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Australia and India team up on critical technology
The first three projects under a joint research grant programme will focus on developing ethical and regulatory frameworks for quantum computing, AI and 5G
Australia and India have joined hands to advance the development of critical and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G networks, the internet of things (IoT) and quantum computing through a research grant programme.
Through the programme, the two countries hope to “help shape a global technology environment that meets Australia and India’s shared vision of an open, free, rules-based Indo-Pacific region”.
The first three projects in the initial round of the programme, which prioritised proposals focused on strengthening understanding of ethical frameworks and developing technical standards for critical technologies, were recently announced by Australia’s department of foreign Affairs and trade.
This project, led by the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney and experts such as Rajeshwari Rajagopalan of the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation and quantum physicist Shohini Ghose, aims to develop quantum accords to shape international governance of quantum technologies.
The team will build guiding principles on ethics, best practices and progressive applications of quantum technologies.
But rather than propose a formal set of universal rules, they will seek consensus among key stakeholders on what constitutes ethical or unethical behaviour, good or bad practices, productive or destructive applications for emerging quantum technologies.
The project, spearheaded by La Trobe University and Indian Institute of Technology Kampur, will provide Australian and Indian business with an ethics and policy framework when outsourcing their technology to Indian providers.
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It will do by improving the understanding of how they translate being signatories of ethical codes to their actual practice. The project will also analyse the emotions and views of stakeholders expressed in social media on the ethical issues found to be important through business surveys.
In doing so, the project intends to advance knowledge in AI and cyber and critical technology, ethics and sustainability and risk by bringing together disciplines in business management and ethics, computer science and engineering, and AI and business analytics.
The outcomes expected include recommendations on revised ethical codes and practices and a framework for using AI and advanced analytics to review ethical practices of companies.
5G privacy and security
The explosive growth in wireless network usage and IoT systems is expected to accelerate. While 5G networks offer significant improvements in terms of capacity, data rates, and potential energy efficiency, there is a need to address critical privacy and security challenges.
The work will focus on the issues that arise from wireless tracking systems that rely on detecting variations in the channel state information (CSI) due to the users’ physical activities and wireless networking.
Based on a series of experiments in Australia and India, the project will develop a comprehensive understanding of the extent of private information and metadata exposed and related inferences. This will be used to engage with standards and regulatory agencies and government bodies to strengthen data protection regimes in Australia, India and globally.
The research will be the basis for a whitepaper detailing the emerging wireless network privacy and security threat landscape. This will be followed up with a workshop in Bangalore with key regulators, standards body officials, policy makers and researchers, with the goal of initiating action to effectively address the emerging threats.
The work will be led the University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, Orbit Australia, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Calligo Technologies.
