Ecosystem
Ecosystem for growth
Innovation, especially when combined with entrepreneurship, requires knowledge and support to be successful. The Northern Territory innovation ecosystem provides the knowledge and support you need to become a successful innovative entrepreneur in Australia’s newest investment and career destination, perfectly positioned to expand in our international region, while thriving in our unique Territory lifestyle. Our ecosystem offers the access and potential collaboration with new companies, experienced business leaders, faculty researchers, government officials, established technology companies, and investors that your innovation needs to achieve successful commercialisation.

AusIndustry
Services from across government to support your business.
Connecting you to information, grants, registrations and support to help your business succeed in Australia.

Australian Industry and Defence Network - Northern Territory
Australian Industry and Defence Network - Northern Territory Inc (AIDN-NT) is the premier representative body for the Defence industry in the Northern Territory.
Our members benefit from a range of services, training and support aimed at better engaging them with Defence, better connecting them with primes, better filtering opportunities so as to enhance their capability to win Defence work and succeed in the industry.

Business Enterprise Centre
Starting and expanding a business in the Northern Territory
The Business Enterprise Centre (BECNT) is a non-for-profit independent organisation funded by the Northern Territory and Australian governments to provide free business advice, introduction to small business workshops, referrals to professional experts, business workshops and relevant business information to assist individuals to start, organise, develop and grow their business in a sustainable and profitable manner.
For further information email enquiries@becnt.com.au

Centre for Appropriate Technology Limited
Economic opportunity arises when the building blocks of community life - adequate water supplies, accessible energy services, functional housing, and telecommunications infrastructure - are available, reliable and affordable.
The Centre for Appropriate Technology Limited knows remote Australia and its requirement for tailored approaches enabling us to deliver technical reliability and build local capacity to unlock economic opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Charles Darwin University
As Australia’s most northerly university and the only university based in the Northern Territory, Charles Darwin University is a dual sector university providing the human and knowledge capital underpinning the future prosperity of Northern Australia and our near Asian region.

City of Darwin
The City of Darwin's #SmartDarwin strategy aims to use innovative technology to enhance the lives and experiences of residents and visitors to Darwin through better planning of service delivery, improvements to community safety and supporting the liveability and environmental sustainability of our city.
#SmartDarwin provides a framework for governments, industries and the community to overcome today’s challenges whilst leveraging tomorrow’s opportunities, ensuring the city is prepared for a digitally and data-enabled future.
In May, City of Darwin completed the largest rollout of smart technologies ever seen in Australia, including CCTV cameras, Wi-Fi and environmental sensors. The $10 million project was funded with $5 million from the Australian Government and $2.5 million from both the Northern Territory Government and City of Darwin.
The project rolled out a range of world-class technologies the city centre:
- 912 new LED lights
- 138 new CCTV cameras
- 39 Wi-Fi hotspots
- 24 environmental Internet of Things (IoT) sensors
- smart parking sensors
- way-finding kiosks
- state of the art audio system in the mall.
The IoT infrastructure will deliver many benefits to the community and our environment, including:
- enhanced community safety
- improved service delivery by council
- greater environmental sustainability by reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions
- smart planning where data will inform planning and design
- innovation with data made available to the community and business sector
- improved public spaces through Wi-Fi, lighting, smart parking and better understanding of pedestrian movement.
An integrated Smart City Platform provides dashboards, analytics, trends and reporting on datasets such as temperature, humidity, noise, dust, traffic movement, Wi-Fi usage and traffic and pedestrian movement data to name a few.
The project was awarded the Smart City of the Year - Regional award, in June 2019.

CSTACI
The Commonwealth, State and Territory Advisory Council on Innovation (CSTACI) is a council of high level officials from the Australian Government, the state and territory governments, and the New Zealand Government who advise and coordinate comments on their innovation policy, activities and programs.
With a targeted and strategic approach to innovation issues, the council aims to improve the effectiveness, integration and coordination of the national innovation system.

Darwin Innovation Hub
We are an incubator, co-working space and innovation ecosystem located in the heart of Darwin’s CBD. Our members - a mix of entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, start-ups, researchers, academics, techies, designers, creatives, corporate professionals, freelancers and students - will be able to collaborate and grow internationally taking advantage of our state-of-the-art facility and team, who are able to deliver key services and world class mentorship.

Desert Knowledge Australia
Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA) works for a stronger regional and remote Australia by connecting the people, places and knowledges of the desert. As a statutory authority of the Northern Territory established in 2003 'to encourage and facilitate learning, research and sustainable economic and social development relating to desert and arid lands,' we work across state and territory borders to put knowledge into action.
DKA manages the Desert Knowledge Precinct in Alice Springs. The precinct is a welcoming environment that encourages learning, knowledge sharing and collaboration, reflecting and respecting its distinctive surroundings. The research, education, enterprises and cultural activities housed on-site create an enriching, invigorating place to make connections. DKA proudly acknowledges the Arrernte people as the custodians and the first knowledge holders of this land, and our management of the precinct is underpinned by an Indigenous Land Use Agreement.

Engineers Australia (Northern)
- Building and serving the northern engineering community
- Building alliances and partnerships
- Developing future and existing engineers
- Recognising promoting and sharing the benefits of engineering.
Engineers Australia Northern will specifically deliver this intent by focussing on the five key pillars:
- Indigenous community
- Energy
- Infrastructure and transport
- Defence Industry
- Future workforce.

GHD
GHD is a professional consultancy with offices around Australia and overseas. In Darwin, a professional team of 60 provides services to all industries across the following areas:
- engagement and communication
- digital innovation and advisory
- environment
- architecture and design
- property and buildings
- transport and water
- project management
- energy and resources.
As part of the digital team, GHD works in conjunction with industry technical leaders to deliver innovation program design, innovation hub establishment and support, campaign support and facilitation and capacity building and training. This includes our Smart Seeds initiative - a global innovation program for young professionals tackling complex infrastructure challenges.
For more information go to the Smart Seeds website.

Industry Capability Network Northern Territory
Industry Capability Network in the Northern Territory (ICN NT) is a business network that introduces local companies to the supply chains of major projects, large or small. ICN NT works with procurement and project managers to help identify capable suppliers and service providers whilst at the same time opening up new opportunities to local industry in projects both here and overseas.
ICN’s database currently holds detailed company capability information on around 4,000 businesses across the Territory. Historically ICN’s objective has been to engage with a project proponent to feed NT business capability on a ‘package by package’ basis, via ICN Gateway.
If you are a project proponent, ICN NT can put you in contact with the best suppliers. If you are a supplier, ICN NT can connect you with projects planned or underway throughout the Territory.

Innovation and Science Australia
Innovation and Science Australia is an independent board, responsible for providing the Australian Government with strategic whole-of-government advice on all innovation, science and research matters.

Inspiring Australia
A national strategy for engagement with the sciences.
Australia aspires to be an innovative society with a technologically skilled workforce, a scientifically literate community and scientifically well informed decision makers. Inspired NT forms a part of the Inspiring Australia strategy, which aims to build a strong, open relationship between science and society, underpinned by effective communication of science and its uses.
Developed in consultation with the science community, the Inspiring Australia Strategy identifies the need for national leadership, a national strategy and targeted national programs to strengthen the broad and diverse science engagement scene in Australia.

Menzies School for Health Research
Finding enduring solutions to health problems that matter, and achieving sustainable health improvements through excellence and leadership in research, education and capacity development.

Northern Territory Government, Department of Trade, Business and Innovation
The Northern Territory Government’s Economic Development Framework identified innovation as a critical theme to accelerate economic development, driving productivity and making Territory businesses more competitive, profitable and sustainable.
Encouraging innovation to improve productivity and supporting the development of new products, services and processes is critical to accelerating economic development, to attract private sector investment and create jobs.
Driven by the Department of Trade, Business and Innovation, the Northern Territory Business Innovation Strategy aims to ignite, inspire and intensify a sustainable innovative ecosystem.
- Industry led innovation initiatives
- Venture capitalist funding
- October Business Month Innovation Week
- Establish an Northern Territory Angel Investor network
- Business Innovation Network NT
- Promote the Northern Territory Business Innovation Strategy
- Facilitate an Innovation Week during October Business Month
- Showcase Northern Territory innovators and entrepreneurs
- A local Inspire Women into Technology (IWIT) summit
- Alice Springs and Darwin innovation ecosystems
- Business Acceleration Program
- Business Innovation Support Initiatives program
- Innovator in Residence program
- Funding and investment landscape tool

Property Council of Australia
The Property Council of Australia champions the industry that employs 1.4 million Australians and shapes the future of our communities and cities.
Property Council members invest in, design, build and manage places that matter to Australians: our homes, retirement villages, shopping centres, office buildings, industrial areas, education, research and health precincts, tourism and hospitality venues and more.
On behalf of our members, we provide the research and thought leadership to help decision-makers create vibrant communities, great cities and strong economies.
We support smarter planning, better infrastructure, sustainability, and globally competitive investment and tax settings which underpin the contribution our members make to the economic prosperity and social well-being of Australians.
To find out more go to the Property Council website.

SmartEnergy NT
SmartEnergy NT was formed by members of the renewable energy industry to promote the benefits of renewable and smart energy to the commercial and domestic market.
SmartEnergy NT goals are:
- to deliver a program that will educate the community about the economic benefits of smart energy solutions
- to ensure the efforts of the Roadmap to Renewables Report is implemented with all its recommendations
- to advocate for improvements in the regulations and processes that restrain good practice in throughout industry
- to promote the Buy Local message to government, industry and domestic customers
- to promote good practice within the local industry
- to advocate for locally based training at all level of industry.