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The University of Queensland Business School is working with the Australian Defence Force to address the growing challenges created by artificial intelligence and machine learning.
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The two organisations will collaborate on a first-of-its-kind ‘Innovation Bridge’ project, funded by the Defence Artificial Intelligence Centre, for UQ Master of Business Administration (MBA) students to undertake a semester-long project to help identify innovative sovereign Defence capability.
The Innovation Bridge works by bringing diverse teams of academics, students, ADF members and startups together to develop innovative solutions to address defence problems using multiple perspectives.
UQ Business School Dean, Professor Michael Brünig, said the project was a new way to tap into university research and development.
"We’re excited to launch the ‘Innovation Bridge’ with the Defence Force and pilot a strategy with the ability to extend to other sectors. It provides quick insights into problems, utilising academic and practical models with user experiences for rapid deployment," Professor Brünig explained.
The 12-month initiative will accelerate the identification and adoption of Australian technologies, allowing the Defence Force to keep Australians safe by implementing innovations quickly and effectively.
The project is being led by UQ entrepreneur in residence, Cameron Turner, and will include several stages and workshops that use a start-up-style approach.
Turner expanded on Professor Brünig's comments, saying, "I think we are at a key turning point with AI, automation and machine learning changing the future of work and life as we know it.
"It helps an organisation identify barriers and blockages to solve emerging volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) problems with better collaboration between researchers, entrepreneurs, defence stakeholders, business and the intelligence community."
Turner said the approach would harness the best students from UQ’s MBA, as well as entrepreneurship and innovation programs to understand the problems and identify scalable and deployable solutions.
UQ MBA alumnus and former Defence Force employee Grant Joy said the project was a promising move in bridging the innovation divide many organisations face.
"The diversity of minds and backgrounds in the MBA program helps you look at problems and solutions in a completely different way – it disrupts the ‘group think’ mentality that can form in large organisations," Joy added.
The Defence Force Innovation Bridge partnership will commence with UQ Business School in July.
