Executive director of ICN NSW Peter Webster has likened ICN to an “industrial dating service”.

In a podcast interview with Defence Connect, Peter said the ultimate aim of ICN was to “forge relationships” between large buyers and local suppliers, manufactures and contractors.

“If you're into procurement or engineering within a large organisation, or a large project, good chance you're going to get a phone call or a knock on the door from myself or one of our consultants. And we'll be there to badger you, to offer you supply-chain development services. What does that mean? It means, simply, we want to introduce you to good local competitive suppliers,” he said.

Peter explained that ICN was not about “holding our hands to our hearts and singing Advance Australian Fair”, but rather introducing major project owners to “good, competitive local suppliers that give them better supply options, and better outcomes for their projects”.

“We do a lot of running around for them ... checking on the right sort of companies that they might want to talk with,” he said, adding that this saves time and money, while putting  opportunities in front of local industry.

“So basically, everyone wins, unless you're an importer that just got knocked out of a spot buying an Australian-made product.”

Peter also explained that while each state-based office is independently operated, ICN’s national network offers opportunities for collaborations across the country.

Referring to the Defence submarine project, he said, “The submarines will be built in Adelaide. So the project office will be in Adelaide. I'm not running down to Adelaide and going to the Naval Group and knocking on their door. Because we've got ICN South Australia doing that. And our people in South Australia ... they've built a good relationship with them.”

To listen to the full podcast, or read a transcript, go to Defence Connect.