Climate change and population growth are creating increasing pressure on food and water — and to solve the need, innovative solutions will be required. The issue of water scarcity in the near future is an issue Australia’s aid program is attempting to solve today. [...] Scientists, engineers, academics, entrepreneurs and other creative minds are encouraged to compete as a team or individual.

It wouldn't be senate estimates without senior Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials having to justify the presence of a $6300 ping-pong table in the 'InnovationXchange' ideas hub.[...]  "Senator you call it a ping pong table, I call it a meeting table," he said. "It is used all day for meeting and not for ping pong. It is actively used throughout the day and sits 10 or 12 people around it."

An Australian government initiative branded as the InnovationXchange will broker partnerships between business, civil society, philanthropy, and academia in order to tackle problems in developing countries in the Australian region. The InnovationXchange is said to draw on the model for developing innovation in Silicon Valley technology startups. It will be licensed to embrace more financial risk than a normal government bureaucracy in trying new solutions.