Waiting for Godot - Down Under Edition - SHR!MP S02E01

27 November 2025

January in Australia is like August in France. Motivation to get anything done is at an all-time low – 6 weeks of school holidays are not helping. There’s not much one can do about it, but to embrace it.

February, however, it’s back into action!

IGP – that is an acronym everyone working in technology in Australia recognises immediately – the Industry Growth Programme. Some consider it an episode of Utopia. And yes, admittedly, we waited about 18 months to meet with our advisor. However, what we did not have to wait for, and who delivered great content from the beginning, was our Cluster Connect Network – also our first FAN! (the Food & Agribusiness Network).

Next to great content, FAN delivered even greater free tickets to EvokeAG, sending us though a pre-conference workshop, where even an old Biotech Business Developer like me still learned something new, and then on to sunny Queensland.

EvokeAg, as far as I can tell, is the only relevant conference for the agricultural and food industry (and through that by proxy the associated technology sectors). And EvokeAg 2025, well, that turned out more surprising than I expected… (and that is why there will be THREE dedicated episodes on EvokeAg coming up!)

While I learned only a little that was directly useful for SHRMP, at least in the short term, I did learn endless new about our country. Twenty years and counting, just now, for the first time, I got to learn about a (to me) whole new, other, Australia – the Australia beyond the urban and tourist areas, the Australia that represents 55% based on land use...