Industry Summary Articles

Central Innovation, a provider of specialist hardware, software, people and system consulting solutions for the Manufacturing, Building and Construction industries, has become a Registered Training Organisation, launching the Central Innovation Academy and its first course in Project Management.

Central Innovation has met the comprehensive requirements from The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) to become an RTO, demonstrating the company’s investment in, and commitment to, Australia’s next generation of engineers and designers. ASQA, as the national regulator for the vocational education and training (VET) sector, makes sure that the quality and reputation of Australia's VET system is maintained through effective national regulation.

“Central Innovation has offered very successful training courses through our businesses Intercad and GRAPHISOFT Australia for 25 years and delivering high quality well-trained people is what we are all about, but with the recent publicity surrounding adult training and with the growing business pressures to get more out of every system we felt it justified the investment to become a Registered Training Organisation,” said Max Piper, Chief Executive Officer of Central Innovation. “The ASQA accreditation reinforces the value and credibility of our courses and will help create opportunities for new courses. The success of our customers is paramount to us and their success depends on well-trained and qualified staff.”

The Central Innovation Academy was created to foster and promote innovation and productivity within the building, construction and manufacturing sectors, and help graduates launch their careers. The Academy will offer students the opportunity to earn Nationally-Recognised Training (NRT) accreditation, with a course in Project Management the first to be offered. More courses with accreditation — such as 3D CAD Engineering – will be offered in the future. Courses are ASQA accredited and the certificates are recognised in industry for providing the training standards required for graduates to meet the needs of their sector.

Driven by the release of the (then-Labor) Australian Government’s Industry and Innovation Statement in 2013, Central Innovation began the process of becoming a Registered Training Organisation to provide superior pathways into the multiple sectors harnessing CAD technology, and demanding project management techniques, as well as training for workers to keep them at the cutting edge of evolving technologies.

“The then-Government’s statement outlined Australia’s rankings worldwide on innovation: 28th on innovation and sophistication is simply not good enough, and frankly we were horrified to read that,” Piper said. “We realised we had to do something ourselves to combat this because it was clear that graduates weren’t ready to enter the workforce and contribute immediately, while those already in the workforce aren’t being given access to training to keep them up-to-speed. While talking about innovation is all well and good, someone has to get their hands dirty and train our workforces.

“Tertiary students learn the basics as part of their curriculum, but our hope is that we can take those students to the next level by providing a more in-depth and nuanced education into the tools and methods needed for these students to succeed from day one – while also providing the education needed to keep the current workforce on top of its game. We have long played a role in transitioning graduates from theory to practice. We are now looking at taking this to a new, more commercial, capability.”

The Central Innovation Academy also intends to reserve up to 10 per cent of placements in each course for those in the industry who have been made redundant, with the course to be provided to them for free and will be given priority access to Central Innovation’s specialised recruitment services.

To view the original press release, please click here.

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