Justin Hendry

Sydney-based counterdrone pioneer DroneShield has taken out the Translation Hero award at the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence for its successful commercialisation of cutting-edge radio frequency AI technology. The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence were presented at a black-tie gala dinner at The Venue Alexandria in Sydney on Wednesday night. The Translation Hero category recognises individual or team excellence in the commercialisation of deep tech intellectual property, with tech research leading to fruitful commercialisation outcomes.

Clinical nurse turned entrepreneur Lauren Barber has won the Innovation Leadership Award at the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence for her pioneering work founding and developing MedTech startup NeedleCalm. The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence were presented at a black-tie gala dinner at The Venue Alexandria in Sydney on Wednesday night. The Innovation Leadership Award was presented on the night by University of NSW Sydney Pro-Vice Chancellor (Industry & Innovation) Professor Stephen Rodda.

Queensland-based tech firm BlockTexx has taken out the top honour at the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence, named the Australian Hero for its sustainable solutions assisting with the transition to a circular economy. The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence were presented at a black-tie gala dinner at The Venue Alexandria in Sydney on Wednesday night. The Australian Hero is the top award of the night, with the winner selected from the winners of every other category in the InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence. The Australian Hero award was sponsored by the Tech Council of Australia. The award was presented on the night by Tech Council of Australia board director and PEXA chief technology officer Eglantine Etiemble.

Canadian quantum computing company BTQ Technologies has partnered with Macquarie University on advanced quantum algorithms and secure communications research. The strategic partnership, announced on Tuesday, will look to integrate quantum processing into communications protocols to improve speed, security and energy efficiency, the listed company said. It builds on an earlier contract between the BTQ and Macquarie University which resulted in the development of a post-classical consensus algorithm for blockchain transactions, dubbed Quantum Proof-of-Work (QPoW), in 2022.

There is fast moving technology revolution underway right now that has the potential to transform Australian industry -- holding the promise of huge cost savings, massive productivity and improved energy efficiency. Whether you are growing greenhouse tomatoes, creating superfast charging stations for electric vehicles or building energy efficient housing, there are rapid atomaterial advances that are creating new wealth. Right now, there is a global race to transform industries and for the companies, who are identifying the opportunities, the rewards will be stunning. While Australian research can lead the world in the development of the next generation of nanomaterials, which have the potential to produce devices capable of charging an electric vehicle in minutes and cooling a house without electricity, the industry opportunity has arrived.

Australia will move to ban social media for children under the age of 16, with the federal government expected to introduce world-first legislation before the end of the month. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the minimum age requirements for social media on Thursday, “calling time” on the harm social media is having on Australian children. Mr Albanese said the proposed age threshold, which follows a two-month consultation that included a summit in NSW and South Australia last month, will be put to National Cabinet for sign-off on Friday.

Local AI startup Trellis Data claims to have built the world's new fastest AI decoding technique, allowing text to be generated more than three times quicker on popular large language models like Meta's Llama. New research from the Canberra-based company reveals the Dynamic Depth Decoding (D3) technique delivers an average speed boost of 44 per cent compared with the decoder on which it is based, EAGLE-2.It translates to a 68 per cent reduction in computational power requirements at a time when AI is increasingly power-hungry and tech giants are turning to nuclear as a panacea for energy demands.

Anthony Albanese has reaffirmed his support for Australia's $1 billion bet on PsiQuantum and talked up the “enormous advantage” it will give Queensland after the state's new government said it would review the deal. Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki on Monday revealed the state government would review the deal with the Californian startup, which has been the subject of intense criticism since it was announced in April. It follows a pledge ahead of the election last month to review the deal as part of an audit of all spending decisions by former premiers Anastasia Palaszczuk and Steven Miles over the last decade.

You’ve been thinking about it, been creating excuse after excuse in your mind, justifying how you can leave all the connections you’ve built up. But it has become inexcusable to remain on X/Twitter – now a genuine propaganda machine spewing hate and disinformation to undermine facts, our information ecosystem and democracy. If leaving because of the scandals, the erratic product changes, promotion of abhorrent content, vile hate speech or the conspiracy theories wasn’t reason enough, X was also used to mobilise a type of ‘citizen journalism’ that favoured lies or just outright fiction, made a villain out of news organisations, and created an alternate reality all to favour a Donald Trump victory. There is no doubt that X played a material role in electing Donald Trump as US President. After buying Twitter and transforming it into X, Musk wasted no time in turning it into his own personal propaganda machine, demonising critics and the news media, while amplifying supporters, cryptobros, and toxic masculinity idols, nurturing the kind of disaffected groups that supported Trump. Once he gave his formal endorsement, X became one of the most important channels for the Trump campaign.

Australia has climbed one place in global digital competitiveness rankings, helped by AI research prowess and its front-footed policy making for the technology, as other indicators stagnate. The latest edition of the World Digital Competitive Ranking by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) puts Australia in 15th position, up from 16th of 67 in 2023.The rankings, released on Thursday, show the country’s relative strengths lie with its credit rating (1), the net flow of international students (2) and the ease of starting a business (5).