‘The Sydney Dialogue’ – ASPI’s new global technology initiative

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We are pleased to announce that ASPI will host The Sydney Dialogue – which we aim to make the world’s premier policy summit for emerging, critical and cyber technologies – in the second half of 2021.

Today, the Foreign Minister Senator the Hon. Marise Payne announced that the Australian Government will support, and partially fund, The Sydney Dialogue. 

The Sydney Dialogue fills a critical gap globally in public discourse and policy making. ASPI will aim to bring together the world’s political leaders, heads of government, business and civil society leaders to focus on technology including artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, space and the future of cyberspace.

Emerging, critical and cyber technologies have a material impact on our lives and work. They reshape our societies, economies and the future of our planet. There is a pressing need to join-up the conversations taking place within government, multilateral institutions, business and civil society to enable more informed and deliberate decision making.

ASPI has undertaken policy-relevant research on issues relating to cyberspace and technology for eight years. This work is agenda-setting, and pushes new, often unexplored areas. The Sydney Dialogue will adopt this characteristic and drive global policy debates on technology. Maria MacNamara, the former CEO of Advance.org, joins ASPI this month as a Senior Fellow to help us create and deliver the inaugural Sydney Dialogue in 2021.

This new initiative will take a natural focus on the Indo-Pacific, while highlighting developments from across the world. We look forward to working with governments, business and civil society to make The Sydney Dialogue the home of global strategic and policy debates. A place where the world can anticipate and respond to the complicated challenges and immense opportunities presented by the increasingly complex advances in technology.

For more information about The Sydney Dialogue visit ASPI’s Strategist site. 

Australian Foreign Affairs: How Covid-19 & cyberspace are changing spycraft

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ASPI’s Danielle Cave probes how data and technology have shaped espionage in a time of Covid-19 crisis and beyond in the July 2020 Australian Foreign Affairs issue Spy vs Spy: The New Age of Espionage:

Listen to the November 2020 Australian Foreign Affairs podcast: Spying in the age of Covid-19 featuring Danielle and ASPI’s Andrew Davies.

Read an excerpt of Danielle’s essay Data drive: How Covid-19 and cyberspace are changing spycraft;

Read Danielle’s opinion piece in The Australian newspaper: A chance to get smarter in cyber space of intelligence;

Watch the September 2020 launch of the issue hosted by ASPI and Australian Foreign Affairs;

IndigiCyber and STEM pathways launch with Indigenous IT businesses and Defence

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To coincide with cyber security and Indigenous business month, ASPI launched its IndigiCyber and STEM Pathways project with an event that brought Indigenous IT businesses together with the Department of Defence, the National Indigenous Australians Agency and the Digital Transformation Agency. The key messages of the day were that senior leadership and a long-term vision in the APS and Government can help build Indigenous business (IB) sector so they move up the value chain. However, there is a need to encourage feedback mechanisms between IBs and departments so that (1) IBs are continuously upskilled and (2) IBs are involved in the design of solutions that attempt to overcome siloed departmental and jurisdictional arrangements.

The event kicked off with a welcome-to-country by local Ngunnawal woman Selina Walker, followed by a video message from Adam Goodes in his capacity as CEO of the Indigenous Defence & Infrastructure Consortium. The connection between STEM and Indigenous businesses for Adam was clear:  “Indigenous businesses are a major employer of Indigenous Australians […] our cultural knowledge and practices have been practised for thousands of years, and the incorporation of this knowledge and culture into areas of STEM is long overdue and really add value to this important area”

In recognition of the important role that the Department of Defence is playing in contracting with the Indigenous business sector through the Indigenous Procurement Program (IPP), we welcomed representatives from Defence IPP as well as featured a keynote address from the Defence Indigenous Champion and Deputy Secretary Estate and Infrastructure Mr Stephen Grzeskowiak (Steve G.).

Steve spoke of his personal experience participating in the Jawun executive immersion in an Indigenous community in Northern Queensland about 6 years ago. The cut through moment was the realisation that some Indigenous communities are living in developing world conditions in one of the world’s most developed countries. More can be done by Defence and other government agencies to integrate Indigenous companies into supply chains. Defence exceeds its IPP targets by approximately 300% but now sees its role as moving Indigenous businesses higher up the value chain. What partly inspired this long-term vision was a conversation with Adam Goodes, who said that we need to set ambitious objectives so that in 40 years’ time Indigenous businesses are leaders in delivering the most complex technical and infrastructure needs to Defence such as the provision of a fleet of frigates.

Jennifer Jardine provided a systematic overview of the IPP from the perspective of the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), saying that government departments need to think of Indigenous businesses first. Julian Buckmaster and Peter Rymasz (Digital Transformation Agency (DTA)) highlighted the upcoming Digital Sourcing Network event and how they are planning on targeting Indigenous businesses. Siobhan Reid, from Defence, acknowledged that it is sometimes hard for IBs to know who to connect with because Defence is large and diverse. Part of their IPP team’s role is to ensure that IBs are connected with the right people, and to create an inclusive culture where Indigenous procurement goals are included in branch business plans, and that IBs are resourced with advice to address criteria, provided debriefs and feedback to continuously build the capacity of IBs in their purview.

A few strong themes emerged over the course of the afternoon:

Government

  1. Forthright executive leadership
  2. Principle of Indigenous business first
  3. Move IBs up value chain
  4. Build relationships through business forums and trade shows
  5. Information on digital connections/marketplace 
  6. Encourage learning from IBs
  7. Culture of upskilling IBs through debriefing and feedback and encouraging IBs to share ideas with departments.

Indigenous Businesses

  1. IPP representatives are key to connecting with the right person (but often won’t make procurement decisions)
  2. Share ideas and business plans with IPP representatives
  3. Partnerships with larger providers to help move up value chain
  4. Get advice on addressing criteria, ask for debrief and feedback
  5. Update statement on Supply Nation
  6. For start-ups with no previous government contracts, demonstrate expertise by drawing attention to team talent and capabilities.

US-China tension can give way to India-Australia partnerships on critical technology – opinion piece

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Read an opinion piece written by ASPI’s Danielle Cave, Jocelinn Kang and Aakriti Bachhawat and co-authored with colleagues from India’s Observer Research Foundation Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan and Trisha Ray in Indian newspaper ThePrint. This article is based on the ASPI-ORF report: Critical technologies and the Indo-Pacific: A new India-Australia partnership:

“While the Covid-19 pandemic has damaged economies and profoundly affected people’s health and wellbeing, it has also highlighted our dependence on technology and the extent to which we’ll rely on the next wave of technologies to drive future prosperity.

Covid-19 has also accelerated strategic competition between nations, particularly the US and China. Much of that competition centres on technology and data: Who owns and controls it? How is it being used? What rules, norms and standards are different countries abiding by?

This competition is quickly spilling over into international forums, including standards-setting bodies, and it’s throwing up new challenges to global technology companies. It’s also leading to new partnerships and presenting opportunities to deepen existing partnerships, as countries find more commonalities in the multitude of technological challenges they face. More opportunities are arising—and arising quickly—for practical cooperation to help deal with these challenges.

One such opportunity—and partnership—is the India–Australia relationship, which is rapidly becoming one of the most important pillars of the Indo-Pacific.”

Read the article here.

Indo-Pacific cooperation on critical technologies – launch of ASPI-ORF report

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On 15 October 2020 India’s Observer Research Foundation (ORF) hosted the launch of the ASPI-ORF report: Critical technologies and the Indo-Pacific: A new India-Australia partnership as a part of its CyFy2020 conference.

The report argues that as the India-Australia bilateral relationship continues to grow and evolve, both governments should invest in the construction of a new India–Australia partnership on technology. The foundation for such a partnership already exists, and further investment areas of complementary interests could stimulate regional momentum in a range of key critical and emerging technology areas including in 5G, Artificial Intelligence, quantum technologies, space technologies and in critical minerals. The report contains 14 policy recommendations that will help build this new technology partnership.

Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Barry O’Farrell, joined a number of the report co-authors including Aakriti Bachhawat, Danielle Cave, Dr Rajeswari Pilla Rajagopalan and Trisha Ray to discuss the current India-Australia relationship, how it continues to evolve and expand and how the two countries can better leverage their competitive advantages in the technology sector.

Watch the launch event here.

STEM career pathways for the Indigenous Australian community

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The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has been awarded a competitive grant from the Department of Defence to support a project which will look at strategies to provide more STEM career pathways to the Indigenous Australian community in Northern Australia.

This project will build on previous work ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has done in 2019-20 including the Indigi-Cyber Camps for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids and ongoing research work.

This new multi-year project – which focuses on information and communications technology and cyber-security – will establish a best practice reference model comprising a framework and strategy for creating and sustaining workforce pathways for Indigenous Australians.

Across the country there is an increasingly vibrant Indigenous innovation sector and initiatives that walk hand-in-hand with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge keepers and communities.  Indigenous people across Australia need to be resourced and supported to learn from each other, share knowledge and build sustainable activities and enterprises.

Up-skilling this community will boost the economy of northern Australia, service the shortage of STEM experts, strengthen the national security ecosystem of Australia’s north, and sponsor a more inclusive and diverse community culture.

Project co-lead Dion Devow from ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre said “Our ambition is to look 30 years ahead and consider the paths forward for Indigenous Australians into IT and cyber.  We want to learn from the examples of Indigenous excellence in this area and expand education and employment opportunities. We are driven by the importance of forming shared values with communities, collaborating, celebrating and incorporating Indigenous Australian peoples and culture into IT and understanding the way this intersects with tech innovation.” 

Please contact Dr. Huon Curtis if you would like to find out more about this new project huoncurtis@aspi.org.au.

Xinjiang Data Project website launch

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ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre has launched the Xinjiang Data Project, along with two new major pieces of research, on Xinijang’s detention system, and on the destruction of mosques and significant Uyghur cultural sites in the region. One of the most effective research methods in both of these projects was the collection and analysis of satellite imagery, including the examination of night-time satellite imagery from Xinjiang.

Since 2017, a government crackdown in the far-western region of China known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has seen over a million Uyghurs and other Turkic and Muslim minorities extrajudicially detained in a vast network of purpose-built detention facilities. There have also been media reports about incidents of mosques demolished or repurposed, along with other Uyghur cultural sites. 

Credible data on the extent of Xinjiang’s post-2017 detention system is scarce. But researchers at ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre have now located, mapped and analysed 380 suspected detention facilities in Xinjiang, making it the most comprehensive data on Xinjiang’s detention system in the world. This new database highlights ‘re-education’ camps, detention centres, and prisons which have been newly built or expanded since 2017, and we believe it covers most such detention facilities. 

The findings of this research contradicts Chinese officials’ claims that all “re-education camp” detainees had ‘graduated’ in December 2019. It presents satellite imagery evidence that shows newly constructed detention facilities, along with growth in several existing facilities, that has occurred across 2019 and 2020. 

The second key piece of research on our new website is a project investigating the rate of cultural destruction in Xinjiang. This research estimates 35% of mosques have been demolished; and a further 30% have been damaged in some way, usually by the removal of Islamic or Arabic architectural features such as domes, minarets or gatehouses. We estimate approximately 16,000 mosques have been damaged or totally destroyed throughout Xinjiang (65% of the total). The majority of demolished sites remain as empty lots. 

Further, 30% of important Islamic cultural sites (sacred shrines, cemeteries and pilgrimage routes) across southern Xinjiang have been demolished since 2017, with an additional 28% damaged or altered in some way. This includes the complete demolition of the ancient pilgrimage town of Ordam Mazar. 

This new research and associated maps and satellite imagery, can be viewed at the Xinjiang Data Project website. 

The new space age – Four Corners

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The new space age: The race to colonise outer space

“It’s not just a boom. It’s a frenzy. Suddenly every government department is a space department in one way or another. All industry sectors somehow are dabbling in space…It truly has become a frenzy.” Space academic

Sixty years ago, the world watched in wonder at the dawning of the space age. Humankind’s first flights into space and the landing on the moon showed the seemingly impossible was achievable.

Now we are on the brink of a new space revolution.

ASPI’s Dr Malcolm Davis is interviewed for the ABC’s Four Corners special; The new space age.

You can watch the program here: https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/the-new-space-age/12613242.

The Truth about 5g – ABC Four Corners

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“If you are not currently working to stop 5G this means you don’t understand it. Nothing else matters anymore.”  Leading activist

Around Australia a vocal band of activists have joined a worldwide protest movement against the arrival of the next generation in wireless technology known as 5G. 

“I don’t want to be a human lab rat. Because that’s what’s happening. They’re just using us to see if it’s going to be okay. And if we die, well, we’ve got so many of us, what does it matter?”  Protestor

Activists claim 5G is an invisible and potentially deadly health hazard, blaming the radiation emitted by the technology for a range of long-term health problems.

ASPI’s Dr Huong Le Thu is interviewed on ABC’s Four Corners special: The truth about 5G

You can watch the program here: https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/the-truth-about-5g/12519392.

2020 Defence Strategic Update & Force Structure Plan

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ASPI warmly invites you to view the 2020 Defence Strategic Update Announcement by the Minister for Defence.

When: 12:30pm-1:30pm, Thursday 2 July 2020
Where: Watch live at ASPICanberra

In October 2019 Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon. Linda Reynolds CSC, announced the Defence Department was conducting a strategic review that would reassess the strategic underpinnings of the 2016 Defence White Paper, with the outcomes to be considered by Government in 2020.

Senator Reynolds will make a public address at ASPI that will expand on the announcements made the previous day. Her 30 minute address will offer more detail on the 2020 Force Structure Plan in particular.

The Minister will then be joined by General Angus Campbell, Chief of the Defence Force, and Mr Greg Moriarty, Secretary of Defence, for a panel discussion and Q&A moderated by Peter Jennings, ASPI’s Executive Director.

Watch the announcement here.