Convergence is a blueprint for innovation

DIS/MIS: Adventures in the information environment

19 March 2024

The Defence Innovation Partnership invites you to their 2024 Convergence Series event: DIS/MIS Adventures in the Information Environment. Misinformation and disinformation has been identified by the World Economic Forum as the top global risk for the next two years. In a year where almost half of the world’s population will be heading to the polls, this issue feels even more pressing as our relationship to information becomes more uncertain across government, media, journalism, public health, and climate change. What is real? What will people believe? And what are the implications of emerging technologies such as Sora? South Australian researchers have [...]

2024-03-19T14:43:19+10:30March 4th, 2024|

Sustainability on Earth and beyond

May 2023

The Defence Strategic Review 2023 states that “climate change is now a national security issue,” joining existing global discussion about the decarbonisation of military operations; the impact of climate and environmental degradation on natural disasters, instability and conflict; and the challenges of building sustainable and resilient industry sectors. This event presented an opportunity for a broad ranging discussion, through the lens of defence, national security and space. Our panel of experts kickstarted the conversation on topics including: Climate change impacts on national security Sustainable industry and economic development Human activities in space Social license Industry 5.0

2023-07-10T13:59:06+09:30March 29th, 2023|

Choreographing Orbit: Movement, surveillance, tracking & response in space

June 2022

This Convergence Series session built on discussions from the Defence Against The Dark Arts in Space event in 2021, with a focus on surveillance, tracking and response of space objects including assets and space debris – and the implications for both civil and defence sectors. Norms, law, policy, deterrence, and technology development are just some of the many emergent issues that require consideration for the space domain. This event was presented in partnership with the South Australian Space Industry Centre. Convergence Series events are held in an casual atmosphere and designed to spark transdisciplinary conversations and collaborations. Refreshments are available [...]

2023-07-10T13:59:13+09:30May 26th, 2022|

‘Off the Grid’: Design and operation of sustainable self-contained bases for military and civil applications

December 2021

“Keeping soldiers deployed closer to their operating area in FOBs [Forward Operating Bases] while reducing frequency and exposure of vehicles to the dangers of asymmetric warfare is not only a life-saver, but also a cash saver. However, simply erecting some buildings and moving personnel inside is insufficient. An FOB has significant logistical and operational requirements which must be fulfilled in order to establish and maintain operational fidelity and personnel security.” (‘Safe and well stocked: new technology for today’s forward operating bases’, Army Technology, 7 October 2015) Nanogrids, waste management, water and food production, and complex human factors considerations are relevant [...]

2023-07-10T13:59:20+09:30May 7th, 2021|

Science fiction/futures: how science fiction can influence strategic thinking and technological development

September 2021

“Reading science fiction nurtures hope that there is a better future. While conflict, catastrophe, and climate change feature in many of these novels and movies, much science fiction is highly optimistic in nature… However, reading science fiction also allows us to consider a variety of negative potential futures… It is beneficial for military officers to read such descriptions of alternate futures; it is the first step in ensuring that they do not come to pass.” (‘Science Fiction and the Strategist 2.0’, Strategy Bridge, August 27, 2018). The aim of this event was to enable creative collisions of researchers and practitioners [...]

2023-07-10T13:10:06+09:30May 6th, 2021|

National Security and the Impacts of Climate Change

July 2021

“…Australia will struggle to maintain its national security in the face of climate change unless government departments and agencies are well coordinated and can work collaboratively with neighbouring countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Effective coordination and collaboration will be needed to respond to the kind of threats climate change poses to Australia’s sovereign borders and territories, and to our existing national security provisions.” (‘Defence-funded study outlines climate risk to national security’, ADM, 23 April 2020) Climate change has been linked to extreme weather events, movement of climate refugees, increases in transmission of infectious diseases, and food and water insecurity. These destabilising events [...]

2023-07-10T12:52:58+09:30May 5th, 2021|

Defence Against the Dark Arts In Space

May 2021

Australia’s interests in space requires a whole-of-government approach, and this encompasses both the growth of the civil space industrial base and national security concerns pertaining to space. As space activities are bounded by a relatively fragile international legal framework, the advent of new-entrants and disruptive technologies in a shared global ‘commons’ requires civil and defence matters be addressed together. Norms, law, policy, deterrence, hardware, and technology are just some of the many emergent issues that require consideration for the space domain. On 30 March 2021, the Defence Innovation Partnership and South Australian Space Industry Centre hosted a workshop to examine [...]

2023-07-10T12:45:53+09:30May 5th, 2021|

A Psychologically Prepared Future Defence Force

July 2019

How can we prepare and support the Australian Defence Force psychologically for the unique, emerging implications of 21st Century warfare? This Convergence Series event brought together current and former members of the Australian Defence Force, researchers and practitioners from a range of disciplines, to explore what a psychologically prepared 21st Century Defence Force looks like, and what is required to reach that state.

2023-07-10T12:48:17+09:30June 24th, 2019|

Building Resilient Systems

June 2019

What does resilience look like, and how can we build systems that are able to avoid, withstand, recover from, adapt to, and evolve through adversity? This Convergence Series session kickstarted conversations about resilience as an enabler for prosperity and productivity. A panel and an audience of experts from diverse fields discussed the latest developments and thinking on how to enable, encourage, and design resilient individual, organisational, national, and global systems – in particular, where they have defence and national security implications. As with all our Convergence Series sessions, our goal was to broaden and build the research community engaging with [...]

2023-07-10T12:33:12+09:30June 2nd, 2019|

Human Centred Intelligent Systems

May 2019

The Human Centred Intelligent Systems session explored the issues and challenges around the applications, development and operations of systems that combine humans and technology. MC / Chair: Dr Robin Nicholson, Associate Director, Research - Defence Innovation Partnership Expert Panel: Dr Siobhan Banks, Research Associate Professor and Co-Director, Behaviour-Brain-Body Research Centre - University of South Australia A/Prof Giselle Rampersad, Deputy Director, Innovation, Australian Industrial Transformation Institute - Flinders University Professor Ian Reid, Professor at School of Science and Researcher at Australian Institute of Machine Learning - The University of Adelaide Dr Peter Schumacher, Program Director Industrial Design - University of South Australia Discussion focussed on [...]

2023-07-10T12:24:47+09:30May 1st, 2019|
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