GeoNav Executive Vice President Guner Gardenhire says NICTA’s ‘AutoMap’ technology will help the
company respond to a growing requirement for reliable road sign surveys to address maintenance,
safety and regulation issues. “In particular there is a growing demand for up-to-date sign inventories
to satisfy the Federal Highway Administration’s new traffic sign retroreflectivity requirements,” he said.
These new requirements aim to reduce the number of road deaths which occur at night.¹ GeoNav is
100 percent-owned by the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), which
represents the interests of around 1400 rural utilities and affiliates in 47 US states.

GeoNav mapping vehicles equipped with video cameras drive many thousands of kilometres
collecting video, LiDAR and GPS track data. The resulting footage is then uploaded onto their servers
in Montana. NICTA personnel remotely analyse the data from Canberra and create an inventory of
signs complete with their latitude and longitude. This information is incorporated by GeoNav into the
sign inventories it supplies to its customers.

“There have been many attempts at solving the problem of automatically detecting road signs, but few
of them have been successful on a very large scale. We have used our technology in the Australian
market for some time, and this deal with GeoNav allows us to prove our technology in the North
American market as well,” said NICTA Senior Researcher and AutoMap developer Dr Lars Petersson.

GeoNav’s clients in the utilities sector also require inventories of roadside objects relating to electricity
distribution networks. To service this contract, NICTA has developed a new library of US signs and
added the capability of automatically finding power poles in 3D point clouds. Point clouds are created
by a 3D scanner mounted on a survey vehicle and represent a relatively new form of sensing
technology for mobile survey vehicles. The most common type of scanner, called LiDAR, sends out a
wide beam of laser pulses and captures the reflections from roadside objects, such as signs and
power poles, providing size, shape and position information about those objects.

The software will be taken to market in the US by Automapic, a business emerging from technology
developed by the NICTA Automap team. “This contract not only places NICTA’s research in an
important international market, it also delivers direct income to NICTA through a sales revenue
sharing arrangement with GeoNav,” said NICTA’s Chief Operating Officer Dr Phil Robertson. “It is
also an important validation for a promising emerging business which is looking to spin out of NICTA
later this year.”

¹ http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/night_visib/policy_guide/fhwasa08001

Background

For the last three years, NICTA has provided road and rail sign analysis to customers in Australia and
New Zealand, including Sensis’ location navigation business, Whereis® Maps. Whereis® Maps uses
AutoMap to enhance and maintain a national map database via the capture and analysis of images of
road signs, including speed limits, turn restrictions and bridge load limit signs.

General Manager of the Whereis® mapping business, Fred Curtis, said: “Our agreement with NICTA
has allowed us to evolve our process for capturing signs and coding the database, further improving
the completeness, accuracy and quality of our digital mapping products. We adopted NICTA’s
AutoMap technology when we started using field surveyed imagery to help keep our databases up to
date. NICTA’s AutoMap services are integral to our business of delivering the quality our customers
expect.”

The AutoMap system uses object recognition, motion estimation and machine learning to improve the
rate of detection of roadside assets in video footage collected by survey vehicles. The system
identifies 99 percent or more road signs which appear in a given video, compared to an 85-90 percent
detection rate using manual methods. AutoMap can be trained to recognise most sign types found on
roads worldwide. Automatic power pole detection is a new development, with benefits accruing from
the reduced time taken to find the poles.

About NICTA

NICTA (National ICT Australia Ltd) is Australia’s Information and Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence. NICTA develops technologies that generate economic, social and environmental benefits for Australia. NICTA collaborates with industry on joint projects, creates new companies, and provides new talent to the ICT sector through a NICTA-enhanced PhD program. With five laboratories around Australia and over 700 people, NICTA is the largest organisation in Australia dedicated to ICT research.

NICTA is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and the Australian Research Council through the ICT Centre of Excellence Program. NICTA is also funded and supported by the Australian Capital Territory, the New South Wales, Queensland and Victorian Governments, the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, the University of Sydney, Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology and Monash University.

Peter Murphy & Andrew Balmaks, Noetic's Founders

The Noetic  Group recently moved to new offices at the Equinox Business Centre in Deakin to accommodate the continued growth in their business – growth that is also reflected in Noetic’s ongoing success as an exporter.

As a leading strategic management and knowledge consulting firms specialising in the business of government, Noetic entered the world of exporting in 2005 when it opened its first off-shore office in Washington DC, USA and was rewarded for its efforts by winning the Emerging Exporter Award in the 2007 ACT Chief Ministers Export Awards, followed by the Award for Small to Medium Services in 2008.

The impetus to opening an office in Washington DC was linked to an existing employee moving to the USA, but has grown since then to include seven staff members, including both Australian expatriates and American nationals.  In order to be successful as an Australian company in America Noetic needed to prove that it had specialised and unique services to offer the market.  In particular Noetic provides national security advice to this market, with clients including the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the United Nations (UN) Department of Peace Keeping Operations.

In discussing what helps exporters succeed, Noetic’s Chief Executive, Peter Murphy, highlighted how important partnerships had been for his company.  For example, Noetic partnered with Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) to deliver training to Timor Leste’s oil and gas industry regulator, the National Petroleum Authority.  This project focuses on capacity building, so that by upskilling members of Timorese personnel, this workforce can provide better health, safety and environmental regulation for Timor Leste’s growing oil and gas industry.

Timor Leste is not the only near-neighbour that Noetic is working with, with an office recently established in Papua New Guinea (PNG) where Noetic is working with the PNG Police Force.  Like Timor Leste, Mr Murphy finds PNG a good place to do business and is employing PNG interns in Australia, which not only helps to improve cross-cultural understanding but also assists in capacity-building.

Another secret to success has been taking advantage of services offered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Austrade.  Apart from a source of general advice and information about new markets, the generosity and accessibility of Ambassadors and High Commissioners in assisting with introductions and giving on-the-ground assistance has been particularly helpful for Noetic.  While Mr Murphy acknowledges that DFAT and Austrade staff may not be able to get you jobs, they can organise for you to meet the right people and steer you in the right direction – and just as importantly, they can help you avoid going down the wrong path!

For more information on Noetic visit their website: www.noeticgroup.com.

Neil Gray, Fitness Trail’s Principal, has spent most of his life involved with sport and fitness as both a participant and a professional, including as Director, Marketing and Communication at the Australian Sports Commission and the Australian Institute of Sport.  It is no surprise then that Fitness Trails sets out to offer participants a safe way to exercise outdoors, either alone or in a group, through one of Fitness Trails’ five systems.

Mr Gray says that the success of the Fitness Trails concept is that not only is it physically beneficial, but the systems are safe, durable, attractive, environmentally friendly, sustainable and easy to maintain.

Mr Gray first saw the Fitness Trails concept in the USA in 1983 and brought the concept back to Australia.  From a business point of view the breakthrough for Fitness Trails came in 1988, Australia’s Bicentenary year, when not only was a fitness trail installed at Parliament House, but AGC sponsored the construction of 200 fitness trails around Australia.  This Bicentenary legacy and community project proved to be the trigger for export opportunities and since then Fitness Trails products have been installed in USA, New Zealand, the UK, Fiji and Japan.

Fitness Trails has had a long relationship with Japan, with JETRO (Japan’s external trade organisation), initially helping them to identify an agent in Tokyo. But Japan has also proved to be a challenging market for Fitness Trails with Mr Gray noting “one thing I’ve learnt is to look at the customs and protocols in different markets” as, even with a long-term agent in Japan, there can still occasionally be misunderstandings due to language and cultural differences.

While working in different markets Mr Gray, like other exporters, has been able to take advantage of the expertise of Austrade staff both in Australia and around the world and is a great supporter of the services provided by Austrade.  In particular, Fitness Trails has benefitted from Austrade expertise in Chicago, Manchester and London.

Mr Gray has also benefitted from Export Marketing Development Grants (EMDG) over the years, with the grants assisting him to attend conferences to promote his product, and develop market-specific stationery collateral in Japan, UK and USA.  In fact Mr Gray understands the benefits of the EMDG program so well, he is also an EMDG consultant.

Fitness Trails has also participated in trade missions to both the UK and the USA, both of which have led to contracts to provide fitness trail equipment.   Fitness Trails’ success in the USA is also closely linked to the annual National Parks and Recreation Services Conference, which to date has generated US$100,000 worth of business.  Recent contracts in the USA have included two for the US Army, one of which will include dual use equipment that is suitable for those confined to a wheelchair and will be located at a Veterans Hospital.

For more information on Fitness trails visit their website: http://www.fitnesstrails.com.

Publicly recognised by the World Customs Organization as the premier centre of excellence in its area of expertise, CCES is the world’s leading provider of internationally endorsed training and education programs in the field of customs and border management.  Its client base includes customs, other government agencies, international organisations and private companies in over 180 countries.

CCES enjoys an international niche market in which no other organisation provides either the quality or range of products and services. In this regard CCES is truly unique.

A key strength is its global network of over 150 experts, which is rapidly expanding to keep pace with unprecedented levels of business growth. From its humble beginnings in 2001 as an area of academic interest within the University of Canberra, CCES was incorporated in late 2003 and now has offices in Australia, Thailand, Maldives,  Jordan, UAE, Kenya, Sri Lanka and the US, as well as official representation in Cambodia and the UK.

The growing recognition and acceptance of the CCES brand within its niche market has led to the conclusion of licensing agreements in 22 countries, with additional arrangements under negotiation. Under these arrangements, CCES programs are delivered by local educators under their guidance and quality assurance.

The international leadership role of CCES has been acknowledged through a number of WCO Certificates of Recognition for its continuing support of customs development and its establishment of the International Network of Customs Universities, of which the CCES CEO, Professor David Widdowson, is president. In addition, Professor Widdowson regularly chairs WCO conferences including the annual WCO PICARD (Partnership in Customs Academic Research and Development) conference, and is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the World Customs Journal.

CCES is maintaining a focus on sustainable international business development by embedding its programs in the development strategies of over 100 customs administrations and private sector organisations. To achieve this, it is further developing its international leadership role and consolidating its licensing arrangements, which represent a key element in the company’s business growth and in maintaining its competitive advantage in the global market. This includes the delivery of CCES programs in Arabic throughout the Middle East, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi and Qatar.

Find out more about the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies at www.customscentre.canberra.edu.au.

ExSport Management

Brendan Lynch, Founder of ExSport Management specialises in strategic planning, program development, governance reform, organisational development, workforce planning and change management in the sport industry.

As Program Manager of Volunteer Recruitment for the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG), Brendan headed the team responsible for the successful delivery of the 60,000 volunteers for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympics Games.  Brendan has since been appointed as adviser to a number of Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth and Asian Games organising committees, as well as the IOC’s Olympic Games Knowledge Service.

The philosophy behind ExSport is relatively simple – to ensure the ongoing development of professional sport management by promoting organisational development, sound business practices and the commercial growth of sport.

Drawing on the wealth of experience gained  from over two decades in the international sport management industry, Brendan has made significant contributions towards the staging and management of major sporting events around the world.  In 2006 ExSport worked with the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee to prepare the tender for workforce training for the Doha 2006 Asian Games.

Last year ExSport provided advisory services to the Vancouver Organising Committee to plan the recruitment, training, management, logistics support, and rewarding of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games volunteers.

With the London 2012 Olympics only 1136 days away, Brendan has already begun advising the London Organising Committee to support the development of its sizable volunteer workforce.  This is no small task with up to 70,000 volunteers expected to take part in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

For more information please visit ExSport Management’s website www.exsport.com.au

Recruitment Systems’ flagship product is the TRIS Recruitment CRM which is used by recruiters and human resource managers to manage documents, contacts and workflow. To develop and redevelop the system, the company works with the recruitment industry to identify all processes that do not need the direct input of a real person. Then Recruitment Systems’ software developers in Canberra and in the company’s Russian offices develop systems to eliminate or automate these processes.

“We are continuously working to automate as much of the recruitment process as pos¬sible to leave the real work for real people,” says founder and chief executive officer Neil Bolton.

With the global financial crisis now hitting recruiters in Australia and New Zealand, Recruitment Systems is expanding abroad into high growth markets.

Late last year the company sent three staff to Dubai for the annual GITEX Technology week. This major tradeshow generated prospects from countries such as Yemen, Kuwait, South Africa, Lebanon and Uganda.

“We were amazed at the incredible demand for the TRIS Recruitment CRM across the Middle East and Africa” says General Manager Brent Juratowitch who is an active member of the ACT Exporters Network. Recruitment Systems in the last two months signed partnership arrangements with distributors in Malaysia and China to keep up with demand.

Since Splatter’s inception in 1996, there has been one clear vision, to create a leading global Australian brand based on solid, original, modern design. This brand would then become a solid umbrella company under which a vari¬ety of highly desirable, stylish, quality products could be housed.

Export and subsequent expansion overseas to a world market are essential to Splatter’s future as a growing Australian brand, and it has been Angela and Chris’s intention from the start to build a strong export arm.

Angela Maher, Director of Splatter Pty Limited said, “We are developing new products in a variety of categories to broaden the company’s scope and diversify our range so everyone can collect their own piece of Splatter.”

“We use a number of strategies to market, promote and raise awareness of the Splatter brand. Apart from attending a range of trade shows and the development of strategic partnerships offshore, our ‘mosaic’ installation; a huge graphic wall of 320 paintings, installed in Robinson’s Store in Singapore’s busiest Orchard Road shopping precinct, is generating con¬tinued interest in the company from agents, clients and commercial enterprises,” Angela Maher said.

In May 2008, Splatter launched a clothing line and the first in a series of children’s books in Malaysia at the world famous Petronas Towers. The Malaysia launch represents the company’s first steps in plans for a suite of manufactured products under the Splatter brand.

Splatter has achieved a significant amount of export success over the past year. Notable export achievements include a solo exhibition with a private Singapore gallery, orders from high end retail outlets in Singapore and a product launch at Lifestyle Australia 2008 Malaysia. Continued strong interest in the Singapore market had led to a signed publishing contract with a Singapore publisher for promotion at the Frankfurt 2008 and Bologna 2009 Book Fairs.

The company has received several unsolicited editorial articles in Expat Living Magazine in Singapore and Malaysian Women’s Weekly which have boosted interest in the products. Malaysian Woman’s Weekly have used Splatter’s Canberra retail display on various occasions, promoting Canberra as a tourist destination with Splatter as one of its must sees. The success in Asia has triggered massive responses with UK and USA customers, through the e-commerce arm of the business.

As one of the leading producers of original children’s wall art and art-based design in Australia, Splatter’s competitive advantage lies in the unique nature of its products and a love in those markets of many of the Australian icons used in the artwork. “Splatter has found a niche market overseas that responds in an emotional way to our product which gives us an amazing commercial edge, but we are mindful that we must stay relevant and fresh to retain a special place in that market” Angela said.

The company is now currently in production development with clothing, manchester, home wares and décor, quality stationery, toys, and educational products featuring Splatter designs.

For more information on Splatter, go to website www.splatter.biz

Publicly recognised by the World Customs Organization as the leading centre of excellence in its area of expertise, CCES provides customs research, consultancy and internationally endorsed educational programs ranging from vocational through to postgraduate and doctoral level. Its client base includes customs, other government agencies, international organisations and private companies in over 180 countries.

CCES enjoys an international niche market in which no other organisation provides either the quality or range of products and services. In this regard CCES is truly unique.

A key strength is its global network of over 150 experts, which is rapidly expanding to keep pace with unprecedented levels of busi¬ness growth. From its humble beginnings in 2001 as an area of academic interest within the University of Canberra, CCES was incorporated in late 2003 and now has offices in Australia, Thailand, Kuwait, India, the US, Kenya and the Maldives, as well as official representation in South Africa, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and the UK.

The growing recognition and acceptance of the CCES brand within its niche market has led to the conclusion of franchising agreements in 22 countries, with additional licensing arrangements under negotiation. Under these arrangements, CCES programs are delivered by local educators under their guidance and quality assurance. Its most recent agreement saw the establishment of a campus in Kuwait through which its programs are being delivered in Arabic throughout the Middle East.

The international leadership role of CCES has been acknowledged through a WCO Certificate of Recognition for its continuing support of customs development and its establishment of the International Network of Customs Universities, of which the CCES CEO, Professor David Widdowson, is president. In addition, Professor Widdowson regularly chairs WCO conferences including the annual WCO PICARD (Partnership in Customs Academic Research and Development) conference, and is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the World Customs Journal.

CCES is maintaining a focus on sustainable international business development by embedding its programs in the development strategies of over 100 customs administrations and private sector organisations. To achieve this, it is further developing its international leadership role and consolidating its licensing and franchising arrangements, which represent a key element in the company’s business growth and in main¬taining its competitive advantage in the global market.

Website: www.customscentre.canberra.edu.au

ITC exports Australian, New Zealand, Austrian and South African wines from premi¬um and highly respected vineyards. Personally chosen by ITC the ‘boutique’ wines are consist¬ently ranked amongst the highest in the world. Currently stocking more than 350 wines ITC can offer variety and quality to their customers around the world.

Ignoring the largest market in the world, USA, ITC chose to focus on markets that of¬fered a real opportunity to establish a sustain¬able supply even in the event of an economic downturn such as being experienced today. This has resulted in established and profitable dis¬tribution and sales to Thailand, Singapore, the Middle East, China, South Korea, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Many of the markets ITC operates in would be too small for ITC suppliers to consider individually. However by putting the wines to¬gether with others, using the experience and ex¬pertise of ITC their wines are price competitive, and they have access to many more markets than they could envisage.
Their operations like their approach to busi¬ness, has been kept simple. This has resulted in a head office in Wamboin, NSW, warehouse in Adelaide, SA, marketing manager in Queensland and agents around the world. Like the selection of wines ITC has been careful and thorough in selecting those that work for and with them.

ITC confidently claims the range of wines in their Adelaide warehouse is unmatched in Australia and they have the logistical capacity to move large quantities very quickly. ITC’s capac¬ity to deliver quickly provides it with a competi¬tive advantage which has been enhanced by a door-to-door air freight delivery with Singapore Airlines.

In addition to Dubai their most significant achievement is exporting to all provinces in Canada, where the liquor market is controlled by the government. Understanding the nuances of the markets has been the key to success. To begin operations in Canada required many vis¬its to overcome numerous obstacles to imports such as labelling requirements and resistance by the government buyers to take any risks.

Today Canada is ITC’s biggest market. This has taken 10 years to achieve, so persistence is vital.
Marita Corra, Director ITC said, “Customer satisfaction is paramount. Sourcing sufficient high-quality wine to meet clients’ demand is a major challenge. In addition selecting receptive markets and establishing sound and lasting re¬lationships, while taking time and effort, has reaped rewards. Nothing happens overnight.”

ITC is a private company that is totally export focused. Inland Trading Company was inducted into the ACT Exporters’ Hall of Fame in 2007.

Aspen has created a unique approach to the delivery of healthcare that covers complete ser¬vice provision, from people, to equipment, to pharmaceuticals to consumables to innovative pathways for the delivery of the service. This in¬novation has seen Aspen selected, many times sole-source, to deliver health services around the world.

As a tailored medical services provider, capable of providing for small to medium size require¬ments. Aspen is a new kind of medical business. Most fundamentally, Aspen offers a thoroughly modern, innovative and trustworthy solution to service delivery problems; in the short or longer term, and as soon as you need it. Services are contained in three main business areas:

1. Healthcare services delivery, including operational healthcare, project-based healthcare,environmental health, preventative medicine and public health support;
2. Consulting; and
3. e-health.

Deploying the business areas listed above, Aspen can provide a comprehensive solution from characterising the requirement to delivering the care. Alternatively, customers can choose to make use of just one of the capabilities above to add intellectual capital to their organisation or fill a capacity gap.