Brandon How

The Australian Industry and Defence Network’s chief executive Brent Clark has stepped down from the role after almost half a decade of lobbying for smaller suppliers. Mr Clark took the helm of the Defence industry association in 2020, bringing with him experience from working at Thales, BAE Systems, French multinational Naval Group, and the Defence Teaming Centre, a South Australian defence industry association. In a statement to InnovationAus.com, Mr Clark said the Australian Industry and Defence Network chief executive role “is a rare privilege” and the responsibility of advocating for the small to medium sized business community should “never be underestimated”.

Innovation experts are canvassing procurement reforms that could unlock huge opportunities to help local companies grow by expanding the Business Research and Innovation Initiative and tweaking the commonwealth procurement rules. As put by Cicada Innovations chief executive Sally-Ann Williams on Monday, government procurement can “stimulate innovation in areas where private sector demand is uncertain or insufficient”, allowing companies to scale from Australia. Local businesses, academics, tech transfer advisers and politicians addressed a national innovation policy forum convened by the representative group for the Cooperative Research Centres.

A new digital competition framework that could fine big tech companies upwards of $50 million for anti-competitive behaviour will be revealed for consultation on Monday evening, more than two years since the regime was recommended by the competition watchdog. On Monday evening, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones will outline a regime intended to set broad limits on anticompetitive conduct in addition to obligations to specific digital services, starting with app marketplaces and advertising technology services. The proposed regime will apply to designated large tech companies like Google, Apple, and Meta following an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission into a specific digital service, in line with the United Kingdom’s regime. Consultation on the proposals paper, will inform the design of exposure draft legislation which will also undergo a round of consultation.

Employment department first assistant secretary Melissa Ryan has vacated her role leading Workforce Australia for Individuals after a series of technology issues. A department spokesperson confirmed on Friday that Ms Ryan was no longer overseeing the job seeker service provider network and “has taken up a new opportunity”, but declined to comment further. During Senate estimates last month, Ms Ryan apologised for automated emails that threatened to cut off payments if job seekers did not work around an IT issue that was slowing reporting on the government’s side.

Experts have called on the government to channel more of its industry and clean energy funding into circular economy ventures to help meet ambitious new re-use targets and keep pace with global efforts. On Tuesday, a report from the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group established in 2022 by Environment minister Tanya Plibersek was released with 14 recommendations to improve the support and pace of a national push, after finding a lack of cohesion. “A more strategic approach to innovation funding and support will drive a higher proportion of market-disrupting innovations, including whole-of-supply-chain innovation,” the group's report said.

Adelaide-based additive manufacturer AML3D has delivered 3D-printed parts that will be installed on a United States Navy nuclear-powered Virginia-Class submarine later this year, developing its role in the AUKUS supply chain. Prototype copper-nickel tailpiece components, valued at $156,000, will undergo testing and in-service trials on a nuclear submarine as a part of its ongoing partnership with the US Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base program through program integrator BlueForge Alliance. Development and testing of AML3D’s components with BlueForge have been ongoing since March 2023. The company also raised $30 million in November last year to help expand in the US and prepare for market entry in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Fortescue has increased its ownership of a novel green hydrogen production technology joint venture as it moves towards pilot-testing following a year of huge setbacks for the mining giant’s electrolysis ambitions. The Sparc Hydrogen initiative aims to commercialise technology for producing green hydrogen directly from sunlight using research from the University of Adelaide and Flinders University. Last year Fortescue cut 700 jobs and abandoned an ambitious 2030 green hydrogen production target and halted plans for green hydrogen production facilities in Australia.

Western Australian government contracts worth up to $5 million can be signed directly with local manufacturing companies without a competitive tender process following a procurement rule exemption that quietly came into effect on Monday. Prior to the new procurement direction, only contracts worth up to $50,000 could be directly sourced without seeking other bids. The $5 million threshold is a more generous direct sourcing exemption than the Commonwealth procurement rules. The new exemption applies to the procurement of products that are manufactured in Western Australia, subject to approval from an authorised officer within the state government agency and in some cases, advice from the Finance department. The Western Australian government signed off on the exemption provision on December 20, which has come into effect less than two months out from the next state election. It is a part of the state government's aim to leverage $30 billion of annual procurement expenditure to support local and diversify the ec

The New South Wales government’s former chief data scientist Dr Ian Opperman will help assure the Western Australian government that its use and implementation of AI is done ethically as a part of its first AI advisory board. The board’s seven members, announced over the weekend, consist of experts from technical, legal, academic, cyber security, community engagement and governance backgrounds that will each serve a two-year term. Dr Opperman, who is now the co-founder of digital advisory firm ServiceGen, was formerly the chair of the New South Wales government’s AI Advisory Committee and oversaw the development of its AI assurance framework.

The federal government has awarded $6.4 million to an industry-funded cyber threat intelligence network to establish a health industry targeted information sharing and analysis centre. The Critical Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (CI-ISAC), a not-for-profit, will use the funding to bring on additional full-time staff and upgrade its technical information sharing platform. Its new Health Cyber Sharing Network will grant the healthcare industry free 12-month memberships with the intention that the network will become self sufficient through fees at the end of the grant period. The funding delivers on the federal government’s commitment to fund a health-dedicated ISAC as a part of its 2023-2030 Cyber Security Strategy.