ACS has announced an accelerator hub as part of its new collaborative offices in Barangaroo, Sydney.

Revealing ACS’s five-year strategy at the Reimagination Thought Leaders’ Summit, President Anthony Wong said the accelerator is an exciting direction for ACS to be taking.

“The aim of the accelerator is to contribute and foster sustainable Australian technology businesses and entrepreneurs, and to provide additional opportunities and economic growth for Australia,” Wong told attendees.

Wong said the accelerator will be for small businesses looking to scale.

“The focus for ACS will be to demonstrate domestic job creation both within the accelerator, and importantly, in the broader digital economy.”

“We have to have the guts to step forward and say ‘we want to be an innovative nation again, we want to take a risk – a measured risk, yes – but we need to have the creativity and the courage to move forward’," Wong said.

The three Cs

ACS’s future strategy is based around the three Cs: capacity, capability, and catalyst.

Capacity is about ensuring Australia has sufficient technology professionals to meet our economic growth needs, by encouraging more people into ICT and STEM-related careers and attracting top talent from around the world.

ACS will develop Australia's workforce capability, by developing skills and expertise in ICT professionals, establishing benchmarks, providing education, and identifying areas for focused attention which represent significant opportunity.

And finally, ACS will act as a catalyst to spark innovation, and encourage both public and private sector organisations to embrace technology to transform processes and reimagine customer experiences.

New Sydney office

The National Secretariat and NSW Branch, both based in Sydney, will be moving into modern, collaborative workspaces in Barangaroo when the current lease expires. They will be based in Tower 1 (red tower on left, see photo below).

These shared spaces include capacity for members to demonstrate new products, crowdsource new ideas or come in for meetings. The spaces will be fitted out with the latest audio-visual technology, and have been designed to foster a sense of community among members and staff. This facility is due to open in early 2018.

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