Skills and capacity building

A continued investment in talent and skills is crucial to preparing our workforce with the knowledge and experience they need to compete in a global marketplace. There are many initiatives that demonstrate the collaborative nature of the entrepreneurship, innovation and digital ecosystem that exists on the Sunshine Coast.

Education

• Coding and Innovation Hub
• RoboCoast
• Bright Sparks Lab
• DeLorean Project
• CoderDojo
• E-games sports
• Level Up
• Study Sunshine Coast
• TAFE Queensland East Coast
• University of the Sunshine Coast
• Engage Research Lab
• CQUniversity
• Sunshine Coast Health Institute.

Programs

Our vibrant ecosystem nurtures and supports startups and businesses through our talent pipeline.

• Future careers program provides a preview to what career opportunities are likely to be available on the Sunshine Coast from 2025 and beyond
• Sunshine Coast Chamber Alliance business mentoring program helps business owners refine their business strategy, map out the direction their business should be taking and assists in setting goals for their business to succeed
• StartUp Onramp is a 12-week training and mentoring program which gives new founders the entrepreneurial skills, advice and networks they need to launch and grow their company
• Innovation masterclass is aimed at owner managers of small to medium businesses from all industry sectors with an ambition to grow and helps them develop a strategic direction and implement innovative ideas
• Regional innovation benchmark project will document innovation activity through annual benchmarking reports and will provide a series of innovation measures over three years from a sample of Sunshine Coast firms at differing stages of development
• Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards for Year 10-12 students to connect with industry mentors to develop entrepreneurial thinking and creative uses of technology
• Generation Innovation for young people wanting to start their own business.

Meetups

• Coding from the beach
• SC Blockchain
• SC Emerging Technology
• Dot Maleny
• Aussie Founders Network
• Empresarios
• Lab of Awesome

If you know of additional programs or meetup groups which foster innovation and entrepreneurship please contact [email protected]

Events

Council actively supports and/or sponsors a range of activities and innovative programs:

Event name	Details	Date
Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards	Year 10-12 students showcase innovative ideas, learn new skills and win prizes. Students connect with industry mentors to develop entrepreneurial thinking and creative uses of technology.	January-June
BiG Day In	A digital and careers conference where technology professionals talk about how students can shape a future career in this field.	March
Startup Weekend	An intense, action-based weekend event for people with business ideas looking for skills, or people with skills looking for a business idea.	April
Generation Innovation	The first of its kind anywhere in the world, this challenge is for young people wanting to start their own business.	April-June
Innovation Centre Pitch Competition	An annual competition designed to help foster and grow business opportunities for the startup community	August - September
GovHack Sunshine Coast	An annual competition which explores the opportunities for new products and services based on open data sets.	September
Serious Games Showcase	This event features presentations by teams of University of the Sunshine Coast Serious Games students, academics and local game developers.	November
CoderDojo	A free coding club which covers everything from basic web, app and game development.	Saturdays during school terms
RoboCoast	RoboCoast is a hub of state and private schools promoting robotics and coding through student training days, visits and a range of fun robotics competitions.	During school terms
Library programs	Coding and robotics sessions for children and young people	School holidays

** Program dates are estimates and may be subject to change.