Vibrant cities, renewable energy, circular economy, talent acquisition and local manufacturing are some of the multiple topics up for discussion at this year’s edition of Hunter IF Hunter Innovation Festival with leaders, operators, thinkers and builders coming together to showcase the Hunter as the place to innovate, to regenerate, to invest, and to accelerate.
For the first time, Hunter Innovation Festival has joined forces with the national Spark Festival bringing a national focus to the region, for one day only on 12 October 2022.
Why is this year’s edition a unique one?
Hunter IF and Hunter Innovation Festival Chair Alex Brennan said that the festival is shaping up to be a must attend event for industry, government and budding innovators, with the Spark Festival partnership elevating the event to a national audience and beyond.
“We have a fantastic line up of speakers and panelists from govt and industry with topics ranging from attracting and retaining talent to transitioning to renewable energy and using tech and innovation to solve global and local issues. Tickets are available and given the energy created by the festival, engaging and nature of the themes covered, the networking opportunities and the venue capacity I don’t expect tickets will be available for long.”
“We have people across all industries – from manufacturing and mining to aerospace and agriculture – making brilliant regenerative changes. A lot of the time they don’t even realise how innovative they are until an opportunity like The Hunter Innovation Festival comes along and they have a moment to reflect and listen to their peers,” Brennan further commented.
Who are the event headliners?
The Hunter Innovation Festival will also include a carefully curated showcase of exhibitors including start ups, scale ups, investors, innovators, incubators and accelerators. Renowned scale ups like MGA Thermal, 3ME Technology and SwitchDin will be present, along with top operations like Ampcontrol, 4Tel, Robotic Systems, and Leading Edge Data Centres.
The showcase will offer an opportunity to talk directly with founders, investors and big thinkers, potentially creating the spark of inspiration that will lead to our next innovation success story. Internationally recognised think tank Beyond Zero Emissions is the Hunter Innovation Festival partner and CEO Heidi Lee will be speaking about how Australia can prosper in a zero-emissions economy and what the opportunities for the Hunter.
“Right now the Hunter is a hotbed of zero emissions innovation. We are excited to showcase the work some of our friends and partners are developing. The Hunter has a long tradition of energy expertise, strong ties between research and industry and culture of collaboration. With the right support the Hunter really can be the electric motor of the Australian economy.”
2022 themes include:
- Emerging technology
- Medical technology
- Talent acquisition and retention
- Renewable energy transition
- Sovereign manufacturing
- Local supply chain
- Circular economy
- Investment and funding
