And the winner is ... at the Defence Hackerthon

Greetings from the last day of the Australian Defense Tech Hackathon at UNSW Canberra. The wining teams were Crowdshield, a crowd-sourced defence to identify, classify and neutralize unauthorized drone activities, Circinus Corp,with a Low cost integrated standalone platform for remote threat detection and categorisation and HPM Shielding Solutions refining the process for designing EM shielded systems that can be manufactured in small distributed labs. After we had a group photo in the UNSW Canberra indoor drone range (aka basketball court). Appropriately the photo was taken by a drone, when then, appropriately, crashed into the wall. ;-) 

Ambassador of Ukraine on Deterrence Through Innovation

Ambassador of Ukraine
addressing the Australian Defense Tech Hackathon, 
photo by Tom Worthington, CC-BY 8 February 2026

Greetings from the last day of the Australian Defense Tech Hackathon at UNSW Canberra. The Ambassador of Ukraine is arguing that deterrence through innovation is needed. He discussed recent development with drones and communing integration of AI with them. Being an island nation, the specific equipment Australia needs, I suggest, will be different, but the concepts apply. Australia will need long range smart weapons, an example being the use of smart sea mines, deployed from Australia's Ghost Shark robot submarines. 

The ambassador pointed to the use of a digital ID application. This not only allows displaced population be identified to receive government benefits, but also report the location of enemy forces. 

Next we are going to hear pitches from 21 teams ...

Civil Defence Apps

Rhys Kissell, at hackathon start

Greetings from UNSW Canberra, where the Australian Defense Tech Hackathon just started. There is a room full of people ready to build defence related inventions. It was a unique and sobering experience to have a minute silence in memory of those lost in the Ukraine war. It was also useful to be reminded that defence tech is not all about drones dropping bombs, this can include civil defence. This is in conjunction with the European Defense Tech Hub. One interesting aspect is the emphasis on industry implementation and deployment, rather than just invent something. This is also a very hands on experience with UNSW's marker space with electronics equipment and 3d printers. I am presenting "How to Pitch to a General: Presenting to a Military Audience" 11am tomorrow for the hackerthon participants.

How to Pitch to a General: Presenting to a Military Audience

I am presenting "How to Pitch to a General: Presenting to a Military Audience" at the Australian Defense Tech Hackathon, 11 am 7  February 2026, UNSW Canberra. This is intended to be a short informal session, with plenty of participation from the members of hackerthon teams. Here is a preview, and some notes to start the discussion:

You can learn to pitch at a local innovation center. These are located within many universities, with others in cities and towns. An example are the Canberra Innovation Network's pitching courses.  No special presentation techniques are needed for a military audience. Use the usual pitch techniques. It is important to keep to time and don’t be surprised if the time provided is shortened over that promised. Expect interruptions and blunt questions. As always, have a call to action: what do you want the audience to do?

If you have the time and the talent, consider an interview approach, where you, as the promoter of the product, talk to a military user of the product. 

Offer something new, but not too new: Say this is what our allies are doing. Entrepreneurs often make the mistake of claiming their invention is completely radically new. But military operations, particularly Australian ones, are about cooperating with other countries. If you can say the military of a respected ally is using your product, or another product using your approach, that will be appreciated. 

Like all of us, generals are subject to FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. If you can show that their counterparts in other countries are embracing your product, then they will want it as well.

In 1997 I wanted to convince the Australian Defence Force that Internet technology was usable. So I visited the flag ship of the US 7th Fleet on exercise off Queensland. On my return I was able to say how I saw US military personnel using the Internet and the web for planning. 

Major defence companies have former senior military personnel and government officials on staff to help get to senior decision makers. Startups do not have those resources, but can approach the decision makers via their staff. These staff are exposed to new concepts and products at the usual trade shows and during training. 

The military train staff at their own facilities and universities. The educators are always keen to expose their students to new concepts and techniques. You can have the students try your product, or even help develop it.

For several years students of the Australian National University assisted with test software for the CEA Phased Array Radar. The Australian Government liked the product so much that in 2023, they purchased the company.

ps: I asked an actual general, and their advice was to think at the tactical, operational and strategic levels. How will what you have help win a battle, campaign and ultimately a war? How does your technology contribute to a capability? Include options, as generals operate by choosing from those presented by their staff.