Lamentations over the predicament of our country’s manufacturing industry have dominated headlines over the past year. There is, however, a light behind the storm clouds. As Dr Glenn Stevens, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, pointed out, ‘Even as industries are shrinking, new industries can grow up’. This report – "Product Innovation in a hyper connected world: The Australian Maker Movement” – takes a different, more radical outlook. Our view is that the future of Australian manufacturing is fundamentally shifting, and could lie with our emerging ‘maker movement’. Australia finds itself at a disadvantage for labour- intensive, low-skilled manufacturing however, technologically voracious and interconnected Australians have collectively built a digital foundation for the vibrant maker movement. Business would be well advised to observe how the successful startups outlined in this report find ways to participate, learn, and shape the movement. Moreover, we urge Australians to take pride in the emerging movement, which showcases the good old Aussie ingenuity of making things happen.

1. Product innovation in a
hyper-connected world
Centre for the Edge, Australia
The Australian Maker Movement

2. The recent announcements by
Holden, Ford and Toyota to cease
automotive manufacturing in
Australia made clear the industrial
challenges that the country faces.
Lamentations over the predicament
of our country’s manufacturing
industry have dominated headlines
over the past year with economic
modelling by the Australian
Productivity Commission predicting
that the end of local car
manufacturing may cost up to
39,000 jobs in total as factories
across the country shut down.
Australia is facing
industrial challenges

3. 3
There is, however, a light
behind the storm clouds

4. The future of Australian
manufacturing is fundamentally shifting.
The future of manufacturing in this
country could lie with our emerging
Maker Movement.
4

5. Making is the next generation of
inventing and do-it-yourself.
The act of making is not new.
For millennia people have been
manipulating objects to suit their
needs.
What is new is how modern
technologies, globalisation, and cultural
shifts are enabling and motivating
individuals to participate in making
activities and removing barriers from
design and prototype to manufacturing
to selling and distribution.
What is “Making”?
5Image source: Alan Levine

6. As Chris Anderson puts it, “We are all
born makers”.
A maker is someone who derives
identity and meaning from the act
of creation. What distinguishes
contemporary makers from the
inventors and DIYers of other eras is
the incredible power afforded them by
modern technologies and a globalised
economy.
Today makers can create hardware to
explore the deep ocean, to go into
space, and to solve critical problems
that were previously the domain of
large, well-funded organisations.
Who are “Makers”?
6Mark Pesce, creator of Moorescloud

7. What distinguishes contemporary
makers from the inventors of other eras?
The maker ecosystem empowers
contemporary Australian Makers to
bring innovations to market.
7
The DIYer is now less of a
putterer and more of a player.
Ted Hall, CEO of ShopBot Tools

8. The Australian
Maker Ecosystem

9. The Australian Maker ecosystem
9
Online
marketplaces
Technology Platforms which
inspire and teach
new skills
Physical Maker
Spaces that provide
access to tools and
mentorship
Access to
manufacturing
hot-spots to meet
massive scale
products, but also to
produce small
batches more
economically
New financing
options that allow
hobbies to scale into
business
Image source: Pierre Pocs

10. What role does technology play?
• Cost-effective computer and communication technology facilitates connectivity,
sharing and learning
• Australians are technologically voracious and interconnected–building a strong
digital info-structure for the emerging movement
• The cost of hardware has dropped sufficiently to allow it to be hacked like
software.
10

11. Founder Phil Bosua trained as a
sparky.
Phil’s light bulb moment came while
enjoying a couple of beers at a friend’s
house.
LIFX light bulbs are multi-coloured,
energy-efficient, Wi-Fi-enabled LED
light bulbs.
Phil raised over $1.3 million on
Kickstarter and pre-sold 110 thousand
units.
LIFX has secured major global retail
partners.
A successful Maker
11

12. What could you make?
The Super Awesome
Micro Project makes a
statement about the
possibilities offered by our
‘non-linear hyper-
connected society’.
Steve Sammartino,
project founder
A whacky idea transforms into a reality! A life-sized car, made entirely
of Lego, running on air, that really can be driven along a road.

13. • The maker movement is backed by the Australian government, schools and
universities.
• Supply and demand curves are changing. In 10 years-time institutionalised
industry leaders will be saying “Why didn’t we see that coming?”
Making is not a fad or a trend
Making is a movement
13

14. We can see the movement gaining momentum

15. Remember the impact of digital
disruption on traditional media
companies?
The digitization of information
empowered people’s desire to create.
The growth of free content create,
initially, by amateurs, drove many
media companies into terminal
decline.
Learn from the past
15Image source: Eileen Warren

16. Digital disruption is now moving into
the physical and product level.
Look to the Maker Movement to
understand the economic landscape
to come
Learn from the past
16Image source: John Abella

17. Take pride in your movement
It showcases good old Aussie ingenuity
and a desire to get things done.
Help shape its direction.
17

18. • Boost sensing capabilities
• Leverage platforms for R&D
• Accelerate learning
• Reimagine the enterprise as a platform.
The Make Movement represents opportunity
18

19. Product Innovation in a
hyper connected world
The Australian Maker
Movement
Read our report Product innovation in a
hyper connected world.
Observe how successful Australian
start-ups find ways to participate, learn,
and shape the movement.
Follow our suggestions from ‘How to
Make Something of the Maker
Movement’.
How to take action
19

20. Peter Evans-Greenwood (email)
Fellow
Centre for the Edge, Australia
Peter lives at the intersection between
business and technology, and has
held leadership roles in global
organisations as well as start-ups and
research and development labs.
Contact
Peter Williams (email)
Chief Edge Officer
Centre for the Edge, Australia
Peter is an innovator and thought
leader, founded the eBusiness
Consulting group in Deloitte, was
CEO of The Eclipse Group as well as
founding Deloitte Digital.
Contact
Kitty O’Leary
Summer Fellow
Centre for the Edge, Australia
Kitty is voraciously learning about the
edge of business and technology,
bringing perspective to her work from
a background that spans corporate life
and art history.
Author
Eddie Harran
Explorer-In-Residence
Centre for the Edge, Australia
Eddie has spent the last seven years
immersing himself in edge
communities across Europe, the U.S.
and Asia Pacific and now focuses on
education & community building.
Author
Helping make sense of emerging opportunities at
the edge of business and technology
The Centre for the Edge
20

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