Interview with Larry on recent CSIRO changes

[Image appears of Larry standing and looking at the camera]

Hannah: Hi Larry.  Thanks very much for your time today.  I’ve got a couple of questions and I’m going to jump straight into it if that’s alright with you?

[Image shows Larry nodding his head and giving Hannah thumbs up]

Larry: Great.

Hannah: So over the past week we’ve heard the news of some changes for CSIRO, why were these particular changes decided on?

[Image shows Larry gesticulating with his hands as he is speaking]

Larry: Well, it really all stems back to our strategy, which we developed last year, which fundamentally asks the question, is CSIRO a University or are we something different? Are we something more? The answer to that and our new strategy is, we believe we can be an innovation catalyst for Australia, which means, whilst we do great inventing, we will also take responsibility for delivering that invention into an innovation, so that we’ll have actual value delivery, impact delivery to our nation.

[Image shows Larry listening while Hannah speaks]

Hannah: So does this mean we’re stopping certain types of research – climate and science research for example?

[Image shows Larry gesticulating with his hands as he speaks]

Larry: Well let’s take the climate area, and just to dispel some of the misinformation in the media, we’re not firing 350 climate scientists, I think that was the most extreme headline I saw. But the climate area is absolutely affected by this. The entire Organisation is affected by the strategy, some business units have responded very well to the strategy and been able to embrace it and move forward. Others have realised that they don’t quite have the right people or the right skill sets to respond to the strategy, which then asks the question, can we retrain those people, or do we need to move those people out in order to bring in new people with the skills we need.

It’s completely understandable that someone whose spent 20-years, for example, studying climate change, measuring climate change or modelling climate change, it’s perfectly understandable that they don’t want to stop doing that and we must respect that, and we must find a place for them in the rest of the innovation system, perhaps in an university, where they can continue to pursue their passion. But CSIROs direction has changed, and in the climate area we’re shifting from measurement and modelling to mitigation, because that’s where we believe we can have the most impact and deliver the most benefit.

[Image shows Larry listening while Hannah speaks]

Hannah: Thanks, Larry. So with these changes does it potentially mean that CSIRO will be shying away from basic research and instead chasing the dollar?  

[Image shows Larry gesticulating with his hands as he speaks]

Larry: (Chuckles) so chasing the dollar is not a strategic move. But, we absolutely are constrained by our funding envelope. So we try to secure funding to do things that we believe will build strategic value in the company. Sometimes that customer is the Federal Government, State Governments, industry, the public, but this funding, this revenue is not an entitlement, we have to earn that. When we get funded, whoever, the funder is, they’re funding us to do something and they expect a deliverable, a result, so if we don’t earn that, if we don’t deliver that result they will cease funding us, and CSIRO has experienced that many times in the past. We also have to respond to shifts in global markets, as priorities shift, we have to recognise that and always be in a position where we’re able to deliver the most value we can to our nation in response to those shifts.

[Image shows Larry listening while Hannah speaks]

Hannah: So Larry, if we can up skill our people and get new skills in the Organisation, where do you see the Organisation heading – what’s the ultimate vision here?

[Image shows Larry gesticulating with his hands as he speaks]

Larry: Well, maybe I’m naïve (chuckles), but I actually think we can grow. I think we can increase the impact of the Organisation. I think we can increase the funding and the revenue of the Organisation, but we need to be delivering the impact that our nation expects. Again, this is not a judgement call on the quality of our climate science – it’s awesome! – but we’ve been doing that for 20-years, it’s time to take action, our nation needs us to do something about environmental change. In fact, the National Science and Research Priorities say specifically, one of our key strategic goals is to respond to environmental change, not just climate change, but all impacts on the environment, and not just measurement and modelling, but response, i.e. mitigation – take action. That’s the major shift that we’re doing. I think we can do it, and I think we’ll be a stronger Organisation as a result. That’s not to say that we won’t go through pain, I wish we didn’t have to go through this, but I can promise you that we will be as open and transparent as we possibly can. Please, be patient with us, this is still a work in progress as we figure out the numbers, but you will be the first to know as we know.

[Image shows Larry listening while Hannah speaks]

Hannah: Thanks Larry.  Really appreciate your honest insights.