Icon in Crisis

In 2001, CSIRO's future looked shaky. The Australian government had announced a big increase in public funding for science, but had pointedly left the iconic national research agency out when it came to distributing the cash. Facing the threat of funding cuts and loss of reputation, CSIRO set about reinventing itself through what became known as its National Flagship Initiative. This book is the story of that program, told by Ron Sandland who led the initiative and Graham Thompson who designed its systems and processes.