Bruce Trevarthen

The DTA has released the latest version of the "Technical standard for government’s use of artificial intelligence". This is a key bookmark for any consulting firm advising Aus government agencies on the adoption and use of AI. If you create RFPs, I highly recommend you add adherence to this framework as an NFR. It looks like a fair bit of content has been added since the last version and it now covers the full spectrum of preparation, implementation and most importantly, governance. #AI #Governance #AIFramework #FrontierFirm #AusGov #goverment

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Paul Smith has published a compelling AFR piece on whether Australia should prioritise sovereignty or infrastructure in AI. My thoughts? It’s both - and more. Sovereign AI is a fundamental approach to ensuring we have and maintain our voice, access to the infrastructure and a continued right to control our digital identity on the world stage. No one is suggesting this is a zero-sum game. Just like the app store ecosystem where thousands of products compete, improve, and thrive - competition fuels innovation. What I’m tired of is the lazy rhetoric that says: “Company X has already built a product so why bother?” Australians don’t give up. We never have. We don’t back down, and we never will. The world seeks out Australian products because they are trusted, high-quality, and built with integrity. That’s the Australia we’re proud of. And it’s the Australia that Sovereign Australia AI is building for. I would love to hear your thoughts below. #ai #sovereignaustralianai #innovation #australia Simon Kriss Amanda Johnstone Annette Kimmitt AM Dr Alex Antic Tiarne Hawkins Josh Griggs Jon Whittle https://lnkd.in/gFttCXyG

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🇦🇺 Thrilled to share this piece in the The Australian Financial Review by Tess Bennett about Sovereign Australia AI and the journey we're embarking on to build Australis - Australia's own foundational language model. I couldn’t be prouder to be building this alongside my mate and Co-Founder Simon Kriss This isn't just about building another AI model. It's about ensuring Australia maintains its digital sovereignty and voice in an increasingly AI-driven world. We shouldn't be dependent on decisions made in Washington, Silicon Valley, Beijing or Europe about how AI understands and represents our Australian culture, values, and way of life. Yet to achieve this isn’t easy and it takes scale to compete, so we’ve made a massive investment in compute and have acquired 256 NVIDIA Blackwell B200 GPUs hosted in NEXTDC's secure Australian data centre in Melbourne, and managed by our colleagues at SHARON AI What makes me particularly proud of what we’ve done so far: ✅ Ethical from the ground up - We're committing $10M to compensate copyright owners, working WITH creators rather than against them ✅ Built for Australia, by Australians - From the ground up, built, trained and inferenced onshore, here in Australia, and compliant with our privacy and copyright laws ✅ Customers & Partnerships In Place - We partnering with some amazing Aussie organisations to help them solve some of Australia’s AI challenges. The partnerships we can speak about include ACS (Australian Computer Society), UNSW Canberra & GT Systems Australia, with more to follow! The path to digital sovereignty doesn't require billions, it requires vision, ethical principles, and the determination to ensure Australia's voice isn't lost in the global AI conversation. We're proving that sovereign AI can be built responsibly, affordably, and with respect for the creators whose work makes it possible. Australia's digital future should be in Australian hands. Let's build it together. 🚀 Special thanks to Craig Scroggie, Andrew Leece, Kieran Habojan, Dan Mons, Sudarshan Ramachandran, Rhod Brown, Brett Bonser, Melissa Hamilton, Josh Griggs, Rhett Sampson and so many more. #ai #sovereignai #llm #gpt #innovation #australia #australian https://lnkd.in/gnF8N3mR

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Excited to announce that Particula is partnering with Ownera 🎉 I feel like I've known Natasha Benson forever - and I've always valued her expertise and perspectives on digital asset infrastructure, interoperability, and institutional adoption. She was one of the few people early on who truly understood what we were building at Particula. That makes it even more rewarding that we're now collaborating closely and building something the space genuinely needs. Full press release → link in the comments. -- About Ownera Ownera is a global leader in digital asset interoperability, connecting financial market infrastructure to enable major financial institutions to seamlessly trade, settle and manage tokenized assets across any blockchain, legacy ledger or network with institutional-grade security and compliance.

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🎯2025 InternetNZ survey: “68% of New Zealanders are worried about the potential malicious use of AI and the lack of regulation surrounding it” Innovation and Regulation are not opposites. Well-designed regulation provides guardrails that give everyone more confidence to innovate safely. 🎯2025 University of Melbourne survey: “Only 44% of New Zealanders believe the benefits of AI outweigh the risks.” I've talked to a lot of people in recent months about how their organisations are adopting AI - many feel like they have to figure out where the safeguards are themselves in the absence of a national approach. Nobody wants to get it wrong. 🎯2025 KPMG survey: "Only 34% of New Zealanders are excited about AI, while 60% are worried" Because even if you don't have government regulation, you still have customers and users who care about how AI is used. And they may not be that forgiving when it's pushed too far. ➡️ This is why I've signed the open letter at https://regulateai.nz/ [in a personal capacity]. I'm quite pro-technology, I just want it to be used safely. Unfortunately, we are already seeing many harms arise from the poor use of artificial intelligence - poor because people are using AI in harmful ways, and poor because the technology itself still has a long way to go. Some people feel like they are alone in a sea of hype, that everyone is pushing for more AI while they feel uncomfortable about where things are going. The survey data shows they are not alone - about half the country is wary of where the technology is taking us. It serves all of us to be thinking about how regulation can help us manage the risks arising from AI, so that we can all safely see the benefits of this technology into the future. We don't have to pursue AI at all costs. Happy to be alongside Christopher McGavin, Andrew Lensen, Cassandra Mudgway, Joshua Yuvaraj, Ali Knott, Michael Daubs, Olivia J. Erdelyi, Allyn Robins, Anthony Robins, Ethan Plaut, Caleb Moses, Peter Thompson, Ian W., Kevin Shedlock, Hui Ma, Heitor Murilo Gomes, Emily O'Riordan, Lee Timutimu, Frith Tweedie, Olivier Jutel, aimee whitcroft, Marcus Frean, Grant Dick, Veronica Liesaputra, Brendan McCane, Stephen Cranefield

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Learn the basics of IP on the go with our new podcast for start-ups and small business! The 4 episodes feature practical insights to help you identify ways to protect your brand or invention, build business value and strengthen your competitive advantage. We share examples of how other Australian businesses navigate their IP. Listen now and start protecting what makes your business unique: bit.ly/4koH0sE #TheIPAustraliaPodcast #SmallBusiness #Startup #Podcast #IPAustralia

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The Digital Divide Is Not About Wi-Fi; It’s About Power One in four Australians remains digitally excluded, but the divide isn’t about weak signals or slow speeds; it’s about structural inequality. Wealth, geography, and power still decide who gets to participate in the digital economy. The Australia Digital Inclusion Index (ADII) reminds us that progress only lasts when Access, Affordability, and Digital Ability move together. Bridging the divide isn’t charity. It’s nation-building. When First Nations, regional, and remote communities gain true digital inclusion, the whole economy benefits: from resilience in crises to innovation in industries. The next frontier isn’t faster downloads: it’s digital dignity. #DigitialDivideBites #DigitalDivide #DigitalInclusion #SocialImpact #TechForGood #Australia

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What is the definition of AI Sovereignty? That was the opening question posed at the Tech Policy Design Institute (TPDi) Consultation on AI Sovereignty and Australia’s National AI Capability — a sprint project supported by the Australian Computer Society and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. I was fortunate to attend one of the 10+ sessions held across Australia’s capital cities, bringing together academics, industry leaders, and experts to help shape Australia’s national framework — due to be released by the Federal Government later this year. Key discussion points for me include: - Ownership now (and into the future): how do we keep Australian-founded companies and IP funded and anchored here? - Responsible AI: trust, choice, permissions, and ethics must remain at the centre. - Access and control: if we’re dependent on offshore-owned infrastructure and AI, how do we safeguard access? (Think COVID 2.0). One highlight: seeing the brilliant Flora Salim share her suggested framework I love how the enablers sit beneath and uphold society’s objectives - SDG's, people and the planet. This is such an important national conversation. Let me know what you think - How do you define AI sovereignty? Guy Tsafnat PhD FAIDH ΣΞ Dr Nicole Avard Prajwal Patnaik Metluma

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Great #AI & #Blockchain panel presented by ACS (Australian Computer Society). We are probably near peak on the AI #HypeCycle & can hopefully push quickly through the "now what?" phase to see lasting benefits. AI can be more than a solution looking for a problem. Blockchain, while low on usability for most of us, gives a secure way of decentralising process. AI has already given productivity leaps to small organisations by answering clients' questions, not giving limited pre-determined responses. The combination of AI & Blockchain could address high value, high risk transactions that are likely targets for cybercriminals. Lead on tech innovators. Shout out to a very good panel Dan V. Denise Tambanis Alessio Bonti Chris Zhong

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Strong signals from the EU to other regions like Australia last week around building AI driven innovation into industry and science: align data policy, build alliances, get better cohesion amongst existing programs, and generate better speed 'lab-to-market'. The Commision unveiled two complementary AI strategies worth watching. “Apply AI” aims to accelerate adoption across specific sectors including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, energy, mobility, manufacturing, construction, agri-food, defence, communications and culture, (I wonder if that's in order of prioritisation?). They have also signaled the need to do this across the public sector - as well as industry and academia. I think getting governments at all levels fast tracking their own AI adoption, (therefore their knowledge, comfort, and capabilities) is a critical Stage 0. The second strategy is “AI in Science” to push frontier research. Highlights include ~€1B to catalyse deployment, advanced screening centres in healthcare, and sector-tailored agentic AI. On the science side: €600M for compute via (the gargantuan) Horizon Europe Program, a goal to double AI funding above €3B, and €58M for excellence and doctoral networks to attract global talent. Press Release with a more info here https://lnkd.in/e6Yiziv7 My Ask: Recently returned from the UK, I have senior experience to bring to bear in the public/private/academia, startup and scaleup tech innovation space, and I'm open to opportunities - let me know about conversations I should be having. 🙏 Graham #innovation #economnicgrowth #startups #scaleups

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