The impact you can’t measure: 10 years of the NSSN community

Innovation networks are often measured through projects, partnerships and commercial outcomes, but some of their most important impacts are harder to quantify. In this Thought Piece, NSW Smart Sensing Network Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Haskins reflects on the NSSN’s 10th Anniversary and why the community, relationships and trust built over the past decade are among the network’s most enduring achievements.

The NSSN celebrated its 10th Anniversary in fine form last Monday night. It was an evening filled with connection, memories and joy.

In a role that is so often busy, it gave me a rare chance to pause, reflect and take stock of what we have built together over the past decade.

We talk often about impact, and we rightly spend a lot of time measuring it.

Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Haskins

After all, we are funded by the NSW Government and supported by our member universities, so we have a responsibility to demonstrate the value the network delivers to taxpayers and stakeholders.

We count projects, partnerships, research outputs, commercialisation outcomes and investment attracted. These measures matter because they demonstrate accountability and show that public investment is creating real value.

What is much harder to measure, and, I would argue, even more important, is community.

Over the past ten years, the NSSN has become much more than a network.

It has become a place where people know they can find collaborators, partners, suppliers, mentors, trusted advice and, sometimes, the confidence to take the next step.

Those connections don’t always appear on a dashboard or in an annual report, but they are often the catalyst for everything that follows.

I could easily count the number of people in the room or estimate the value of the collaborative projects they represented.

What couldn’t be measured was the energy, warmth and enthusiasm that filled the room on a chilly Monday night overlooking Sydney Harbour. It was unmistakable. 

From key founding figures like Mary O’Kane, Susan Pond and Justin Gooding; to our leadership of Ben Eggleton, Julien Epps, Jill Freyne and Hugh Durrant-Whyte; from talented staff, past and present; to dedicated Board members, longstanding partners and new collaborators from government, universities and industry, everyone in the room had their own NSSN story.

Nicholas Haskins (second from right) with the NSSN team at the 10th Birthday Celebration

For some, the NSSN helped turn an idea into a technology and a growing company.

For others, it opened doors, advanced careers or led to new research collaborations and spin-outs.

For many, it simply provided the opportunity to meet the right person at the right time.

Every person I spoke with shared a story about the positive role the NSSN had played in their journey.

That’s the remarkable thing about innovation ecosystems. They are built as much on relationships as they are on research.

The strongest ideas emerge when talented people with different perspectives come together, challenge one another and work towards a common goal. Creating those opportunities has always been at the heart of what the NSSN exists to do.

Success is not always measured in numbers. Sometimes it is measured in a sense of community, of possibility and of belonging.

Those qualities are harder to quantify, but they are often the reason people choose to stay engaged, collaborate again and invest their time in helping others succeed.

I am incredibly proud that, together, we have built that for NSW and the ACT.

Nicholas Haskins with Neuranext Founder Adrian Tyson and “Lumi” the Agibot X2 Ultra robot at the NSSN’s 10th Birthday Celebration

I have been fortunate to serve as the NSSN’s Chief Operating Officer for the past eight and a half years, almost as long as the network itself.

While I can’t put a number on it, I can feel, in a very tangible way, the strength of the community we have created and the impact it continues to have.

Watching so many familiar faces reconnect last night was a reminder that the network’s greatest achievement isn’t any single project or initiative.

It’s the enduring relationships that continue to generate new ideas and opportunities long after the first introductions are made.

So, what’s next for the NSSN?

At 10 years old, we’re only just getting started. The deeptech opportunities ahead for our state, in areas like quantum, AI and sensor fusion, will demand even greater collaboration across sectors if we are to maintain our competitive edge. 

The past decade has shown what is possible when brilliant people from universities, government and industry come together around a shared purpose.

We may not yet have built a sensor that can measure community, but perhaps we’ll have one ready for our 20th Anniversary.

Now wouldn’t that be smart?