Australia’s outgoing chief scientist Cathy Foley initially doubted the claims of Californian startup PsiQuantum in its unsolicited proposal to the federal government and was “put off by the ‘salesman’ push”, new documents reveal. But in the space of a year, and after an extensive due diligence process that included a site visit, Dr Foley was…
The post ‘Salesman push’: Chief scientist doubted $1b quantum deal appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
Astrophysicist Matthew Bailes has taken out Australia’s top science prize for his part in the discovery of fast radio bursts – millisecond-duration radio flashes that can be used to calculate the mass of the universe. Professor Bailes was awarded the 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science on Tuesday evening, joining some of the country’s most…
The post Astrophysicist Matthew Bailes wins Australia’s top science prize appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Industry minister Ed Husic says millions in existing funding for artificial intelligence is available to local firms willing to “step up”, rejecting criticism leveled at the government over its lack of investment to date. As proposed mandatory guardrails and a new voluntary safety standard were unveiled on Thursday, Mr Husic defended the government’s track record…
The post Husic defends govt’s track record on AI investment appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
The Albanese government has proposed ten mandatory guardrails for artificial intelligence in high-risk settings as it moves to curb dangers posed by the nascent technology. A standalone Artificial Intelligence Act similar to regulations already introduced in the European Union is one of three approaches being considered after more than 12 months of consultation. Industry and…
The post Australia proposes mandatory guardrails for AI appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Sitting on a tarmac up in Bowen, Queensland is Australia’s first fully designed and manufactured rocket, an incredible feat of domestic innovation, engineering and logistics eight years in the making by the VC-backed advanced manufacturer, Gilmour Space Technologies. The Eris rocket has been grounded for months while waiting for a launch permit from the Australian…
The post The FMiA seems confused about Australia’s competitive advantage appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Australia missed out on bringing Intel to Australia in the 1990s, but it now has an opportunity to secure access to a frontier technology through PsiQuantum, according to Industry minister Ed Husic. Mr Husic invoked the long-lost deal with the American chip giant while defending the government’s controversial $470 million quantum investment during debate on…
The post PsiQuantum offers path back from lost Intel deal: Husic appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Australia’s national science agency CSIRO will cut up to 500 staff from its enterprise services arm as part of restructure designed to reduce labour and operating costs by $100 million. CSIRO chief executive Doug Hilton confirmed the planned jobs cuts on Tuesday, ending months of speculation over the fate of a division comprised of more…
The post Up to 500 jobs to go at CSIRO’s enterprise arm appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
The federal government’s reshaped funding package for STEM diversity was laid out for the first time on Tuesday, revealing long-term extensions and tweaks to several programs but the end of others. A long-running citizen science grant program joins the Women in STEM ambassador and the Boosting Female Founders Initiatives as casualties of the Albanese government’s…
The post STEM diversity programs reshaped for new push appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
When science and research organisations dependent upon government funding released press releases this week enthusiastically cheering the new National Science Priorities, Realpolitech, like many other industry players, wondered if we were reading off the same document. The new national science priorities, we are told, are about “explicitly making science a foundation for the federal government’s…
The post Feelgood National Science Priorities are fit for Fantasy Island appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Defence and national intelligence agencies have been carved out of the first policy for responsible use of AI by government, which launched on Thursday to engender trust in the technology that Australians are slow to adopt. In force from next month, the policy’s mandatory transparency, governance and risk assurance measures aim to position government as…
The post New govt AI use policy mandates accountability appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Australia has new national science and research priorities for the first time in nearly a decade after the Albanese government settled on net zero technologies, community health, Indigenous knowledge systems, biodiversity and national resilience. The new challenge-based priorities unveiled on Monday come after nearly two years of development and are intended to align the government,…
The post Net zero, Indigenous knowledge elevated in national science mission appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
The first cohort of scaleups in the Albanese government’s flagship innovation pipeline program have been unveiled, with $7.4 million in grants to be shared by five companies. The local companies received the grants to commercialise batteries, precision fermentation, radiotherapy treatments, software and robotics, with hopes of one day scaling to the government’s biggest industry support…
The post Batteries, robots and software scaleups bag first IGP grants appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
The extraordinary details that have emerged about the billion-dollar secret procurement of a quantum computer from Californian startup PsiQuantum can only undermine the public’s trust in the federal government industrial development agenda. The drip-feed of startling revelations about the privileged access that PsiQuantum enjoyed to the highest levels of government has raised serious questions about…
The post ‘Strategic intervention’ is not a licence for captain’s picks appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
All five proposals to the federal government’s quantum computing EoI were ruled out in less than two weeks, in contrast to the six months of internal due diligence and millions of dollars spent on external advice to assess an unsolicited proposal from PsiQuantum. Amid calls for the government’s investment in the Californian startup to be…
The post Govt dismissed alternate quantum bids in just 10 days appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Science minister Ed Husic will not intervene to stop job cuts at the CSIRO that its union says will end more than 600 roles, harm the government’s industry and innovation agenda, and undermine confidence in the national science agency. The CSIRO Staff Association on Monday wrote to the minister to say the organisation was “under…
The post Union wants minister to intervene in ‘gutting’ of CSIRO appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
US biotech giant Pfizer will ramp up manufacturing of antimicrobials and precision medicines from its Melbourne site to combat the rising threat of superbugs after tipping $150 million into production facilities, robotics and artificial intelligence. The investment milestone was announced on Tuesday at the site in east Melbourne, with Industry and Science minister Ed Husic…
The post Pfizer’s $150m Melbourne upgrade to manufacture superbug defence appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
The independent entity steering the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund has racked up $8.7 million in expenses before making a single investment, as it approaches a one-year anniversary with little to offer industry. The costs have been accruing for 11 months as the new corporation tries to sort through more than 300 applications to ensure…
The post NRF Corporation racks up $8.7m bill before investing appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Australia’s chief scientist Dr Cathy Foley did not author the first-ever National Quantum Strategy, the Industry department has claimed, in an effort to keep the contents of an earlier draft of the strategy under wraps. The refusal to release the draft strategy in full comes as questions continue to be asked over when the federal…
The post National Quantum Strategy ‘not authored’ by chief scientist appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Australia is home to some of the world’s best quantum computing talent. Diraq, Silicon Quantum Computing, Q-Ctrl and Quantum Brilliance are all working at the forefront of this critically important and exciting field of science and technology, helping to foster Australia’s international reputation as a quantum leader. Yet all of these companies were overlooked in…
The post Brisbane versus Chicago: Labor’s quantum-sized dilemma appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
PsiQuantum’s plan to build a second quantum computer in Chicago just a year after Brisbane “casts a very dark shadow” over the investment of the Australian and Queensland governments, according to shadow science minister Paul Fletcher. The deal, part of a wider project to create a massive quantum computing campus in the US State of…
The post Chicago deal casts ‘dark shadow’ over PsiQuantum promise appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Licences to launch rockets into space from Australia will be granted earlier and failed missions won’t necessarily need forensic outside investigation under reforms announced on Wednesday to rebalance safety and innovation in the burgeoning sector. The proposed rule changes will see the requirement that ministers invite applicants to apply for a launch facility licence scrapped,…
The post New rules to slash approval times for $1b space sector appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
There are many unanswered questions regarding the viability of the new era of state-led, taxpayer-funded green industrial policy that has become de rigueur in Australia and much of the western world since the Covid pandemic and the introduction of the US Inflation Reduction Act. Realpolitech would be grateful for a satisfactory answer to just one….
The post The take-off is already wobbly for FMIA moonshot appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Five Australian universities will work with counterparts in India on research projects spanning AI, e-waste and stopping superbugs after securing almost $4 million from the countries’ long running research fund. Recipients of round 15 of the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund were announced on Wednesday by Science minister Ed Husic. “From tougher strains of bacteria to…
The post $4m in research grants deepen India innovation ties appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Wars are bloody, wild and noisy things, and in the amped up battle for global AI supremacy, June has been cacophonous. Apple finally made the leap into the fray with the unveiling of Apple Intelligence, a suite of advanced AI capabilities integrated directly into the company’s iPhone, iPad and Mac products. It’s a unique AI…
The post Australia is asleep, with a global AI arms race underway appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Researchers will develop artificial intelligence that detects melanomas, treats youth mental health and brings down the cost of radiotherapy with $30 million in medical research grants. Health minister Mark Butler announced the recipients over the weekend, with 10 university researchers each receiving grants of around $3 million from the Medical Research Future Fund. The funding…
The post Medical research fund backs AI with $30m appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Australian government tech suppliers are celebrating the Albanese government’s procurement rule changes, which will see more consideration of a seller’s broader economic benefit like intellectual property transfer and taxes. The consideration, which will be required for federal contracts over $1 million from July, helps level the playing field against global firms and has been welcomed…
The post Procurement tweak sharpens local tech sector’s edge appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
Artificial intelligence could add $280 billion of economic, cyber and environmental benefits to Australia in 2030 according to Google, which has unveiled its analysis as the Albanese government considers new regulation for the technology. The latest forecast adds to a crowded field of potential AI benefits, with figures varying by hundreds of billions of dollars…
The post Google forecasts Australia’s AI opportunity at $290b in 2030 appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
The Australian and Queensland governments’ $1 billion investment in PsiQuantum is not yet a done deal, with parties still to sign a final agreement a month after the unprecedented taxpayer-funded support package was announced. Finance department officials on Thursday revealed that contracts had not been signed and confirmed speculation that the federal government’s approach to…
The post ‘Not quite there’: Govt yet to ink $1bn PsiQuantum deal appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.
To paraphrase a line from British politician George Galloway, when it comes to building Australian capability in the information technology sector, the Coalition and Labor are two cheeks of the same arse. There is no daylight between the guiding philosophy of both sides of politics on IT. And that, of course, is the notion that…
The post Labor and Coalition are two cheeks of the same arse on IT appeared first on InnovationAus.com.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.