|
The Story Ratio started in 1990 just as a shift in the training and education system made industry's role central. The need emerged for people who could help work out what skills industry wanted and then translate that into terms which could be used by educationalists. Ratio worked with various government agencies, skills bodies, employer associations and organisations to understand industry needs and transform them into accessible training and development option. Ratio's director, Tess Julian, also did a stint running the national skills body for assessment and workplace training and focussed on developing the education and training workforce with the skills for. In 2001 Ratio was contracted by Federal government to lead a team of consultants to focus on what was needed to create workplaces and people capable of innovating, in whatever their industry or occupation. A set of resources was produced, Innovation - Ideas that work - which remain a core offering in the training and education curriculum. On the back of this work, Ratio started to work directly with organisations wanting to enhance their internal innovation capability. Clients included government organisations, commercial enterprises, manufacturing firms, and not for profits. In 2006, Tess Julian started to consult to the InnovationXchange, an international provider of Open Innovation. IXC specialises in finding collaborative partnerships between industry, research, SMEs and government, often in technology and scientific research, but also in social innovation and business improvement as a means of speeding up innovation. Her understanding of innovation competencies was critical to the development of the IXC Intermediaries, who while technically proficient scientists, needed the skills to find the innovation possibilities between their client organisations. The intermediary model provided an excellent vehicle for embedding innovation skills within and between organisations. |
"I have worked with Tess on a number of issues and have found her to be a great professional who understands the players and environment of education and training..." |