularly exciting initiative that was show-cased is METS Ignited – an industry-led, government funded initiative aimed at supporting and developing new technology start-ups, driving the Australian METS industry, and helping to facilitate the industry’s adoption of cutting edge technology and practices.

A talented pool of innovators presented on their technologies and discussed  collaborations that are taking place with the industry to develop technologies that improve productivity, efficiency and competitiveness.

Herbert Smith Freehills’ Partner, Rebekah Gay, and Senior Associate, Benjamin Cameron presented as part of IMARC’s technology stream, which had a significant emphasis on how innovation is being used by the sector to improve productivity and efficiency.

Their presentation focused on how the approaches taken by businesses in other sectors, such as the oil and gas sector and the high tech sector, can provide valuable insights to the mining sector when it comes to maximising the benefits of innovation. In particular, the different ways in which these businesses identify, capture, protect and share IP demonstrate that it can be invaluable in facilitating technology transfer, promoting innovation and harnessing the full value of innovation.

Key take-aways from this presentation were that all businesses should be looking to have a strategy that enables them to:

• Recognise when innovation is occurring,
• Understand the value of the innovation,
• Actively decide whether to protect innovation through IP,
• Use IP strategically to advance business strategies, and
• Understand the risks and opportunities of third party IP.

IMARC featured a strong turnout from major and junior miners, METS, investors and potential investors, educational institutions and government bodies, across the 3 days of the conference.