Dr Anna Daniel

Anna is a Priority Manager in Australia's Economic Accelerator (AEA). The AEA is a $1.6bn 10 year program to support commercialisation of university research via proof of concept projects (TRL 3-5, up to $500k) and proof of scale projects (TRL 5-7, up to $5m). Anna works with four universities to draw opportunities for high commercial and economic impact into the AEA and help Lead Entrepreneurs and commercialisation teams on their pathway to market. Most often the path to market includes collaboration with businesses that represent potential customers, investors and/or suppliers.

Formerly she was an Innovation Facilitator who worked with SME executives in south and central Queensland. She listened to understand and map their potential innovation journey and how R&D can support it. She then identified the best scientists and facilitated a collaboration between the business and researchers for a project to help the business grow and create jobs. This included helping businesses to negotiate budgets, timelines, deliverables and intellectual property ownership and licensing terms. She also facilitated mutually advantageous B2B connections amongst her business clients and businesses within the broader network.

Anna’s career has been described by a Federal Government Research Taskforce as ‘far from conventional’ and her diverse experience informs her ability to facilitate productive commercial collaborations. She has worked for 25+ years in research, policy and business, including for: 3 global consultancies; 4 universities (including a Linkage project and within a research cooperative) and federal and state governments. She has successfully delivered hundreds of research projects and been recognised for excellence. Her business doctorate (RMIT) explored opportunities for entrepreneurs to harness technologies to create new value and build sustainable businesses.