Lockheed Martin establishes Asia-Pacific ICT engineering hub in Melbourne

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Nigel Pittaway | Melbourne

 

The hub is being set up in close partnership with the Victorian Government and Lockheed Martin says it is expected that 150 new ICT jobs will be generated over five years within the facility.

It will be equipped to provide a range of capabilities and facilitate regional research and development programs and a program delivery service.

The hub will be operated by Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems and Global Solutions (IS&GS) business, which is investing $8 million into its establishment.

“This investment adds to our existing footprint in Dandenong and Glen Waverley, and will accommodate 190 staff primarily servicing ICT systems development,” Anne Mullins, vice president global solutions for Lockheed Martin’s IS&GS, said.

“At least 150 of these will be new personnel, doubling our presence in Melbourne and providing high technology jobs to service local customers and capability to expand export opportunities,”

Victorian Government co-operation

The Victorian Government has provided a financial support package, which will focus on infrastructure enhancements and upskilling of the workforce, which Lockheed Martin Australia chief executive Raydon Gates described as ‘instrumental’ in the building of a business case for a Victorian location.

Speaking at a ceremony in Clayton on September 29 to announce the establishment of the hub, Dr Denis Napthine, the Victorian Premier, said that his government was working closely with Lockheed Martin Australia to up skill the Victorian ICT workforce.

“As well as creating more high-skilled jobs, this project will increase our defence industry’s global competitiveness and open up opportunities for Victorian companies in the global supply chain programs of a major defence and aerospace company,” he added.

“The Victorian government worked closely with Lockheed Martin to secure this project, the latest in a string of major investments by international technology companies in Victoria.

"Since November 2010, we have facilitated over $1.1 billion in technology-related investment, which is creating 5,000 new jobs.”

 

Investment in skills development

 

Mullins said that the development of ICT skills in Victoria is a key element of the engineering hub and the Victorian Government support package will be used to assist the company to develop skills in what she called ‘key global technologies’ in cyber, mobility and big data.

She said that the signature on September 10 of the contract with Defence to provide centralised processing services, which is intended to meet Defence capability requirements out to 2022, will provide Lockheed Martin’s Victorian staff with the opportunity to play a key role in advancing capability.

“Together with our other two facilities here in Melbourne, this new facility provides great opportunities to grow our business and provide tremendous career advancement paths for our local employees,” she said.

Academia also has a major role to play in the skills development process and Mullins said Lockheed Martin was looking to further engage with the Victorian Government in this area.

“In this quest, we will be looking to further our partnership with the Victorian Government and its scientific, engineering and educational institutions; including Monash University, where I understand we have already been recruiting cadets,” she said during her presentation at the Clayton facility on September 24.

“The co-investment in skills development announced today by Premier Napthine will enable us to sharpen the competitive edge that is so essential to achieving success in the high paced technology business we are seeking to develop in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Mullins also said that Lockheed Martin Australia had already begun expanding its Victorian workforce ahead of the engineering hub becoming operational in the future.

“In the past month alone we have added nearly 50 new employees to our Victorian business,” she noted.

“The $8 million Lockheed Martin investment in this new facility and its laboratory infrastructure will also be matched by the creation of 150 new jobs.”

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