Securing Australia’s Future
SAF05: Technology and Australia’s Future – New technologies and their role in our security, cultural, democratic, social and economic systems
Adaptability and innovation are central to a healthy and prosperous future. New technologies (their creation and their uptake) are critical in enabling Australia’s innovative capacity and productive potential.
This project will examine the risks and opportunities of a broad range of new and emerging technologies, and evaluate their transformative implications for Australia’s society, democracy, environment, security and trade.
“All new technologies disrupt the current way of doing things; this brings both benefits and disadvantages. The challenge is to leverage and share as many of the rewards while limiting any damage.”
Launch of technology report
Technology and Australia’s Future: New technologies and their role in our security, cultural, democratic, social and economic systems, was launched by Professor Ian Chubb AC FTSE at The Shine Dome, Canberra at 10.30 Wednesday 23 September 2015.
A transcript of Professor Ian Chubb’s Speech from the report launch is available.
Professor Ian Chubb, Launch of ACOLA report Technology and Australia’s Future, The Shine Dome, Canberra, 23 September 2015
Expert Working Group
ACOLA, for its established ability to deliver interdisciplinary evidence-based research that draws on specialist expertise from Australia’s Learned Academies, convenes the SAF05 Expert Working Group (EWG) to guide the development of a targeted study that draws input from several disciplines to create a well-considered, balanced and peer-reviewed report.
The role of the EWG is to provide strategic oversight and provide expert input, analysis and provocative thinking.
Authors
| Professor Robert C Williamson | Dr Michelle Nic Raghnaill | |
| Dr Kirsty Douglas | Ms Dana Sanchez |
The report incorporates written input from:
| Professor Robin J Evans | Professor Stephen King | |
| Dr Michael Keating | Professor Ron Johnston |
| Dr Bernadette Hince | Dr Katrina Jungnickel | |
| Professor Gerald Goggin |
ACOLA gratefully acknowledges their contribution.
Project Funding and Support
ACOLA gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the Australian Government through the Commonwealth Science Council; Australian Research Council and the Office of the Chief Scientist. This research was funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council.
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Acknowledgements
On behalf of myself and my co-chair Rob Evans, I acknowledge and thank:
- The expert working group for their advice, arguments, written inputs, patience and careful (and repeated!) reviewing.
- NICTA for their in-kind support over the past two years. In particular NICTA’s Canberra Research Laboratory for providing the team with office space, meeting facilities, computer infrastructure and administration and IT support.
- The Australian National University and University of Melbourne for supporting the project through the time of Rob and myself, travel costs, and library resources.
- Dr Bernadette Hince for her attention to detail and love of words.
- Dr Lyria Bennett-Moses for her outstandingly cogent discussions and detailed written feedback on parts of the report.
- Dr Katrina Jungnickel for her initial contributions as a project team member, and subsequent continued interest and input.
- Professor Edmund Crampin for his contributions to several expert working group meetings.
- Dr Martin Callinan and Mr Ben Patterson of the Australian Academy of Science for their support.
- Dr Ryan Herbert and Dr Simon Prasad of the Office of the Chief Scientist for their guidance and advice.
- Ms Rebecca Skinner and Dr Renée Dutton of ACOLA for their assistance and support.
- Ms Heather Catchpole and her team at Refraction Media for the initial distillation of the case studies from the working papers.
- Many people willing to listen to aspects of the project and offer their valuable advice, including Merritt Roe Smith, Rosalind Williams (for her encouragement to not view technology from too narrow a perspective), Rodney Brooks, Michael Barber and other members of the Project Steering Committee, Katina Michael, Jenny Gordon, Ralf Herbrich, Greg Adamson, Simon Kaplan, John Bell, Glenn Withers, Tegan Donald, Phil Robertson, Michelle Simmons and Lindell Bromham.
- The anonymous reviewers and ACOLA council members who provided detailed comments on the entire report. Robin Batterham declared himself as a reviewer and we thank him for his insightful comments as well as for his foreword to the report.
- Our families for putting up with the work hours and distraction this project induced.
I especially want to thank and acknowledge the awesome project team for their alacrity, assiduity, ardour, astuteness, audacity, autonomy and their ability to deal with ambiguity, complexity, dissonance and diversity. Their efforts over two years have been outstanding and I have greatly enjoyed working with them:
- Ms Dana Sanchez (who also served as the supremely efficient project manager)
- Dr Chelle Nic Raghnaill
- Dr Kirsty Douglas
Robert Williamson
Co-Chair.
Project Management Support
| Project Manager: Dana Sanchez, Australian Academy of Science |
| Project services provided by the Australian Academy of Science on behalf of ACOLA |
Contributing reports
Working documents commissioned or specially undertaken for Securing Australia’s Future: Technology and Australia’s Future (SAF05)
- Bottling sunlight: using energy storage technology as a lens to view the factors affecting technological change in the electricity supply industry, Dana Sanchez, November 2014
- Collective technologies: autonomous vehicles, Dana Sanchez, 24 February 2015
- Digital computing, modelling and simulation, Kirsty Douglas, 29 April 2015
- Evolution of Education – How societal readiness and technological improvement is improving online higher education access and quality worldwide, Michelle Nic Raghnaill, 30 September 2014
- From Frankenstein to the Roomba: The changing nature and socio-cultural meanings of robots and automation, Kat Jungnickel
- Future Technology Overview, Rob Evans, 3 September 2014
- Genetically modified crops: how attitudes to new technology influence adoption, Dana Sanchez, 31 March 2015
- Locked into the car: How a vision of unfettered transport freedom transformed personal mobility and reshaped the world, Michelle Nic Raghnaill, 25 August 2014
- Printing the future? An analysis of the hype and hope of rapid prototyping technology, Kat Jungnickel
- Technologies for Data, Kirsty Douglas, April 2015
- Technology and work, Michelle Nic Raghnaill, Robert C. Williamson, 29 July 2014
- Tinkering With Technology: Examining past practices and imagined futures, Kat Jungnickel
- Performance based research funding – an overly simplistic technological intervention, Robert C. Williamson, 31 May 2015
