Innovative ideas ignited in innovation showcase

Budding entrepreneurs are set to pitch their ideas to potential Defence and Defence industry customers in an online innovation showcase.

CAPTION: Pictured is the new Australian Signals Directorate cyber and foreign intelligence facility in Canberra, An early warning system for cyber attacks is one of the new innovations to be pitched in the D.Start Ignite program’s upcoming online showcase. Story by Edwina Callus.

The showcase, to be held on June 14 and 21, is the finale of the eight-week innovation and entrepreneurship program D.Start Ignite that aims to empower Australian researchers and small- to medium-size enterprises to connect with Defence.

Twenty-two teams took part in the D.Start Ignite autumn program, which is delivered by Defence Science and Technology Group in partnership with the CSIRO.

The participants were trained to identify a real-world application for their idea using best-practice methodologies developed in Silicon Valley.

The teams brought to the program innovations like highly sensitive sensors that can detect chemical and biological threats; a new approach to password-less authentication for websites; an early warning system for cyber attacks; a way to convert waste to building materials and an easily deployable system to generate electricity and provide clean water.

D.Start coordinator Dr Brendan Pell said the showcase enabled talent scouts across Defence and Defence industry to identify promising technologies or concepts.

“Over eight weeks, D.Start’s expert facilitators work with these teams to hone their ideas, helping them to understand their customer and validate the problem they are seeking to solve,” Dr Pell said.

Funded by the Next Generation Technologies Fund, D.Start Ignite is part of the broader Defence Research Accelerator program.

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