Sydney-based counterdrone technology firm DroneShield has taken out the inaugural AI Industry Pioneer Award at the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence for its novel radio frequency AI tools.
The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence were presented at a black-tie gala dinner at The Venue Alexandria in Sydney on Wednesday night.
The AI Industry Pioneer Award is a new category highlighting leadership in artificial intelligence and shining a spotlight on companies at the forefront of Australia’s burgeoning AI sector.
The AI Industry Pioneer Award was sponsored by the National Artificial Intelligence Centre. The award was presented on the night by the National AI Centre Industry Program Manager Eloise Leaver.
DroneShield won the award for its radio frequency artificial intelligence technology, which utilises deep learning to classify and sort radio frequency signals in real-time on software-defined radio hardware platforms.
This means the DroneSheild service is better able to quickly and accurately detect and track nefarious drones with far fewer false alarms compared to existing tools, with the ability to detect smaller drones and drones operating over water.
DroneShield also won the Translation Hero Award at the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence.
DroneShield was founded in Virginia in the United States in 2014, and publicly listed on the ASX in 2016. It is now a substantially Australian-owned company leading the world in counterdrone technology.
It designs, develops and manufactures hardware and software services that combat drones, to be used by military, government, law enforcement, critical infrastructure and the protection of VIPs.
“DroneShield has long held a place at the front of the pack, and is on track to maintain that lead,” DroneShield chief technology officer Angus Bean said.
“Recognition on this front is reassurance that DroneShield is standing by these values as it grows from a small local startup to shine as a beacon of what a success story of Australian industry can look like.”
The award caps off a huge year for DroneShield, which has seen the company enjoy year-on-year revenue growth of 110 per cent, grow its team from 89 to 186 people, launch a number of new products and scale up its manufacturing facilities to keep up with escalating demand.
“DroneShield has had a wildly successful year, reaping the benefits of past innovations and using that gain to sow the seeds for continuing this high pace of research, development and production,” Mr Bean said.
“DroneShield has a long history of breaking ground in the counterdrone landscape, which has a reputation for being one of the fastest evolving technical spheres due to the variety of topics it covers.”
The other finalists in the AI Industry Pioneer Award category were SAPHI, Baymatob, MyLot, EncompaaS and Fivecast.
The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence are supported by the Australian Computer Society, Investment NSW, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Technology Council of Australia, TechnologyOne, National Artificial Intelligence Centre, CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program, Reason Group, Q-CTRL, University of New South Wales, South by South-West Sydney and IP Australia.
Protecting your great ideas with intellectual property (IP) rights can lead to lasting benefits for your growing business. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as a brand, logo, invention, design or artistic work. Head to the IP Australia website to find out more about IP, and how it might help your business.
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