The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Kim Carr has released an evaluation of the Commercialising Emerging Technologies (COMET) program.
The evaluation was undertaken by independent consultancy firm ACIL Tasman, which was commissioned by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research in 2007 to look at the appropriateness, efficiency and effectiveness of the COMET program.
COMET is a competitive, merit based program that supports early-growth stage and spin-off companies to successfully commercialise their innovations by awarding grants of up to $120,000 (exclusive of GST) in two stages.
"The COMET program is an example of government and industry working in partnership to boost Australia’s innovation capacity and performance," Carr said.
According to Carr, the program was evaluated under ongoing appropriateness of the program; efficiency of the program in delivering the program outputs and effectiveness of the program in achieving its core objectives.