The Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s inaugural appeal for long-term R&D projects has been met with an overwhelming response, with nearly 180 proposals submitted by industry and universities.
The proposals for research into quantum technologies and technologies for detecting and countering disinformation produced by AI respond to the accelerator’s first call for Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDT).
The Advanced Strategic Capability Accelerator (ASCA) approached the market for the proposals in November, with eight of the 10 opportunity statements issued associated with quantum technologies.
The EDT program will fund deep and long-term research partnerships with universities and industry. The successful projects expected to align with the priorities of the Defence Strategic Review and “future proofing” Defence innovation.
Projects are expected to run for three to five years – a timeframe that is on par with ASCA missions, which are designed to acquire cutting-edge capabilities and will have clear performance targets – and can be worth up to $3 million.
Emily Hilder, the nascent accelerator’s newly appointed head, revealed on Tuesday that 71 organisations had responded to the request for proposals (RFT) with 179 submissions. The RFP closed on February 9.
“We had an incredible response from industry, as well as the response that we would have expected from universities,” Professor Hilder told the third annual Quantum Australia conference in Sydney.
“It was really exciting to see the mix where we’re getting responses from small businesses, large businesses, startups, a lot of them connected to that really broad research and development base we have in Australia.”
Of the 179 submissions, 123 were for quantum technologies, with the split between industry and universities broadly the same (62 submissions vs 61 submission). The remaining 56 submission were for information warfare and “miscellaneous”.
Almost a third of submissions originated from New South Wales (54), followed by the Australian Capital Territory (37), Victoria (30), South Australia (26), Queensland (18), Western Australia (13), and Tasmania (1).
Professor Hilder said that while ASCA is currently working through the 179 proposals, it would look to invest up to $100 million this financial year. It is not clear if this funding is limited to only quantum and information warfare (synthetic media) or other long-term R&D.
Shortlisted research submissions will be invited to participate in co-design workshops between February and March, according to the request for proposal, with a second phase of procurement to then follow.
Around $680 million is expected to be committed to research and development into emerging and disruptive technologies by ASCA over the next 10 years – around 20 per cent of the accelerator’s $3.4 billion budget.
ASCA was established in July last year to solve priority problems across the Australian Defence Force with a mission-orientated approach, replacing the Defence Innovation Hub and Next Generation Technologies Fund.
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