How innovation hubs at Parkville and Clayton can put Melbourne on top of the world

Melbourne’s innovation hubs in Parkville and Clayton could help the city compete with global leaders, but experts say attracting and retaining world-class talent won’t be enough without foreign capital. CSIRO chief executive Doug Hilton, formerly head of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Parkville, tells The Age that Parkville could rank among the top biomedical precincts worldwide, potentially within the top six, yet there’s a gap versus Cambridge and Boston driven by intellectual heft, entrepreneurship, and capital. Hilton points to Boston raising nearly 10 times more funding than Melbourne in a first round and argues the city must scale ambition from “tens of millions” to $100 million. The Melbourne Assembly runs for three days in October.