There was a surprise result for the top award of the night at the first annual InnovationAus 2021 Awards for Excellence on Wednesday, with two finalists named as co-winners for the inaugural Australian Hero award. The gong of gongs was awarded to both EcoTech company, Sea Forest Limited, and quantum computing pioneers Q-CTRL. The Australian…
The post Michael Biercuk and Sam Elsom are our Australian Heroes appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
Australian publicly-listed company focusing on electronic warfare, artificial technology and sensor fusion fields DroneShield has won the defence industry award at the InnovationAus 2021 Awards for Excellence. The InnovationAus 2021 Awards for Excellence were presented at a gala black-tie dinner held on Wednesday night at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney. The Defence Industry category…
The post InnovationAus 2021 Awards for Excellence: DroneShield takes out the defence industry award appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
The first tenants of Sydney’s Tech Central quantum hub are Q-Ctrl, Sydney Quantum Academy and Quantum Brilliance, while accelerator Stone & Chalk has won the tender to operate the precinct’s scale up program next year. Announced Monday by the state government, the three Australian quantum companies will work alongside one another in the new Quantum…
The post Tech Central: Quantum tenants move in, Stone & Chalk to run scaleup hub appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
Quantum computing is having a moment right now. It is the hot topic on the lips of world leaders and investors alike. Just last week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was promising the UK will be going “big on quantum computing”. And our own Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, announced a new Blueprint for Critical Technologies…
The post Finalist: Q-CTRL and quantum’s quiet obsession appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
The defence sector is a fundamental pillar of Australian industrial development policy. The Prime Minister Scott Morrison made this abundantly clear when he added “Science and Technology” to Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price’s portfolio responsibilities. Unprecedented investment in the sector in recent years has created the opportunity for Australian innovation in high-tech design, advanced manufacturing,…
The post InnovationAus 2021 Awards: Defence finalists appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
The federal government’s surprise decision to scrap a $90 billion submarine project for a new one based on closer ties with the US and nuclear technology has “profound” industrial and geopolitical consequences for Australia and has received a mixed reception. Manufacturers, tech companies and employers have welcomed the potential for more advanced domestic capabilities through…
The post Australia’s new course on submarines has ‘profound’ implications appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
Australian tech companies which receive any funding from overseas defence or national security agencies will be subject to the new national security test under new reforms which risk “strangling” early-stage firms, Q-CTRL founder Professor Michael Biercuk says.
Significant changes to Australia’s foreign investment rules passed Parliament late last year and are now in effect. The reforms included the scrapping of the monetary threshold, with all companies deemed to be “national security businesses” now subject to screening.
The Treasurer also has new call-in powers to block or divest an existing investment in an Australian company.
Guidelines released by Treasury last month revealed further details on how these changes will function in practice and which companies will be subject to the test.
Along with tech companies producing services for military purposes, any firm which has received funding from defence or national security agencies in Australia or overseas will be subject to mandatory notification for security screening by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) if they are seeking foreign investment, a potentially time-consuming and expensive process.
Mandatory notification will be required for “any business that receives innovation, research or development funding from defence or national security agencies in Australia or from equivalent agencies overseas, and any business that produces goods, technology or services for military use that are subject to export controls”, the guidelines state.
While most Australia defence funding is for acquisition contracts, in overseas jurisdictions such as the US defence agencies are significant funders of basic scientific research, Professor Biercuk said.
Q-CTRL has twice subcontracted through the University of Sydney for research programs like this with the US, and this is common practice in the quantum computing sector, he said.
“Yet other companies pursuing a similar strategy are instantly branded a national security business. That to me is really alarming as much as the specific call out for quantum,” Professor Biercuk told InnovationAus.
“We simply need to make sure that we don’t hold onto technology so tightly that we strangle it. That’s the path we’re going down right now as an unintended consequence of this.”
Being subject to mandatory national security screening could potentially be fatal for an early-stage tech form seeking foreign investment, Professor Biercuk said.
“For a large organisation undertaking some land acquisition for hundreds of millions of dollars, a six month review process is inconvenient. But for a startup with eight months-worth of money, it is an existential risk,” he said.
“The real impact is the uncertainty here which makes Australia less attractive for foreign capital and it puts smaller businesses that are trying to get into these areas at risk based on the fact they don’t know how long it’ll take to get the investment cleared.”
The guidelines outline which companies will be subject to the new screening, which will take place when a foreign investor proposes to invest in what is deemed to be a national security business.
These are defined as “endeavours that if disrupted or carried out in a particular way may create national security risks”, including critical infrastructure operators and those manufacturing or supplying critical goods or technology for military or defence use.
Data companies storing information from defence forces or the personal information of those in the defence force will also be subject to the test.
Other companies will also be asked to voluntarily flag a foreign investment in order to avoid the potential of the Treasurer using the new “call-in” power to request a review.
Companies such as those operating in critical minerals, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and quantum firms developing technology for civilian use and domain name systems are encouraged to voluntarily notify the FIRB.
Quantum computing firms developing technology for military use will be required to notify FIRB, while others developing tech for other uses are asked to voluntarily notify the authorities.
This removes any ambiguity that quantum companies could avoid the new national security tests, Professor Biercuk said.
“This has removed some ambiguity – I do believe a number of companies are trading on that ambiguity, and felt they could find ways around it, but that clearly has been closed off,” he said.
“Calling out quantum in this way is a very bold move – it signals that the government sees this as a defence technology irrespective of who is doing it, what level of maturity they are, how much capital they have and what direct engagement they have with defence.”
Professor Biercuk called on Treasury to introduce a new threshold to determine whether a startup or tech firm is actually a national security business.
“We’re very keen to work with Treasury to get this right – we want to ensure there is a balance, and we are not opposed to looking after national security. Ultimately all you need is a threshold based on the scale of defence contracts,” he said.
“If you’ve raised $500 million, the risk that disruption to the business poses is quite different to a company with two co-founders existing now on ramen noodles and a family investment. It’s just not the same, but we are treating them the same.
“If the objective is really to ensure that a business suffering a change of ownership doesn’t disrupt national security, then there has to be a test for how much integration a company has with defence supply chains. There is no suitable justification to say a team taking a basic science and research grant is a threat to defence supply chains if they were to vanish somehow.”
The federal government is also cracking down on potential foreign influence on Australian research, with revelations that “dossiers” are being created on research grants applicants’ potential foreign influence.
The Opposition has raised concerns that this is putting the reputations of academics at risk and threatening the integrity of the research agency.
The post Foreign investment crackdown risks ‘strangling’ tech appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
Researchers at Sydney University and quantum control startup have detailed a new way to identify sources of error in quantum computers using machine learning techniques which they say will accelerate the paths to development of useful quantum computers.
The researchers describe in a joint scientific paper a way to give hardware developers the ability to pinpoint performance degradation with unprecedented accuracy.
The paper is titled ‘Quantum Oscillator Noise Spectroscopy via Displaced Cat States,’ has been published in the Physical Review Letters, the world’s premier physical science research journal and flagship publication of the American Physical Society (APS Physics).
The technique described in the paper focused on reducing errors caused by environmental “noise” — the Achilles’ heel of quantum computing.
The University of Sydney team developed a way to detect the tiniest deviations from the precise conditions needed to execute quantum algorithms using trapped ion and superconducting quantum computing hardware.
These are the core technologies used by world-leading industrial quantum computing efforts at IBM, Google, Honeywell, IonQ, and others.
To pinpoint the source of the measured deviations, Q-CTRL scientists developed a new way to process the measurement results using custom machine-learning algorithms.
In combination with Q-CTRL’s existing quantum control techniques, the researchers were also able to minimize the impact of background interference in the process. This allowed easy discrimination between “real” noise sources that could be fixed and phantom artefacts of the measurements themselves.
Q-CTRL chief executive and Sydney University professor Michael Biercuk said, “The ability to identify and suppress sources of performance degradation in quantum hardware is critical to both basic research and industrial efforts building quantum sensors and quantum computers.
“Quantum control, augmented by machine learning, has shown a pathway to make these systems practically useful and dramatically accelerate R&D timelines,” he said.
“The published results in a prestigious, peer-reviewed journal validate the benefit of ongoing cooperation between foundational scientific research in a university laboratory and deep-tech startups.”
Dr. Cornelius Hempel of ETH Zurich who conducted the research while at the University of Sydney said that combining cutting-edge experimental techniques with machine learning had demonstrated huge advantages in the development of quantum computers.
“The Q-CTRL team was able to rapidly develop a professionally engineered machine learning solution that allowed us to make sense of our data and provide a new way to ‘see’ the problems in the hardware and address them,” Dr Hempel said.
The post Q-CTRL and Sydney Uni in quantum control advance appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
Researchers at Sydney University and quantum control startup have detailed a new way to identify sources of error in quantum computers using machine learning techniques which they say will accelerate the paths to development of useful quantum computers.
The researchers describe in a joint scientific paper a way to give hardware developers the ability to pinpoint performance degradation with unprecedented accuracy.
The paper is titled ‘Quantum Oscillator Noise Spectroscopy via Displaced Cat States,’ has been published in the Physical Review Letters, the world’s premier physical science research journal and flagship publication of the American Physical Society (APS Physics).
The technique described in the paper focused on reducing errors caused by environmental “noise” — the Achilles’ heel of quantum computing.
The University of Sydney team developed a way to detect the tiniest deviations from the precise conditions needed to execute quantum algorithms using trapped ion and superconducting quantum computing hardware.
These are the core technologies used by world-leading industrial quantum computing efforts at IBM, Google, Honeywell, IonQ, and others.
To pinpoint the source of the measured deviations, Q-CTRL scientists developed a new way to process the measurement results using custom machine-learning algorithms.
In combination with Q-CTRL’s existing quantum control techniques, the researchers were also able to minimize the impact of background interference in the process. This allowed easy discrimination between “real” noise sources that could be fixed and phantom artefacts of the measurements themselves.
Q-CTRL chief executive and Sydney University professor Michael Biercuk said, “The ability to identify and suppress sources of performance degradation in quantum hardware is critical to both basic research and industrial efforts building quantum sensors and quantum computers.
“Quantum control, augmented by machine learning, has shown a pathway to make these systems practically useful and dramatically accelerate R&D timelines,” he said.
“The published results in a prestigious, peer-reviewed journal validate the benefit of ongoing cooperation between foundational scientific research in a university laboratory and deep-tech startups.”
Dr. Cornelius Hempel of ETH Zurich who conducted the research while at the University of Sydney said that combining cutting-edge experimental techniques with machine learning had demonstrated huge advantages in the development of quantum computers.
“The Q-CTRL team was able to rapidly develop a professionally engineered machine learning solution that allowed us to make sense of our data and provide a new way to ‘see’ the problems in the hardware and address them,” Dr Hempel said.
The post Q-CTRL and Sydney Uni in quantum control advance appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
Four Australian space companies will share in nearly $14 million as part of the first funding deployment from the federal government’s flagship $1.3 billion manufacturing initiative.
The Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) was opened for space-focused businesses looking to commercialise ideas or processes, or to integrate into global supply chains, in mid-February.
The first lot of funding from this round has now been announced, with four local companies receiving grants to expand into global supply chains and commercialise their products.
New South Wales-based quantum computing company Q-CTRL has received $4.5 million from the fund to expand manufacturing of its remote sensing payloads for space deployment.
Q-CTRL chief executive Professor Michael Biercuk said the federal funding would help the company to launch a dedicated research prototyping facility to build out its space-focused technologies.
“It’s a great example of how we’re translating decades of science into a valuable business. In this space we’re focused on building the most advanced remote sensing technology in the world,” Professor Biercuk told InnovationAus.
“This project is building a new sensor for magnetic fields which is compatible with operation in space. Quantum can improve performance of the hardware, allowing us to detect weaker signals.”
Q-CTRL has developed quantum sensing and navigation technologies that can be applied to space exploration. The startup recently teamed up with Seven Sisters, the Australian consortium working on NASA’s Artemis program to send these technologies to space as part of an uncrewed mission to the Moon in 2023.
The quantum technology used by the company allows for improved precision navigation and timing, particularly for long-endurance missions with limited telemetry contact.
The MMI’s focus on the space sector is a significant boost for the industry, Professor Biercuk said.
“These kinds of government support are enormously important. I’ve spoken a lot about the value of government as a customer for advanced technologies early in the cycle, and this is an enormous influx of capital that supports our team to develop sovereign capability and high-value local jobs,” he said.
“This is a great example of value capture in modern manufacturing. The project is focused on building hardware, but that hardware continues to develop and deliver new jobs all the way up the value chain. We don’t want to just build and ship devices, we want to operate them and capture the value from the data and services.”
Other companies to receive a grant through the MMI round include Romar Engineering, which received the largest grant of the round. The Sydney-based firm netted $5.8 million to manufacture and deploy space fluid and motion control products for future space missions.
Victorian-based company Titomic will receive $2.3 million from the fund to commercialise the manufacture of its space vehicle and satellite parts which use green titanium.
Rocket engine manufacturer EffusionTech received the other grant, worth $1.2 million to develop and manufacture its low-cost, durable and high performance liquid-fuelled rocket engines for the growing local commercial launch market.
The funding round will help the burgeoning local space sector continue to grow, industry minister Christian Porter said.
“These grants will help bolster Australia’s reputation in the growing global civil space industry and build on the important work being led by our Australian Space Agency,” Mr Porter said.
“From satellites, to componentry in sensors and even rocket engines, Australian manufacturers are drawing on our existing advanced manufacturing expertise to launch into new exciting local and global markets.
“This funding is about creating more opportunities to grow our local space industry, unlocking further investment and delivering the skilled jobs we need now and for the future.”
The Modern Manufacturing Initiative is targeted at six areas of comparative advantage and strategic importance: space, resources technology and critical minerals processing, food and beverage, medical products and recycling and clean energy.
The first round of grants are open for each of those sectors, and the recipients are expected to be announced in the coming months.
The post Space sector gets $14m in MMI funding round appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
The federal government plan to crackdown on foreign research collaboration on emerging technologies is a “dangerous development” that risks holding back burgeoning sectors such as artificial intelligence, UNSW Professor of AI Toby Walsh says.
The government is planning to subject a list of critical and emerging technologies to restrictions on foreign research collaboration, and they will be screened in the same way that military and dual-use technology research currently is.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security is conducting an inquiry into the national security risks affecting Australian universities and the research sector. It has heard that security agencies are set to provide universities with an expanded list of emerging technologies that they will aim to protect from foreign interference.
ASIO boss Mike Burgess told the committee it would be “helpful and useful if there was greater clarity for what kinds of research and sensitive technology that needs protection”.
“It would provide universities with greater certainty about the areas where they need to be cautious, including when engaging with foreign institutions,” Mr Burgess said.
“It would give publicly funded research agencies, universities and other organisations more surety when applying for research grants in sensitive areas and it would mean that students and academics have a clear sense of how they can express their freedom without inadvertently undermining Australia’s national interest.”
It has been reported that the Department of Home Affairs and ASIO are working on a list of emerging technologies, under direction of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
But Professor Walsh said the government’s response to the legitimate concerns around foreign influence in Australian universities is “far too heavy-handed and blunt”.
“There’s a dangerous and unpleasant taste of xenophobia in Australian politics, and this knee-jerk response feeds into this. I’ve heard that the government would like all of AI to be an emerging technology subject to restrictions,” Professor Walsh told InnovationAus.
“This would be absurd and would hold back responsible innovation that will bring vital economic growth needed for Australia to emerge out of the COVID recession.”
Universities should “defend their independence more vigorously,” Professor Walsh said.
“It surprises me that universities are not pushing back on this harder. It speaks to the poor relationships between government and the academy that they are not,” he said.
“Along with the debate about free speech, it appears the government wishes to meddle in the affairs of universities more and more. This is a dangerous development.”
University of Sydney Quantum Control Laboratory director and Q-CTRL founder Professor Michael Biercuk said the industry is willing to work with the government with the existing mechanisms, but new restrictions could lead to scientists and entrepreneurs leaving the country.
“Governments in the UK, Canada, US and Europe are all actively recruiting scientists and researchers to join their open efforts in areas of emerging technology, and we should not make the mistake of assuming that Australia’s best and brightest will simply accept growing restrictions – without the provision of clear alternatives to advance their research – when other options exist,” Professor Biercuk told InnovationAus.
“There is an existing export controls regime which limits so-called ‘intangible transfers’ of highly sensitive information on weapons systems or certain dual use technologies, and Australia has a process to add new and emerging technologies to that list.
“The entire research community is looking to government to use the existing processes at its disposal as a means to simplify and boost compliance.”
There is a fundamental misunderstanding around the perceived secrecy around university research, Professor Biercuk said.
“A core area of confusion seems to exist around what kind of work university researchers perform overall. Concern over IP theft is real in corporate settings where trade settings where trade secrets are a core part of preserving competitive advantage, or in national labs like the CSIRO where highly confidential information may be handled,” he said.
“By contrast, university research is openly published for anyone to read and learn from. Even research that is patented is published in a globally accessible IP register – it is not kept secret.
“So when we talk about theft of IP in the context of universities I constantly scratch my head wondering where all of this super-secret IP is.”
The PJCIS is expected to hand its report to the government in July.
The post Plans to restrict foreign research teams ‘dangerous’ appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
Two NSW space technology companies have shared $1.1 million in federal funding as part of the first round of the government Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement initiative.
The $150 million program announced in August last year aimed to help local SMEs become part the US government’s public-private Moon to Mars space exploration program. The first grants were announced today by Industry Minister Karen Andrews on Wednesday.
“These grants are about expanding and supporting our domestic capabilities in the space sector, while helping Australian companies be part of NASA’s grand ambition to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars,” Ms Andrews said in a statement.
“Today’s funding announcement showcases two Aussie companies leading the way in space infrastructure and on-board spacecraft navigation.”
Spiral Blue received $416,2050 to develop its satellite data processing software while partners Advanced Navigation and Q-CTRL received a grant of $690,892 to develop a “world-first inertial navigation system”.
“These grants will help boost investment in the manufacturing sector, build Australia’s reputation as a manufacturer of choice, create new skilled Australian jobs and grow our economy,” said Ms Andrews.
Spiral Blue’s software is used with earth observation satellites to enable data processing on-board the satellite rather than the typical approach of processing the information back on earth.
Advanced Navigation and Q-CTRL is a joint initiative between the respective AI-based navigation hardware firm and the Quantum startup. The two companies have partnered to develop Inertial navigation, considered a critical capability a variety of space missions, where external navigational beacons such as GPS or even landmarks are not available.
Australian Space Agency head Enrico Palermo welcomed the first round of grants.
“The two successful projects showcase the talent and ingenuity in Australia’s space sector and increase the involvement and value add of local technology in national and international space supply chains,” Mr Palermo said.
“Congratulations to Space Edge and Advanced Navigation and Q-CTRL for leading projects that will contribute to the development of national capability and help to build a high-tech workforce that can make a significant contribution to the national economy, while positioning Australia as a key player in the global space community.”
The Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement program offers grants between $250,000 and $1 million. Applications are open until June 30, 2023.
The post First space techs awarded ‘Moon to Mars’ grants appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
Local firm Q-CTRL will send its quantum tech to the Moon as part of an Australian consortium working on NASA’s Artemis program.
The Sydney-based startup has developed quantum sensing and navigation technologies that can be applied to space exploration and has teamed up with the Seven Sisters space industry consortium to send them to space as part of an uncrewed mission to the Moon in 2023.
Seven Sisters is aiming to send nanosatellites and exploration sensors such as those offered by Q-CTRL to the Moon to search for water and resources as part of an unmanned mission next year, in support of NASA’s Artemis program.
Artemis is aiming for a human mission in the following year, with a longer-term aim of creating a sustainable human presence for later crewed Martian exploration.
The quantum technology will allow for enhanced precision navigation and timing, providing guidance for long-endurance missions with limited telemetry contact, Q-CTRL chief executive Professor Michael Biercuk said.
“Our focus on quantum control engineering is enabling new applications in quantum sensing that were previously impossible,” Professor Biercuk said. “Quantum control is enabling small form factors, enhanced robustness and the necessary autonomy to meet the strict requirements of uncrewed space applications.”
“Quantum-control-defined sensors give us the ability to provide valuable new geospatial intelligence services – whether on earth or on celestial bodies.”
Q-CTRL’s technology will be used to detect liquid and mineral deposits remotely using its quantum-based gravity detection and magnetic field sensors.
The Seven Sisters group was founded by nanosatellites startup Fleet Space Technologies, and includes a range of companies and academic institutions working on advanced exploration tech for Earth and the Moon.
“We wish to welcome Q-CTRL to the existing world of space exploration. They have the proven expertise to deliver advanced quantum technology solutions that will enable our missions to achieve goals that would otherwise have been unattainable,” Fleet Space Technologies chief executive Flavia Tata Nardini said.
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said the partnership is an important step in the growth of the local space sector.
“This ground breaking application of autonomous quantum sensors in space exploration will be invaluable in leveraging extra-terrestrial resources to establish permanent human bases on the Moon, Mars and beyond,” Mr Marshall said.
“It demonstrates Australia’s growing global leadership in both the quantum and space industries, establishing a solid foundation for future economic growth.”
Q-CTRL will be using the space mission as a way to develop and test its technology, and is also planning to offer it for commercial applications in the defence, finance and climate change mitigation sectors.
The post Q-CTRL to take quantum tech to the Moon appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.
The federal government was “dismissive” of concerns raised during consultations about the impact of reforms to Australia’s foreign investment laws on local tech companies, with these left unaddressed in the final legislation, according to Q-CTRL founder Professor Michael Biercuk.
During the last sitting fortnight of the year, significant reforms to Australia’s foreign investment framework were passed with bipartisan support.
The reforms include a new national security test with no monetary threshold for any company deemed to be a national security business, which are defined as “endeavours that if disrupted or carried out in a particular way may create national security risks”. The definition likely covers a number of local tech companies and startups.
The legislation also hands the Treasurer significant powers to block or divest an investment.
There are widespread concerns, including from the Australian Investment Council, the Law Council of Australia and the Victorian and Queensland state governments, that the changes will act as a disincentive for foreign investors looking at Australian companies and create significant levels of uncertainty for local businesses.
In a submission to government, Professor Biercuk said the changes would “imperil” the future of the Australian quantum sector in particular, due to its reliance on foreign investment.
Professor Biercuk also participated in Treasury-led roundtables on the legislation and asked multiple questions about the impact of the reforms on the venture capital-backed tech sector but was left “disappointed” by the “dismissive responses” from the Treasury.
“For instance, when discussing the outsized potential impact of this legislation on new companies seeking VC investment, the somewhat anodyne response was ‘Treasury is aware that a larger number of entities will be captured in the updated regime’,” Professor Biercuk told InnovationAus.
“Treasury stated that the fees associated with the review regime are an impost on investors. When asked whether it would be legislated that fees could not be passed from investors to investees, Treasury responded, ‘it’s up to an individual company to secure an appropriate deal with its investors’.
“This response dismisses the standard expectations of the VC sector where the costs of a deal are generally borne by the organisation taking investment.”
Professor Biercuk also said that he asked the Treasury officials to whitelist certain countries and exempt their investors from the screening, such as the other Five Eyes countries.
“Treasury responded that they are pursuing a ‘non-discriminatory’ approach to jurisdictional enforcement. This does not comport with the clearly discriminatory nature of national security and intelligence sharing, but Treasury did not provide further clarification or justification for this gap,” he said.
There is still hope for some of the issues with the reforms to be ironed out in the detailed rules through legislative instruments, Professor Biercuk said, with an aim to make the definition of a national security business to be more specific and exempt some early-stage startups.
“We are hopeful at this stage it remains possible to better define ‘national security businesses’ to refine focus on true businesses of concern, whose disruption would indeed pose a risk to national security,” Professor Biercuk said.
“It’s hard to justify this definition for a new startup that’s been around six or 12 months and seeking international seed funding. Accordingly, we remain eager to engage with Treasury in order to craft suitable definitions that do not unreasonably burden emerging technology businesses in exciting but research-intensive areas.”
The post Govt ‘dismissive’ of tech concerns on FIRB changes appeared first on InnovationAus.
This post was originally published on InnovationAus.