Joseph Brookes

A government tender for highly paid research commercialisation advisers has been abandoned after an investigation found procurement rules had been broken, including “communications” with incumbent suppliers. The Education department on Friday terminated its tender for priority managers to help deliver Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA), a $1.6 billion university research commercialisation program. The tender launched last May but had been frozen for the last six months following a complaint about an alleged breach of Commonwealth Procurement Rules and subsequent investigation.

Brisbane BioTech Vaxxas has snared fresh US government funding to accelerate its needle free vaccination platform for COVID-19 applications, as the company courts private investors.

Australia's universities will push the Albanese government for a $500 million funding commitment in the run up to the election to raise the living allowance for PhD candidates and allow more international participants.

Banking customers in Canberra will be able to share their Medicare credentials with Australia's largest bank to prove their identity in one of the first tests of the federal government's cutting-edge identity exchange scheme.

A Canberra startup using bleeding edge AI to tackle complex problems like geopolitics and the energy transition has been tapped for the Albanese government’s public service rebuild under a breakthrough contract. Software and services Dragonfly Thinking will be trialled over the next six months to better arm policymakers and drive more AI skills and inclusion in the public service.The local company breaks in as one of the first AI suppliers outside Microsoft with its new deal worth more than $811,000 over six months.

The communications regulator will be handed tougher enforcement powers and much larger fines to clamp down on telcos breaching agreed industry