Keep the Australian Technology Park as a technology hub

save atpThe Australian Technology Park is under threat of being sold off for redevelopment into housing or a generalised business park. There’s a petition running on Change.org that neatly summarises why this is an issue.

Australian Technology Park (ATP) is a precinct in Inner City Sydney which is a technology and innovation hub. It is home to 100 resident technology firms providing over 5,500 jobs and research positions. It is also part of the local community – providing local jobs, support for community programs and high-quality campus services. ATP has been an integral part of the Australian technology industry. It is a hub for technology collaboration that is sorely needed in Australia.

The fate of ATP is that it may be closed and sold to property developers. It would be either be turned into a business park or apartment blocks.

There are many of us who have worked hard to build Sydney and Australia as an innovative country. We believe that for Australia to progress as a nation we need to invest in technology companies and the use of technology. We have to transition away from our current export mix which is primarily producing raw materials. As we fall behind other countries in the innovation race, we will only experience a greater drain of our brightest minds and technology companies as they go overseas. We will become less competitive on a global level.

“There is symbolic power in having some sort of physical location in Sydney like New York has Roosevelt Island or London has Shoreditch, as a physical manifestation of the city’s commitment to the technology industry,” Mr Cannon-Brookes of Atlassian said. “What we’re saying to government is that a physical place is one plank in a broader set of initiatives they need to put together if they’re really committed to changing this stuff.”

There are plans afoot to try to salvage the situation and support from the community evidenced through the Change.org petition is an important part of that process. So sign now.

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