11 February 1998
Wool CRC to promote cooperative research
The Bard of the Wool CRC at its recent meeting determined
that it would devote much of its effort and capability to promoting the
concept of cooperative wool research in the year ahead. The Board wants to
work closely with all sectors of the wool industry to establish
cooperative research within the total wool R&D program and to achieve
agreements prior to the Wool CRC officially winding up in June 2000.
Speaking after the meeting the Chairman, Mr Michael
Davidson, said, 'Naturally we are disappointed that we were among 17 CRCs
not selected in the recent round for a second seven-year term of funding.
However, we intend to benefit from the experience of the current Wool CRC,
which has shown that the collaborative approach has contributed
significantly to the value of the research outcomes'.
Mr Davidson went on to explain that while the first
obligation of the Wool CRC is to responsibly close off its various
research projects and to ensure an effective transfer of new technologies
to users, there is also a responsibility to take the necessary steps to
establish cooperative research as a self-supporting, ongoing operation.
'But that will not be possible without strong industry backing, so one of
our early initiatives will be to bring together wool industry leaders from
all sectors of the wool production and processing pipeline, to map out a
feasible plan of action,' he said.
'If industry support is strong enough, and we develop
some promising cooperative research programs, we could have the basis for
a renewed bid for a second Wool CRC. However, that is not the immediate
goal.'
In the meantime, the Wool CRC has continued the
collaborative theme in its submission to the Future Directions Taskforce.
'We have advocated a continuation of the compulsory levy and proposed that
the allocation of funds, by an independent body, should be to major
programs which are based on clear outcomes, have strong industry support
and demonstrate a high level of collaboration,' Mr Davidson said.
For further information contact:
Chairman
Mr Michael
Davidson
Ph: 02 63 84 7355
Acting Director
Dr Peter Turner
Ph: 03 52 46 4000
Communication Manager
Ms Carleen Schmalz
Ph: 0418 118 521
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