A week of innovation

The Australian Innovation Festival is finishing with a bang this week, with events including the AIIA iAwards and the Western Sydney Manufacturing Week 2007.

The festival started on 26 April (World IP Day) and finishes on 27 May. It aims to encourage networking and business opportunities for participants in the areas of technology commercialisation, research and development across all industries.

"The festival focuses on the four C's of innovation - creativity, connections, collaboration and commercialisation. These elements are important to successful innovation in Australia and worldwide," said the Australian Innovation Festival chairman, Peter Westfield.

This year's theme is "Clusters of Innovation', focusing on the varying innovative strengths of each state and territory across Australia. The major innovation clusters in NSW include education, fashion and the arts, tourism, IT and finance.

The festival is the largest in the country with 783 events held across all states and territories. The events cover all industries ranging from fashion to biotechnology to finance.