Regional and rural Australia face unique challenges when it comes to innovation, entrepreneurship and the digital economy. Whilst there has been an upsurge of startups, business accelerators and co-working spaces in regional areas most research and development and subsequent investment goes to metropolitan Australia. 

Successful organisations rely on innovation, agility and entrepreneurship to keep them relevant and valuable. The support mechanisms needed to focus on this approach are often highly concentrated in metropolitan Australia where exposure to innovative or digital mindsets and business models is more likely than for Regional areas. This has led to a known digital divide between metro and regional, often defined as shortfalls in access to digital services, the ability to use digital services, and affordability of digital systems and programs. 

Recognising the opportunity to support and service regional areas to help build the capability and capacity of the community and the businesses within it has led to a more targeted approach by 25eight. They understand that there are already some capabilities, subject matter expertise in specific industries and that each region has their own unique challenges. This means that a cookie-cutter program or the same approach taken for a metropolitan area would not necessarily get the same results. They also realise that they too need to invest in regional areas and people and are committed to recruiting people in regional Australia, with the first appointment made on 20th April 2020.  By utilising their growing team and family of brands they will be looking to build partnerships to address the gap and holistically service regional areas with a more targeted and empathetic approach. 

“We are a B corp certified group of companies, meaning we are people-centred and environmentally conscious and want to help create societies, communities, and environments that are inclusive, equal and sustainable. We have an authentic purpose, and use our expertise to co-design solutions to problems and ensure the community or client is included in a collaborative process. We enjoy working with purpose-driven businesses to create sustainable growth and scale, through ideation to commercialisation or business change and transformation”. 

“We have worked on some exciting strategies, projects, events and education with both corporate and government groups in regional and metropolitan areas, and now with the appointment of Emma Van Smale as Innovation and Partnership Manager based out of Portland, we are excited to be investing in the Great South Coast and to further focus on driving innovation and increasing competitiveness for regional Australia,” said Samantha Hurley, Co-founder and Co-CEO of 25eight. 

Emma Van Smale comes with a spectrum of experience spanning digital transformation, tech product and project management, industrial design, customer experience, marketing and communications, continuous improvement and change and adoption. She has worked with successful technology start-ups, corporate and community organisations through to Local Government, and is passionate about driving human and technological change to deliver better business benefits and community outcomes. 

“I’m really excited about this role, especially as it allows me to build partnerships and bring my knowledge and energy into my own region and community. I guess we are also modelling the fact you can live a fantastic regional lifestyle, and still work or collaborate remotely,” said Emma. 

“In particular, we are currently building the Regional Growth Project. It’s a pillar of the 25eight that is solely dedicated to connecting and servicing regional Australia through education programs, centralised content and events (including virtual) aimed at driving innovation and the digital economy. It comes off the back of the successful Regional Growth Summit event within the Bendigo Invention and Innovation Festival in September 2019 that proved we can add value to local communities, there are local case studies to share and there is a market for our expertise,” continued Emma.

Co-founder and Co-CEO Phil Ore adds, "We are so excited to have Emma join the team. We already have a strong foundation in the South West working with many councils, businesses and startups in the region and we look to continue to grow our support for the community as a whole. There is a huge amount of opportunity, whether it is supporting existing economies with programs, driving innovation and partnerships or consulting for growth… it’s only good news for the region”.

That’s all from us for now but if you enjoyed reading this don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn for more tips to help you maximise your resources

You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel that we provide more education for you to grow your business