The request came in a statement released by the AIIA, and comes as speculation mounts over the future of the program, which was set up to fund start up technology companies. The industry group claims the program has not been in operation long enough for its success to be measured.
"In commercial terms... four years is too short a time for the Incubators to develop profitable investments," AIIA chief executive Rob Durie said in the statement. "Normally, early stage IT companies take five to 10 years to become profitable, after which time incubators can start to exit some investments on favourable terms. As they do so, they will become less dependent on government funding and therefore more self-sufficient."
One company to have received funds from the BITS program was Invarion, a Melbourne based start-up that develops traffic management software. The company graduated from the BITS program and has expanded into the U.S. and New Zealand. Its co-founder and general manager Rory O'Brian, told ZDNet Australia the program is worth saving even if it has not yet turned up tangible economic benefits.
"If it is deemed to be unsuccessful... If they could remedy or rectify the program to make it successful then I'd like to see that," he said. "If it's worked for us, and I strongly believe that it has, and there are other companies out there that it could work for, then they should try to find those companies."
The government has indicated the future of the BITS program hinges heavily on the outcome of the report in question, which was conducted by Allen Consulting and commissioned by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.
The AIIA says the BITS program has created 700 jobs and received co-investment from the private sector of AU$0.82 for every taxpayer dollar invested.
