CSIRO boss: Australia needs to get smarter at riding waves of innovation

For a beach-going nation, Australia still has some fundamental survival skills to learn, and getting better at reading the innovation landscape to catch waves of opportunity is critical according to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s (CSIRO) Dr Larry Marshall.

The APS has a heads up on some of the major issues it will have to grapple with in a sobering but optimistic take on the next two decades facing Australia, said Dr Marshall this week. 

Addressing the National Press Club on Wednesday, the science agency CEO said every person had a role in shaping Australia’s future, and he used lessons growing up on Sydney’s northern beaches to paint a picture of the wicked challenges and opportunities on the horizon.

Marshall shared a story about being saved by a surfer when he nearly drowned in a rip aged 10.

“That surfer inspired me to learn life-saving – a tradition which I’ve passed on to my two children,” Marshall said.

“I had to learn how...