RMIT University is set to host a new Industrial Digital Innovation Hub at its Melbourne Advanced Manufacturing Precinct after partnering with German technology and automation specialists Siemens and Festo Didactics.
The hub will be designed to facilitate digital progress at scale across different regions and industrial environments, with a view to linking the university’s Australian and Vietnamese campuses.
The new hub will also be the foundation for a number of initiatives being explored as part of the memorandum of understanding between the three organisations in a collaborative approach to education and training.
RMIT’s inaugural vice president for digital innovation, Professor Aleks Subic, said the deal with Siemens and Festo represents a new model of public-private sector partnership based on collaborative systems at a previously unseen scale in Australia.
“We expect as many as 10,000 RMIT students across a range of disciplines in engineering, science, technology, health and design to access some of the most advanced industrial software available over the next three years,” Subic said.
“It has never been more important to provide this type of industrial digital environment for the development of workforce of the future, that allows collaborative interdisciplinary teams to co-design and co-create remotely across borders and industry sectors.”
Siemens Australia chairperson and CEO, Jeff Connolly said the agreement comes as many industries are suddenly becoming more reliant on digital technologies.
“The announcement comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is fundamentally forcing Australians and Australian businesses to look for new ways to keep the engines of the economy running.
“It’s fitting to establish an Industrial Digital Innovation Hub because digitalisation has no borders and we have to learn how our economy can participate in ways which won’t require us to be in a factory or an office or at a site.”
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