Innovation prize awarded for stock market tech

The Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation 2016 has been awarded to Professor Michael Aitken AM for his work in developing stock market analysing technology.

Bill Ferris AC, chair of Innovation and Science Australia, has commended Aitken for this achievement.

“Professor Aitken is richly deserving of this award for his work in developing SMARTS, a world-leading financial services technology that analyses stock market trades to reduce fraud and increase efficiency,” Ferris said.

The award recognises both Aitken and his colleagues at the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre for the potential their work has created to deliver tangible economic and social benefits to the nation. Aitken will also look at improving health, mortgage and other markets.

Ferris believes that Aitken’s success highlights the important role played by Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) in spurring on the development of Australian innovations and realising the benefits of bringing new products and services to market.

The CRC program is a competitive, merit-based grants program that supports industry-driven multiyear research collaborations. It brings together industry, universities and research organisations to conduct and commercialise leading-edge research such as Aitken’s. Innovation and Science Australia is responsible for the oversight and operation of the CRC program.

“Innovative solutions, such as Professor Aitken’s, demonstrate the twin benefits of innovation — establishing the commercial opportunities that drive economic growth and providing direct and significant value to society in this, through reduction in fraudulent activity,” said Ferris.

“It is crucial that we do what we can as a nation to encourage these fantastic innovations and equally as important that we provide an overall innovation system that allows us to turn brilliant ideas into commercial and economic success stories. Our CRCs are a vital asset in achieving this and promise to deliver great results for Australians well into the future.”

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