Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE240100131
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$539,000.00
Summary
Federated Omniverse Facilities for Smart Digital Futures. A world-first trans-disciplinary, -domain, and -institutional smart 3D omniverse R&D ecosystem AuVerse will be built in NSW, affiliated with Queensland, and accessible to academia and industry. AuVerse will support cloud-based, reality-virtuality-fused, immersive, interactive and secure future-oriented digital design, development, training and society. In the new era of digital innovation and paradigm shift, AuVerse will substantially boo ....Federated Omniverse Facilities for Smart Digital Futures. A world-first trans-disciplinary, -domain, and -institutional smart 3D omniverse R&D ecosystem AuVerse will be built in NSW, affiliated with Queensland, and accessible to academia and industry. AuVerse will support cloud-based, reality-virtuality-fused, immersive, interactive and secure future-oriented digital design, development, training and society. In the new era of digital innovation and paradigm shift, AuVerse will substantially boost Australia’s pivotal research leadership and business competitiveness in nurturing new-generation, collaborative and transformative digital R&D and talent pipeline. It will enable large-scale strategic business innovation and transformation including smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0.Read moreRead less
Towards Generalisable and Unbiased Dynamic Recommender Systems. This project aims to develop the foundations, including models, methodology, and algorithms for building generalisable and unbiased dynamic recommender systems to facilitate intelligent decision-making, prompt contextualised and personalised strategic plans, and support context-aware action recourse. To ensure that fundamental principles, such as fairness and transparency, are respected, a set of algorithms and techniques are propos ....Towards Generalisable and Unbiased Dynamic Recommender Systems. This project aims to develop the foundations, including models, methodology, and algorithms for building generalisable and unbiased dynamic recommender systems to facilitate intelligent decision-making, prompt contextualised and personalised strategic plans, and support context-aware action recourse. To ensure that fundamental principles, such as fairness and transparency, are respected, a set of algorithms and techniques are proposed to develop recommender systems in a more responsible manner. The result of this project will not only maintain Australia's leadership in this frontier research area, but also serve as an excellent vehicle for the education and training of Australia's next generation of scholars and engineers.Read moreRead less
Uncertainty, Risk and Related Concepts in Machine Learning. Machine learning is the science of making sense of data. It does not and cannot remove all risk and uncertainty. This project proposes to study the foundations of how machine learning uses, represents and communicates risk and uncertainty. It aims to do so by finding new theoretical connections between diverse notions that have arisen in allied disciplines. These include risk, uncertainty, scoring rules and loss functions, divergences, ....Uncertainty, Risk and Related Concepts in Machine Learning. Machine learning is the science of making sense of data. It does not and cannot remove all risk and uncertainty. This project proposes to study the foundations of how machine learning uses, represents and communicates risk and uncertainty. It aims to do so by finding new theoretical connections between diverse notions that have arisen in allied disciplines. These include risk, uncertainty, scoring rules and loss functions, divergences, statistics and different ways of aggregating information. By building a more complete theoretical map it is expected that new machine learning methods will be developed, but more importantly that machine learning will be able to be better integrated into larger socio-technical systems.Read moreRead less
Feature Learning for High-dimensional Functional Time Series. This project aims to develop new methods and theories for common features on high-dimensional functional time series observed in empirical applications. The significance includes addressing a key gap in adaptive and efficient feature learning, improving forecasting accuracy and understanding forecasting-driven factors comprehensively for empirical data. Expected outcomes involve advances in big data theory and easy-to-implement algori ....Feature Learning for High-dimensional Functional Time Series. This project aims to develop new methods and theories for common features on high-dimensional functional time series observed in empirical applications. The significance includes addressing a key gap in adaptive and efficient feature learning, improving forecasting accuracy and understanding forecasting-driven factors comprehensively for empirical data. Expected outcomes involve advances in big data theory and easy-to-implement algorithms for applied researchers. This project benefits not only advanced manufacturing by finding optimal stopping time for wood panel compression, but also superior forecasting for mortality in demography, climate data in environmental science, asset returns in finance, and electricity consumption in economics. Read moreRead less
Profiling And Tracking Change In Australia's Seafood Workforce: Establishing A Baseline Workforce Dataset
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$259,342.00
Summary
The project developed to address the call for EOI recognises that the seafood workforce is diverse and operates within a changing natural, technological, and socioeconomic environment, providing unique challenges and opportunities. The seafood workforce also, however, operates within the wider Australian economy where rural and regional employment, small-medium business operations, and increasing value-adding opportunities are common topics of interest. The project proposes to provide a comprehe ....The project developed to address the call for EOI recognises that the seafood workforce is diverse and operates within a changing natural, technological, and socioeconomic environment, providing unique challenges and opportunities. The seafood workforce also, however, operates within the wider Australian economy where rural and regional employment, small-medium business operations, and increasing value-adding opportunities are common topics of interest. The project proposes to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current data framework, make recommendations for improving it, and develop a baseline workforce dataset. The focus will be on the potential to use existing sources of data (particularly administrative data collected by government institutions and data that is required to be collected) and how and when those need to be effectively complemented with additional data. Administrative data are confidential and access limited as is the variety of seafood industry data often collected. Accessing administrative data is explicitly part of this proposal and identifying the sources of, and the type of data available, from industry surveys. Objectives: 1. To establish a baseline workforce dataset to address the lack of accessible, accurate workforce data 2. To identify how to overcome the shortcomings of official classifications to better align data information with how the seafood industry and its workforce operate. 3. To determine how using whole of population statistical data may provide a more accurate picture of the seafood industry workforce 4. To use available literature and expert input to provide an understanding of the true diversity of employment in the seafood sector. 5. To undertake a comprehensive stock-take of the relevant current data sources recording information on the seafood industry workforce. 6. To undertake a comprehensive analysis of the existing data sources and investigate the usefulness of large administrative data such as BLADE/MADIP. 7. To closely involve seafood industry participants through an effective stakeholder engagement strategy and promote a co-design element to the project 8. To provide recommendations to address data gaps and improve the utility of current data, and support the FRDC in meeting the objectives of its Capability and Capacity Building Strategy. Read moreRead less
Rigorous Privacy Compliance in Modern Application Ecosystems. Modern network applications such as mobile applications and browser extensions have become the primary gateways for consumers to access the Internet in today’s digital landscape. This project aims to address privacy issues in these ecosystems by developing a new privacy-compliance assessment framework. The framework will evaluate the current privacy practices of application ecosystems, enabling users and developers in Australia and wo ....Rigorous Privacy Compliance in Modern Application Ecosystems. Modern network applications such as mobile applications and browser extensions have become the primary gateways for consumers to access the Internet in today’s digital landscape. This project aims to address privacy issues in these ecosystems by developing a new privacy-compliance assessment framework. The framework will evaluate the current privacy practices of application ecosystems, enabling users and developers in Australia and worldwide to reliably identify potential privacy risks and issues on their applications. The intended outcomes should endow data controllers with the capability of evidencing their compliance of data protection legislations such as Australia Privacy Act 1988 and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).Read moreRead less
Topological insulators and free fermions: from Hermitian to non-Hermitian. This project aims to develop and fully understand a class of mathematical models describing fundamental interacting systems of particles of central importance in the physics of topological insulators. This will include the extension of exact solutions to more complicated models and the development and application of topological data analysis for detecting topological phase transitions in these and more general materials. ....Topological insulators and free fermions: from Hermitian to non-Hermitian. This project aims to develop and fully understand a class of mathematical models describing fundamental interacting systems of particles of central importance in the physics of topological insulators. This will include the extension of exact solutions to more complicated models and the development and application of topological data analysis for detecting topological phase transitions in these and more general materials. The project will also apply diagrammatic methods to address a long-standing challenge in solving a particular model. The project aims to contribute to training researchers in an area of the mathematical sciences of benefit to the future development of new concepts for next-generation electronic devices and smart materials.Read moreRead less
DAFF National Agriculture Traceability Regulatory Technology Research And Insights Grant: Australian AgriFood Data Exchange - Ag Sector Traceability Transformation Delivered Through An Interoperable Data Platform And Exchange
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
Regulatory efficiency and compliance across agricultural supply chains is hindered by inefficient, incompatible or unavailable data and systems that prevent creation of robust, interoperable traceability solutions. The Australian AgriFood Data Exchange (AAFDX) will solve this challenge by creating a secure, cloud-based platform enabling government, industry and other participants to share, re-use and merge data from disparate systems in a secure, controlled manner. The AAFDX will be a modern, ef ....Regulatory efficiency and compliance across agricultural supply chains is hindered by inefficient, incompatible or unavailable data and systems that prevent creation of robust, interoperable traceability solutions. The Australian AgriFood Data Exchange (AAFDX) will solve this challenge by creating a secure, cloud-based platform enabling government, industry and other participants to share, re-use and merge data from disparate systems in a secure, controlled manner. The AAFDX will be a modern, efficient, internationally recognised data infrastructure enabling regulators and industry to better manage compliance, stimulate innovation and supply chain performance, assure consumers, coordinate biosecurity and export market access, through enhanced traceability. The funding will build the minimal viable product, with expansion to specific traceability and compliance applications. The AAFDX will endure beyond the funding period with partner co-investment and a user pays revenue stream Objectives: 1. Deliver a minimum viable product (MVP) of the Australian Agrifood Data Exchange services 2. Develop a platform that facilitates applications/solutions that increase traceability, productivity, compliance, profitability 3. Develop governance arrangements to ensure that data security, and in turn users trust in ag-tech is not compromised 4. Build digital maturity of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors to engage in the potential, permissioned shared data offers Read moreRead less
Responsible Fisheries And Aquaculture - Activating A Comprehensive Ecological, Social, And Governance (ESG) Reporting Data System To Uplift Sustainability And Traceability
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
Verification of fishing and aquaculture sustainability credentials is essential to increase consumer confidence, market access and community benefit. Sector performance currently centres on monitoring fish stocks & economic benefits. However, markets increasingly require traceable evidence of Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) indicators such as provenance, safety, diversity, animal welfare, carbon, biodiversity to inform decisions. To meet this need, this project activates CSIROs Healthch ....Verification of fishing and aquaculture sustainability credentials is essential to increase consumer confidence, market access and community benefit. Sector performance currently centres on monitoring fish stocks & economic benefits. However, markets increasingly require traceable evidence of Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) indicators such as provenance, safety, diversity, animal welfare, carbon, biodiversity to inform decisions. To meet this need, this project activates CSIROs Healthcheck ESG Fishing & Aquaculture data system by engaging industry, managers & researchers to identify data gaps and prioritise/collect essential indicators to allow more comprehensive ESG reporting. Data will be compatible and interoperable with existing catalogues/exchanges, for publishing to recognised sustainability frameworks (e.g. Status of Australian Fish Stocks, WhichFish, National Fisheries Plan, UN SDGs). Community surveys will allow adaptive prioritisation of future data/reporting needs. Objectives: 1. Activate an existing ESG data system (Healthcheck) with complementary ESG frameworks (Status of Australian Fish Stocks, Whichfish, Our Pledge, National Fisheries Plan, UN SDGs) and promote data use to increase traceability & sustainability of wild harvest fisheries, aquaculture operations and fish stocks (hereafter, F&A) 2. Increase the number of F&A reporting against ESG frameworks from 20 to 100 stocks (over 90 percent seafood value) 3. Address F&A priority data gaps 4. Increase data access & traceability through use of data exchanges 5. Use feasibility tested data to populate existing/emerging sustainability frameworks (e.g. Status of Australian Fish Stocks, National Fisheries Plan reporting, carbon & nature-based financial disclosure frameworks) and use verified sustainability credentials to demonstrate best practice (e.g. SIAs ‘Our Pledge’, Marine Stewardship Certification) 6. Be interoperable with related frameworks e.g. Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework, ‘Know & Show your Carbon Footprint’ (funded by Agricultural Innovation Australia) 7. Understand community sustainability sentiment to inform future data gap prioritisation and build confidence Read moreRead less
Measuring Non-commercial Fishing Catches (traditional Subsistence Fishing) In The Torres Strait In Order To Improve Fisheries Management And Promote Sustainable Livelihoods
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$250,288.00
Summary
Following the initial groundwork to assess community support and approaches for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program in the Torres Strait (Bedford et al 2021 - https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-_monitoring_the_non-commercial_catch_in_torres_strait_update_06042021.pdf ), the following five steps were proposed: 1. Community consultation and sign on (engaging community re support for the suggested monitoring method). 2. Assess self-reporting web-based tool/AP ....Following the initial groundwork to assess community support and approaches for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program in the Torres Strait (Bedford et al 2021 - https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-_monitoring_the_non-commercial_catch_in_torres_strait_update_06042021.pdf ), the following five steps were proposed: 1. Community consultation and sign on (engaging community re support for the suggested monitoring method). 2. Assess self-reporting web-based tool/APP platform design and development options (including data collection and storage options), through co-design with communities and Government to meet stakeholder needs. 3. Develop self-reporting web-based tool/APP platform, database and data flow infrastructure. 4. Community rollout – pilot (in some communities). 5. Community rollout – full-scale (to all communities).
The Torres Strait Scientific Advisory Committee (TSSAC) recommended that steps 1 and 2 (above) be undertaken first and they form the scope of this proposal.
As also noted in the TSSAC committee meeting of June 2021, the project was an initiative of the quota working group subcommittee of the Torres Strait Regional Authority Board, and identified as a priority by the Traditional Inhabitants (https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/tssac_79_meeting_record_final.pdf). In particular, by ‘improving estimates of non-commercial catch of commercial species to inform stock assessment and set sustainable catch levels, as well as determine the catch sharing between the sunset sector, and how much to allocate for community consumption, in order to protect Traditional non-commercial catches and help ensure sustainable management.’
As noted in the ‘Opportunity’ section of this proposal, this project help fill a range of needs for Torres Strait communities, including: • More accurate assessment of the Recommended Biological Catches of commercial species from all sources of fishing in the Torres Strait • Reliable assessments of ongoing catches from the substantial non-commercial sectors in the Torres Strait, including knowledge of future change in catches that may be due to pressures from fishing, coastal industry, climate change, other ecosystem regime change • Stronger ownership of marine resource management by Torres Strait communities, including ownership of non-commercial catch information, and supported by improved knowledge of the temporal and spatial dynamics of non-commercial catches.
The previous project also concluded that a non-commercial fishery monitoring program would have the best chance of success by gaining broad and committed acceptance by local communities and their leaders, with a strong co-design component. The need for this level of consultation was re-iterated by Traditional Inhabitants in several PZJA fishery management fora, including the TSSAC. This project is designed to meet that need.
The proposed project aligns strongly with the Torres Strait Fisheries Strategic Research Plan (https://www.pzja.gov.au/sites/default/files/tssac_srp_2018-2022_post_tssac_final.pdf). In particular: • Theme 1: Protecting the Torres Strait marine environment for the benefit of Traditional Inhabitants; which is based on improving effective management of fishery stocks in order to support Traditional Inhabitant social and economic needs; which is an expectation of the improved fishery data outputs from the project. • Theme 2: Social and Economic Benefits; which promotes social and economic benefits for Traditional Inhabitants from Torres Strait fisheries; for example, through increased capacity required to manage the program and increased knowledge of any future changes in catches through space and time in the Torres Strait. • Theme 3: Technology and Innovation; which promotes the development of technology to support the economic, environmental and social benefits from the fishing sector.
This research project is co funded by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority of the Australian Government. Project co- investigators are Kenny Bedford, David Brewer and Timothy Skewes. Objectives: 1. Collate and review existing and new information about the potential options for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program as recommended by Bedford et al. (2021) 2. Assess the level of community need and support (or otherwise) for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program through a comprehensive and equitable community consultation and participation process throughout Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area communities 3. Develop cost and performance options for a non-commercial fishery monitoring program and its components (e.g. self-reporting web-based tool/APP platform; data management, storage and access; complimented surveys) to allow for an assessment of value (e.g. meeting needs, ease of use, maintenance and data use in stock assessments) Read moreRead less