Start-up companies have been invited to take part in the inaugural Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research (ADSTAR) Summit to be held from 20-22 July in Sydney and online.
“We want to hear from start-ups that have an idea or innovation that could enhance our defence force’s capabilities or help to keep our personnel safe,” Professor Tanya Monro, Australia’s Chief Defence Scientist, said. “We are especially eager to build partnerships with those working with artificial intelligence and machine learning, biotechnology, cyber security, space, robotics, virtual and augmented reality, and hardware and software development.”
Start-ups will be provided with an opportunity during the summit to share their ideas with leaders in defence, academia, business and industry in the field during its “Start-Up Alley” event that will take place during the summit.
“It’s a unique opportunity to connect your ideas with a range of potential defence applications. You never know where your innovation might find a new application in support of defence,” Monro added.
The central theme of the summit is resilience in Australia’s defence forces which is a key focus at the moment.
“Resilience is the ability and capacity for human-technical systems to quickly adapt and recover from unexpected interference, disruption, adversity, and threats. ADSTAR seeks to harness clever Australian science and technology and create new partnerships to build this resilience,” Monro said.
Among the areas to be explored in the summit are AI–human interactions and trust-building; development of more resilient people and teams in adverse conditions; smarter sensor networks to monitor chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and other threats; 3D printing in combat; navigation without GPS and satellites; and the protection of satellites from harm from space junk or enemy action.
