The Regional Economic Development (RED) Toolbox is the C21^st platform for smart, connected, sustainable regional development.

Launched at the SEGRA event in Port Augusta in late October 2017, the platform continues to develop in response to partner interest and request. We are now expanding Groups regionally and nationally, and moving into development of the Projects section of the toolbox.

This will include more partnerships with corporates, blockchain developers and investment partners with an interest in regional projects.

RED Toolbox – how it all works

The RED Toolbox - https://theredtoolbox.org is a 5 dimensional, national collaboration platform, connecting regions (1), sectors (2), issues (3), projects (4) and export (5) together in a holistic way.

The RED Toolbox is a “think tank” (Groups and Insights) and a “do tank” (Projects and Export) enabling organisations of all kinds to connect, discuss, share, collaborate, plan and act effectively, to address issues and build capacity across all productive industries in Australia.


Historically regions, sectors, issues, projects and export exist and operate independently with occasional connection and collaboration when and where appropriate.

Our society is largely structured in a manner that still reflects the industrial revolution, with a focus on specialty, departments and silos, and organisations operating independently with little consideration for “gaps” or the big picture.

Many “wicked” problems in our society are between departments, between silos, holistic, in the “gaps” and generalist in nature. And yet in a digital world of ever increasing connection and integration, information resources are now readily accessible across multiple devices, networks and channels. But the data is still structured for the old segmented world not the new connected world.

So we need collaborative frameworks and networks to leverage the new connectivity. The RED Toolbox is one such framework.

The Tools in the RED Toolbox

There are four main tools in the Red Toolbox – the Showcase, Insights, Groups and Projects.

 
Showcase

The Showcase has over 5,000 leading Australian producers and services.

It presents Australia’s leading manufacturers, producers and services in an image driven, easy to navigate,  “3 clicks” to find anything format.

The database is focused on established businesses with a capacity for export, employment and growth.

 
Insights

The Insights (blogs) section presents posts on regions, sectors, issues, projects and export. Bloggers present views on sectors, regions and issues that complement discussions in Groups. Content can be shared with social media platforms as well as with Groups in the toolbox.

Groups

Groups – regions, sector, issues, projects and export - are the engine room of the RED Toolbox.

Groups are “meeting and sharing” places for discussions, introductions, connections and ideas. They are free to join.

But only Partners can create Groups – see “About” page for partnership fee structure.

Partners are key to the evolution of the RED Toolbox – corporate and government, councils and RDAs, export business councils and chambers, businesses and not-for-profits.

Corporate and government partners can create multiple groups.

Council and RDA partners from across Australia can create multiple groups based on local and regional economic vision and plans.

At the national level, there are 10 high-level, “umbrella” Groups enabling strategic discussion and collaboration on big picture issues – advanced manufacturing, agricultural and food, energy, water & environment, ICT, medical and health, mining and METS, security and protection, smart city infrastructure, sport development and tourism development.

These high-level Groups support discussions on big ideas. Over time they will become knowledge centres, which councils and RDAS can access to support their local projects and developments.

The India-Australia Export Groups mirror themes that are common to both countries – advanced manufacturing, mining & METS, energy, water & environment, agricultural and food and smart city infrastructure, allowing businesses from both countries to meet, talk and engage on shared business interests.

Businesses and not-for-profits can become partners in the RED Toolbox and create a Groups or Groups. They can also join one or more of the high-level “umbrella’ groups most appropriate to their business activity.

So a pollution control manufacturer could join Mining and METS, Energy, Water and Environment, Security and Protection and even Medical and Health.

A Cybersecurity company could join Security and Protection, ICT and Smart City Infrastructure and so on.

A pollution control manufacturer could also become a business partner and create a group to showcase business solutions, present brochures, videos, events, manage commercial discussions and connect the group to the larger networks.

The RED Toolbox is designed to connect organisations across silos, to build bridges between sectors and regions, between countries, and to support the sharing of ideas.

Projects

The Projects section will include a library of existing projects and a place for project ideas to become realised.

We have created a Projects master group in Groups to act as a bridge between Groups (the “think tank”) and Projects (the “do tank”) section of the platform.

The Projects group is for the discussion of ideas. The Projects section is for the realisation of ideas - action.

The Projects section of the RED Toolbox will have a library of project case studies or outlines, which can be copied. We are looking for more projects with demonstrable benefits – ie jobs, tourism attraction, youth engagement etc

The Projects section will also present new project ideas for partners to engage with. New Project ideas can seek - material, experience, funding and project management skills – building teams of partners to turn ideas into action.

The platform connects across multiple dimensions. Local groups can connect people locally, but still connect with sectors, other regions and projects. Groups can be private (invite only), open or closed.

So the platform supports community and privacy. It supports parochial and local, and national and international. It supports businesses, associations and sectors.

Not everybody wants to connect, collaborate and share.

But 97% of organisations do. And the RED Toolbox is there to support them.

And their networks, connections, supply chains, regions and states. So become a Partner, join the RED Toolbox, add your ideas and become part of the solution.

The Regional Economic Development (RED) Toolbox is the C21^st platform for smart, connected, sustainable regional development.

Launched at the SEGRA event in Port Augusta in late October 2017, the platform continues to develop in response to partner interest and request. We are now expanding Groups regionally and nationally, and moving into development of the Projects section of the toolbox.

This will include more partnerships with corporates, blockchain developers and investment partners with an interest in regional projects.

RED Toolbox – how it all works

The RED Toolbox - https://theredtoolbox.org is a 5 dimensional, national collaboration platform, connecting regions (1), sectors (2), issues (3), projects (4) and export (5) together in a holistic way.

The RED Toolbox is a “think tank” (Groups and Insights) and a “do tank” (Projects and Export) enabling organisations of all kinds to connect, discuss, share, collaborate, plan and act effectively, to address issues and build capacity across all productive industries in Australia.


Historically regions, sectors, issues, projects and export exist and operate independently with occasional connection and collaboration when and where appropriate.

Our society is largely structured in a manner that still reflects the industrial revolution, with a focus on specialty, departments and silos, and organisations operating independently with little consideration for “gaps” or the big picture.

Many “wicked” problems in our society are between departments, between silos, holistic, in the “gaps” and generalist in nature. And yet in a digital world of ever increasing connection and integration, information resources are now readily accessible across multiple devices, networks and channels. But the data is still structured for the old segmented world not the new connected world.

So we need collaborative frameworks and networks to leverage the new connectivity. The RED Toolbox is one such framework.

The Tools in the RED Toolbox

There are four main tools in the Red Toolbox – the Showcase, Insights, Groups and Projects.

 
Showcase

The Showcase has over 5,000 leading Australian producers and services.

It presents Australia’s leading manufacturers, producers and services in an image driven, easy to navigate,  “3 clicks” to find anything format.

The database is focused on established businesses with a capacity for export, employment and growth.

 
Insights

The Insights (blogs) section presents posts on regions, sectors, issues, projects and export. Bloggers present views on sectors, regions and issues that complement discussions in Groups. Content can be shared with social media platforms as well as with Groups in the toolbox.

Groups

Groups – regions, sector, issues, projects and export - are the engine room of the RED Toolbox.

Groups are “meeting and sharing” places for discussions, introductions, connections and ideas. They are free to join.

But only Partners can create Groups – see “About” page for partnership fee structure.

Partners are key to the evolution of the RED Toolbox – corporate and government, councils and RDAs, export business councils and chambers, businesses and not-for-profits.

Corporate and government partners can create multiple groups.

Council and RDA partners from across Australia can create multiple groups based on local and regional economic vision and plans.

At the national level, there are 10 high-level, “umbrella” Groups enabling strategic discussion and collaboration on big picture issues – advanced manufacturing, agricultural and food, energy, water & environment, ICT, medical and health, mining and METS, security and protection, smart city infrastructure, sport development and tourism development.

These high-level Groups support discussions on big ideas. Over time they will become knowledge centres, which councils and RDAS can access to support their local projects and developments.

The India-Australia Export Groups mirror themes that are common to both countries – advanced manufacturing, mining & METS, energy, water & environment, agricultural and food and smart city infrastructure, allowing businesses from both countries to meet, talk and engage on shared business interests.

Businesses and not-for-profits can become partners in the RED Toolbox and create a Groups or Groups. They can also join one or more of the high-level “umbrella’ groups most appropriate to their business activity.

So a pollution control manufacturer could join Mining and METS, Energy, Water and Environment, Security and Protection and even Medical and Health.

A Cybersecurity company could join Security and Protection, ICT and Smart City Infrastructure and so on.

A pollution control manufacturer could also become a business partner and create a group to showcase business solutions, present brochures, videos, events, manage commercial discussions and connect the group to the larger networks.

The RED Toolbox is designed to connect organisations across silos, to build bridges between sectors and regions, between countries, and to support the sharing of ideas.

Projects

The Projects section will include a library of existing projects and a place for project ideas to become realised.

We have created a Projects master group in Groups to act as a bridge between Groups (the “think tank”) and Projects (the “do tank”) section of the platform.

The Projects group is for the discussion of ideas. The Projects section is for the realisation of ideas - action.

The Projects section of the RED Toolbox will have a library of project case studies or outlines, which can be copied. We are looking for more projects with demonstrable benefits – ie jobs, tourism attraction, youth engagement etc

The Projects section will also present new project ideas for partners to engage with. New Project ideas can seek - material, experience, funding and project management skills – building teams of partners to turn ideas into action.

The platform connects across multiple dimensions. Local groups can connect people locally, but still connect with sectors, other regions and projects. Groups can be private (invite only), open or closed.

So the platform supports community and privacy. It supports parochial and local, and national and international. It supports businesses, associations and sectors.

Not everybody wants to connect, collaborate and share.

But 97% of organisations do. And the RED Toolbox is there to support them.

And their networks, connections, supply chains, regions and states. So become a Partner, join the RED Toolbox, add your ideas and become part of the solution.