Adelaide the prime location for Deloitte’s new tech and innovation hub

Deloitte’s new Centre for Innovation and Technology is another string to Adelaide’s business bow.

When professional services firm Deloitte was searching for the perfect location to launch its inaugural future-focused Centre for Innovation and Technology, there was one obvious Australian city that fitted the bill – Adelaide. “What’s great about Adelaide is that ecosystem of innovation and technology,” says Hendri Mentz, Deloitte managing partner SA. “We’ve got Lot Fourteen, Tonsley precinct, Mawson Lakes ... all of those attract organisations with the same innovative focus to come here – and that’s what we need to be part of as well.”

Working in partnership with the Department for Trade and Investment, Deloitte’s Centre for Innovation and Technology will harness South Australia’s growing defence, space, technology and innovation ecosystem to build a workforce capable of deploying market-leading solutions for its local, national and global clients. Roles will be available in engineering, technology consulting, cyber security, data analytics, financial advisory and audit services. “It’s literally from engineering to business skill sets and everything in between,” Mentz says.

Hendri Mentz, Deloitte managing partner SA. Picture: Russell Millard

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS

As one of the country’s largest graduate recruiters, the company is also partnering with South Australia’s universities to help reach the centre’s target of engaging 500 new staff over the next three years – with more to come. “Adelaide has a good school system and good universities, so there is enough talent market for us to achieve our goal,” Mentz says. “This will be the first of these centres in Australia and there will probably be more over time. We will fundamentally be a people business and we need talented people to help us create the solutions of the future.”

In addition to graduate recruits, opportunities will also be created for those already established in the workforce and looking to transition their skills. “At the moment our initial drive is to get as many graduates and students through as we can but, as we as we develop the centre, we will be looking for other levels as well,” Mentz says. “For instance, defence force veterans have great skills that are in high demand and transferable to professional services. A clear focus will also be to attract, train and employ Indigenous peoples in the centre.

“With global giants such as AWS and Google having already established offices in the CBD, a dynamic job market exists which means people are not limited to one employer. And that’s important because you want a number of large organisations that give people optionality and makes them more likely to stay in this state.

“Of course we’d like to retain as many staff as possible but, if people do move on to other employers, we will have really well-qualified people going into the rest of our economy. That’s not a bad thing.”