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The University of South Australia and University of Adelaide have joined a global defence consortium of United Kingdom and United States of America universities supporting the AUKUS alliance.
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The Digital Disruption in Defence Research Consortium – comprising seven universities from the US, the UK, and Australia – will coordinate research and analyse and assess data in partnership with government and industry.
The consortium aims to understand the implications of digital disruption for defence, while helping to shape policies and strategies that benefit its member nations.
UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who opened the inaugural Digital Disruption in Defence Research Consortium conference, welcomed the launch of the new group.
“The UK is committed to accelerating collaboration on advanced military technologies, including through our landmark AUKUS partnership with Australia and the US, aimed at supporting security and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” Minister Trevelyan said.
“Universities and industry play a critical role in defence R&D. We must join forces at every level across government, industry, and academia, with everyone playing their part to drive change at the pace required.
“This new consortium, spanning AUKUS nations, will support our joint efforts through world-class research capabilities.”
The consortium is led by representatives from the universities of Exeter, Liverpool, and Surrey (Defence Data Research Centre), University of Maryland College Park (Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Lincoln Laboratory), Carnegie Mellon University, University of Adelaide (Defence and Security Institute), Stanford University (Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation), Stanford University (Hoover Institution), and the University of South Australia.
“South Australia is home to the nation’s premier naval ship and submarine activities, and as such, will play a key role in supporting the AUKUS strategic alliance,” according to UniSA defence and space director Matt Opie.
“It’s fitting that UniSA is part of this global defence consortium, sharing our research and helping to shape defence policy.”
Initial research areas for the consortium include a model of cyber influence, future of decision making in defence, global custody of assets and platforms, as well as resilience by design in supply chains.
The consortium will share its findings with ally nations and collaborate on future research with interested academic bodies in all relevant areas, including cyber operations, supply chain and other data developments crucial to the future of military success.
The group intends to publish research on a quarterly basis and take on bespoke commissions from government counterparts.
University of Adelaide’s director of defence and security institute, Professor Mike Webb, said the university is pleased to join the Digital Disruption in Defence Research Consortium.
“The University of Adelaide has been collaborating closely with the UK’s Defence Data Research Centre and the University of Exeter to establish this new collaborative research program in high priority, AUKUS aligned, domains,” Professor Webb said.
“This collaboration with partners in the UK and US will deliver substantial leverage to research programs in each jurisdiction that are already very strong.”
