Article written by Chris Stoltz FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER, Engineers Australia Victorian President.
I trust that you have had the opportunity to spend valuable time with your loved ones, and are now well rested and looking forward, as I am, to a healthy and prosperous 2017.
If, like me, you spent the final days of 2016 reflecting on the year that has past, it is now time to turn our attention to the year ahead, with the aim of formulating a plan to achieve these outcomes.
At Engineers Australia we see ourselves as the trusted voice of the profession, and with that as our guiding principles, let me share the Victoria Division Committee’s agenda for shaping 2017.
As in recent years, we will continue to engage in strategical dialogue with government, industry, academia and in doing so, inform the community we serve why engineers are critical to a robust and healthy economy.
While our national office is responsible for the organisation’s overall policy position statements, in Victoria, we have chosen to focus the local content of those position statements on three key areas.
This year, much of my conversations with our major stakeholders will focus on:
- Infrastructure;
- Energy; and
- Future Workforce.
Infrastructure connects us to our environment; it allows our businesses to access local and international markets; and will dictate how our children and grandchildren live their lives.
Let me be clear, when we make decisions about infrastructure, we are making decisions about our future. While it is important for Engineers Australia to be at the forefront of the debate, I plan to work hard to gain the support of decision-makers across the engineering profession. This will add weight to the message and achieve greater outcomes for the community at large.
Now, consider the role energy plays in creating that future.
In the age of the 24/7 mantra, energy powers our every moment.
As the peak body for the engineering profession, Engineers Australia is intent on taking the politics out of this debate and focus purely on developing a rational transition strategy from a fossil-fuel dependent economy to a renewable-dependent economy. As engineers we are here to lend our technical expertise to this debate, and again, we do so to achieve the best possible outcomes for our community, now and into the future.
Innovation is what moves Humanity forward. And there is no doubt we have moved far in a relative short space of time. But one question which needs a great deal more effort in addressing is - what will the jobs of the future look like? While we herald ‘Innovation’ as the magic bullet of our generation, there is still the need to communicate the impact innovation will have, not only on the way we live our lives, but the education choices that we make for our children.
I want to work with industry to better tell the story of where innovation will lead us.
The challenges of infrastructure, energy and our future workforce should empower us as a profession to assert what I mentioned earlier, how critical engineers are to a robust and healthy economy.
I look forward to updating you of our progress throughout the year.
Image: Engineers Australia Victorian President, Chris Stoltz speaking to the media at a government launch in 2016.