Defence invites tech startups to pitch

The Department of Defence will host a summit in July aimed at giving technology startups the chance to pitch their ideas or innovations for improving the ADF’s capabilities.

The inaugural Australian Defence, Science, Technology and Research Summit will be held in Sydney and online from 20–22 July.

The event will feature a ‘startup alley’ designed to allow startups to pitch their ready-to-go innovations to Defence and other delegates to the summit.

Chief Defence Scientist Professor Tanya Monro said the department is particularly 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”.

Areas to be explored at the summit include AI–human interactions and trust building, improving the resiliency of people and teams In adverse conditions, navigation in the absence of GPS and satellites, the practicality of 3D printing parts in combat environments, and protecting satellites from space junk and enemy attacks.

“The central theme of the summit is ‘resilience’ in our defence forces. 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.

“[For startups] 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.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Ryan