Back when Malcolm Turnbull was enthusiastic about innovation, the government announced industry 4.0 testlabs pilot programme to investigate “transformative technologies to connect the physical world with the digital world.”

Techno Turnbull is gone, but the programme lingers on, with the government very quietly announcing over the summer the four universities to run testlabs. Swinburne’s U Alexsandar Subic leads the project which includes, Swinburne U, U of Q, UTS, Uni SA, UWA and UTS. The labs are for, “businesses and researchers … to trial, explore and showcase Industry 4.0 technologies and processes.”

As Professor Subic told CMM last year, engagement in applied research is about “industry interacting, engaging, and talking with our staff, with our teams and with our students. It is through these interactions we can develop a common language and deeper understanding of both perspectives” (CMM May 22).

At least four of the participants are already involved with German manufacturing giant Siemens, which has donated $1bn in industrial software to Swinburne, UWA, UniSA and UoQ.