NICTA weak at the knees over $25m funding

NICTA revealed today that it has received an AU$25 million funding boost courtesy of the NSW government, as part of an initiative to put the state back in the ICT spotlight.

NICTA (National ICT Australia) announced that funds from the increase will be distributed for various projects and investments until 2012.

Ian McDonald, NSW Minister for State Development, announced that NICTA will receive AU$5 million in funding a year from the government.

"This is a direct investment in NSW and Australia's innovative future. Information and communications technologies underpin our modern services economy and help drive the future competitiveness of this state," said McDonald in a statement.

"This [funding] has been in discussion for a long time and it underpins a lot of the work we're currently doing," said NICTA chief operating officer, Dr Phil Robertson.

The NICTA COO told ZDNet.com.au that the funding increase also qualifies as a recognition of the organisation's role in developing solutions for large scale infrastructure problems, citing a project to develop a traffic management system in partnership with the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority.

According to Robertson the Smart Transport and Roads (STaR) project has "improved flow-through rates and eased congestion" in areas where research trials have taken place.

According to the Minister, NICTA now has a technology portfolio of 60 patent applications and has been responsible for the creation of four new companies including Audinate, Open Kernel Labs and 7 IP — with more than 50 employees.

"Ongoing NSW support for NICTA will see the employment of highly skilled research and corporate staff in NSW and support about 174 PhD students at NSW universities," he said.