Canon's local R&D unit says thanks to Feds

Canon Australia’s research and development facility at North Ryde in Sydney has been recognised by the Federal Government for contribution to industry and local employment.

Canon Information Systems Research Australia Pty Ltd (CiSRA) this month celebrated its 20th anniversary with a visit by former TV journalist and now politician Maxine McKew.

The company directly supports nearly 300 jobs and contributes $50 million export dollars annually.

The federal member for Bennelong visited the CiSRA facility last week where chairman and managing director of Canon Australia, Kenji Kobayashi, said the company “appreciated the R&D tax incentives from the Australian Government as they help us compete with these low cost centres in the region and they support R&D employment in Australia.”

“While costs associated with running an R&D facility in Australia are perhaps higher than they would be in other countries in the region, the extremely talented engineers this country produces makes the investment worthwhile,” Kobayashi said.

Ms McKew said that the Rudd Government has supported CiSRA with tax incentives to help encourage and promote its R&D activities.

During its 20 years CiSRA has filed more than 1300 patent applications in Australia on behalf of Canon Inc.

Key technology accomplishments for CiSRA include ZoomBrowser EX software, PhotoRecord software, UFR technology and PosterArtist software.