FROM THE CEO
Jacqueline Brinkman , Chief Executive Officer
It is my pleasure to present the final EDA Journal for 2023 . As usual at this time of year , we feature the winners and finalists of the 2023 National Economic Development Awards for Excellence . The celebrations happened in August at an unforgettable dinner held on the traditional land of the Ngarluma people in the historic outback ghost town of Cossack , WA . The National Economic Development Awards recognise the leadership , innovation of those professionals driving local economic prosperity across the nation .
In this edition , we also showcase some of the fantastic images from the National Economic Development Conference ( NEDC23 ) held in Karratha from August 22-24 . The central theme of this year ’ s conference was ; The Evolution of Value – the Future of Economies . Delegates were encouraged to envision new methods for delivering and gauging local economic progress . Once again , thank you to the City of Karratha for hosting a world-class event .
The EDA team is already setting its sights on The National Economic Development Conference 2024 ( NEDC24 ). The program theme will be announced early next year but mark your diaries now for October 16- 18 in Melbourne !
This edition of the EDA Journal provides compelling insights from industry leaders from a range of sectors . Renowned economist , Nicki Hutley urges economic development professionals to incorporate social and environmental outcomes into all economic development cost benefit analyses . Nicki challenges economic developers to ask key questions in relation to community and the economy when planning and implementing any economic development project .
Carl Manton , Ben Lyons and Jeffrey Soar provide a fascinating and timely analyses of the impact of outsourcing within the Australian local government sector with particular focus on QLD local government . In light of the recent PWC controversy , it is interesting to review this first phase of a study aimed at filling the gap in the literature around full cost pricing and outsourcing .
Shelley Woolcock , an Economic Development Officer at Yarra City Council tells the story of how Yarra got its groove back . One of the innovative methods was to deploy 18 mobile guided silent disco walking tours between May and August in 2022 !
Robert Bell from the Intelligent Communities Forum invites readers to consider their use of technology as an economic development tool . Robert reminds economic developers to keep focussed on purpose and asks the core question ; Are you using technology to make the place called home better ?
We hope you enjoy this edition and wish you a safe and happy summer break .
Kind regards ,
Jacqueline Brinkman GAICD Chief Executive Officer Economic Development Australia
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL VOL 16 NO 3 2023 03