Preliminary results from the third biennial Innovation: State of Play survey of global mining executives have confirmed innovation strategy is the cornerstone of successful longterm business strategy.
The Innovation: State of Play platform has emerged as a leading source of analysis on the role of innovation in the global mining industry.
Director VCI.
Established by VCI in 2012, participation in the international survey has grown from 50 (2012) to 230 (2014) to more than 700 in 2016.
Principal partners for the Innovation: State of Play platform are The University of Western Australia and national growth centre METS Ignited.
VCI Director Dr Graeme Stanway said preliminary results from the 2016 survey provide interesting insights:
- 98% of responders rate innovation as either important or critical to their long-term business strategy;
- Change management is seen as far and away the largest reason the implementation of new innovations fail;
- The highest rated response for catalysing the innovation ecosystem is to ‘establish and participate in industry collaboration platforms’;
- When asked ‘who was impacting innovation the most’, large equipment suppliers and large miners rate most highly; 30% of responses select research institutions in their top three;
- 33% of responders say the most important relationship for improving innovation is between mining companies and research institutions.
Dr Stanway said the next step would be to create another high quality report for release early in 2017 which provides in-depth analysis of the results.
“The report will consist of statistical analysis, both longitudinal and cross-analysis, and importantly, drill-down interviews with industry experts,” Dr Stanway said.
“These interviews will supplement and build on the analysis of our internal team, discussing key insights and identified broader trends.”
A cross-section of participants in the 2016 survey paints an interesting picture:
- 74% of responders are from mining professionals at the level of supervisor or above, including CEOs who constitute 15% of the total;
- The split between mining and services companies (including research) is 48% and 52% respectively;
- Geographically, around 50% work in Australia and more than 35% in the developing world. Publicity and support for the 2016 survey was provided by Austmine, International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), CSIRO (Australia and Chile), Coal Association of Canada (CAC), Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM), Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) and the Women in Mining Network (WIMNet).
For more information and the results of previous surveys please visit www.innovationstateofplay.com
