Monday, July 17, 2023

Defence Innovation in Canberra

Greetings from the Defence Innovation Network Canberra Showcase opening at the ANU in Canberra. DIN is a made up of ANU, Macquarie, UNSW, Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, and UTS universities.

Western Sydney University logo. This is showcasing the capabilities of academia in areas such as AI, Robotics, cyber security, Quantum communications and optical systems. The Defence Innovation Network is Defence Innovation Network (DIN) is an association of eight leading universities in NSW and ACT. The purpose of the DIN is to bring together industry, universities, State Government and Defence to address Australia’s defence needs. The DIN also supports business innovation in the global defence market by harnessing world-class research capabilities available within our universities.

At the opening Professor John Blaxland raised the topic of collaboration with US universities, particularly given the AUKUS partnership.  

Given the deteriorating international situation it is timely for universities capabilities to aid defence to be boosted. However it needs to kept in mind the primary way university can help is with trained people, both in uniform, and in civilian roles in government and support industries. Training personnel, and building systems takes years, and in some cases decades.

As a former adviser on technology in the Defence Department I mentor students who work in the Defence Origination and tutored ones testing new weapons systems for defence companies.

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