Macquarie Park tops Sydney’s tech value ‘smart arc’, CSIRO finds

Australia’s digital technology clusters have been mapped and analysed on a national scale by CSIRO for the first time, revealing Macquarie Park as a leading innovation hotspot.

‘The geography of Australia’s digital industries’ - a new report by CSIRO and the Tech Council of Australia - measures how the geographical concentration of innovation can leverage growth and productivity.

The report identified 96 technology clusters across Australia, and uses international leaders such as Silicon Valley to benchmark their performance.

CSIRO found the ‘Sydney arc supercluster’ - which begins at Macquarie Park and curves down to Redfern and Surry Hills in the south - represents one of Australia’s most significant agglomerations of digital companies and workers.

Sydney recorded 81 ASX-listed tech companies which employ 119,636 people (20.1% of the national total) with a listed value of $52 billion on the ASX.

Macquarie Park to Marsfield specifically contributed market capitalisation value of $36.79 billion - the greatest amount of any area in Australia.

The report also identified Macquarie Park as home to the largest cluster of computer network professionals and digital technology occupational specialisations (13) in the country. It ranked third in Greater Sydney for its count of workers in digital occupations overall, with 10,457 people employed in the field.

Connect Macquarie Park Innovation District’s own research found tech workers represent a quarter of our area’s overall workforce, who are employed at companies like BAE Systems, DXC Technology, Honeywell, Oracle and Siemens.

Lead report author and CSIRO principal researcher Dr Stefan Hajkowicz said the new research identified four “superclusters” of tech innovation on Australia’s east coast:

“We’re not searching for Australia’s Silicon Valley, we have our own clusters with their own unique blend of technology specialisations, companies and cultures.”

“But we do see the same patterns of intense spatial clustering of technology industry occurring in places like California (USA), Cambridge (UK), Toulouse (France) and other places worldwide.”

General Manager at Connect MPID, Mark Ames, said the new CSIRO research highlights the maturity of Macquarie Park’s ecosystem as a great place to work and spoke to the new report findings, highlighting Macquarie Park’s thriving tech landscape and pool of local talent:

“This new research from CSIRO and the Tech Council of Australia shows Macquarie Park innovation district is already home to hi-tech, high value jobs which are boosting Australia’s economy.”

“From exciting scale ups to globally significant corporations, the best talent in digital tech is thriving in Macquarie Park - where exciting careers can meet lifestyle balance.”

The CSIRO’s conceptual ‘Sydney arc supercluster’ will also match the alignment of Sydney Metro when the extension from Macquarie Park to the city opens in 2024, further strengthening connections between research, industry and talent.