By becoming a supporter of the internationally recognised Technician Commitment, ACRI joins a global community of organisations improving visibility, recognition, career development and long-term sustainability of technical professionals in higher education, research and innovation.
There are eight organisations in Australia that have joined the Technician Commitment community in recent years, highlighting the growing interest in technical professional recognition within higher education and research environments.
ACRI advocates for the research infrastructure workforce, recognising contributions and embedding changes that translate to equitable and clear career pathways. It focusses on educating and training through knowledge and networks. Its current membership is in excess of 300 and rapidly growing.
Its work strongly aligns with the Technician Commitment's vision to improve the visibility, recognition, career development and long-term sustainability of technical professionals in higher education, research and innovation.
Dr Kelly Vere MBE, Programme Director of the Technician Commitment, said: "We're proud to join this well-established community in Australia that aligns strongly with work of the Technician Commitment and the UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy. In return, we warmly welcome ACRI to the Technician Commitment community.
“This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate on our shared goal of addressing industry challenges facing technical professionals who are critical to research and teaching activities and enhance technical careers, skills and opportunities across the higher education and research sector.
“The increased interest we've had from the international community is testament to the positive changes the Technician Commitment has had on shaping the technical workforce in higher education and research.
“This is reflected by the recent collaborative work with the global Universitas 21 network, which highlighted common challenges and priorities shared by technical professionals across institutional and international borders and laid the foundations for cross-border collaboration to strengthen the global technical workforce.
“We look forward to working with ACRI to enhance the visibility and career development of the technical workforce through sharing knowledge, best practice and connecting with international peer groups”.
Adjunct Professor Sach Jayasinghe, Executive Director of ACRI, said: “Whilst there are unique and bespoke challenges in different jurisdictions, ultimately passionate and dedicated advocacy as a global community will yield positive changes across the technical and research infrastructure communities we look to support. I look to forward to partnering with the Technician Commitment [S(1] so that ACRI can play its role in realising a vision where the technical workforce rightly recognised and rewarded for its immense contributions to the global research and innovation efforts.”
The Technician Commitment is a pledge to implement a long-term action plan to enhance technical careers, opportunities and skills within the organisation. Since launching in 2017, it has now grown to a global community of more than 150 organisations championing technicians and their contributions to higher education and research. The initiative is hosted by the UK Institute of Technical Skills & Strategy.
The Technician Commitment community has welcomed nine international signatories and three international supporters since 2022. The growing global community creates valuable opportunities to share expertise, good practice and experiences from institutions overseas.
