Better Planning for and Managing Asymmetric Threats to Australia's Security: Applying the Field Anomaly Relaxation (FAR) Systems Thinking Approach. Despite an enviable national security condition, Australia is at risk in an information-abundant world that increasingly spawns asymmetric threats such as information terrorism. What is needed are enhanced strategic and operational structures to improve the nation's security and ensure sound futures planning. This research focuses on applying the Fie ....Better Planning for and Managing Asymmetric Threats to Australia's Security: Applying the Field Anomaly Relaxation (FAR) Systems Thinking Approach. Despite an enviable national security condition, Australia is at risk in an information-abundant world that increasingly spawns asymmetric threats such as information terrorism. What is needed are enhanced strategic and operational structures to improve the nation's security and ensure sound futures planning. This research focuses on applying the Field Anomaly Relaxation (FAR) systems thinking approach to asymmetric information warfare threats to Australia. This is a new approach previously developed by ECU researchers investigating risk and innovation in the armed forces. It will now be extended to improve professional practice and the knowledge and skill base of Australia's information defence practitioners.Read moreRead less
Molecular Fingerprinting: Forensic Spectroscopy of Trace Gases. Safeguarding Australia from terrorism, crime and invasive diseases is essential to securing our national infrastructure. This project will develop national capabilities in anticipating and responding to critical threats to society. The scientific instrumentation developed from this effort will enhance Australia's potential aid for early detection of explosive and chemical weaponry and also in the analysis of crime scenes. This rese ....Molecular Fingerprinting: Forensic Spectroscopy of Trace Gases. Safeguarding Australia from terrorism, crime and invasive diseases is essential to securing our national infrastructure. This project will develop national capabilities in anticipating and responding to critical threats to society. The scientific instrumentation developed from this effort will enhance Australia's potential aid for early detection of explosive and chemical weaponry and also in the analysis of crime scenes. This research will significantly improve our abilities to maintain the operational advantage of Australia's security agencies through superior capabilities in threat detection.Read moreRead less
Promoting Healthy Eating Habits: an investigation of the link between healthy eating and school canteens. The incidence of childhood obesity is of growing national concern. This is evidenced by the considerable media attention given to the problem and its place as a national research priority. While there has been a focus on the link between childhood obesity and physical activity, less research has been undertaken into the link between obesity and nutrition. This research project aims to inv ....Promoting Healthy Eating Habits: an investigation of the link between healthy eating and school canteens. The incidence of childhood obesity is of growing national concern. This is evidenced by the considerable media attention given to the problem and its place as a national research priority. While there has been a focus on the link between childhood obesity and physical activity, less research has been undertaken into the link between obesity and nutrition. This research project aims to investigate the link between healthy eating and the design and management of school canteens with the view to developing design and management guidelines that will influence the life-long eating habits of Australian children.Read moreRead less
Formally-Based Security Evaluation Procedures. Guaranteeing information security is of critical national importance, especially in the current political climate. Devices intended to safeguard Australia's electronic communications must be proven secure using leading-edge techniques. Currently, evaluation of such devices relies on informal procedures and the experience of individuals. This project will introduce more rigour into security evaluations by adapting techniques from the fields of saf ....Formally-Based Security Evaluation Procedures. Guaranteeing information security is of critical national importance, especially in the current political climate. Devices intended to safeguard Australia's electronic communications must be proven secure using leading-edge techniques. Currently, evaluation of such devices relies on informal procedures and the experience of individuals. This project will introduce more rigour into security evaluations by adapting techniques from the fields of safety analysis and formal methods. In particular, mathematical concepts will be introduced using notations suitable for use by security personnel with no prior formal methods experience. The outcomes of this project will enable more efficient and effective information security evaluations.Read moreRead less
Developing a Scalable Infrastructure for Embedded E-Security Incorporating Cryptography and Biometric Authentication. A fundamental flaw in existing embedded e-security technologies is their cryptography-plus-PIN-number infrastructure. This has generated security concerns that have proved a major obstacle to the growth of e-commerce, presently a relatively poor 2% of market share. We aim to design a new infrastructure that can solve this security problem by incorporating cryptography and biomet ....Developing a Scalable Infrastructure for Embedded E-Security Incorporating Cryptography and Biometric Authentication. A fundamental flaw in existing embedded e-security technologies is their cryptography-plus-PIN-number infrastructure. This has generated security concerns that have proved a major obstacle to the growth of e-commerce, presently a relatively poor 2% of market share. We aim to design a new infrastructure that can solve this security problem by incorporating cryptography and biometric authentication into a computing resource limited embedded e-security system. The outcomes of this project will be a set of new cryptosystems, new biometrics processing schemes and new onboard resource allocation schemes that will form the basis for the next generation of embedded systems.Read moreRead less
Building communities: managing public assets to provide social value. Local government facilities have a social value for the community beyond the immediate provision of service or amenity. However, this aspect is not generally considered in the formal planning and management of public facilities, which concentrate on economic considerations and community service needs. This project explores the links between public assets, their social value and community well-being. The research will provide a ....Building communities: managing public assets to provide social value. Local government facilities have a social value for the community beyond the immediate provision of service or amenity. However, this aspect is not generally considered in the formal planning and management of public facilities, which concentrate on economic considerations and community service needs. This project explores the links between public assets, their social value and community well-being. The research will provide a rationale, model, and set of indicators to assess social value for facilities, assisting local government decision-making, including regional and rural communities, and contribute to the development of meaningful long-term infrastructure and community plans.Read moreRead less
Soft Infrastructure, New Media and Creative Clusters: Developing Capacity in China and Australia. The project will position Australia at the forefront of the creative industries internationally and enhance national capacities in the rejuvenation and design of creative urban precincts. A greater appreciation of, and strong links with China, particularly its design and urban sectors, will result. Australian firms will benefit through greater trade opportunities as a result.
Nanoparticles with designed morphology for surface-coating applications. Significantly improved water-based paints, with zero volatile organic content and organic opacifiers, are highly desirable for environmental and health reasons. The science needed to produce such paints has been persistently elusive. USyd and Dulux will collaborate to achieve these paints by using Australian-developed platform technologies that allow polymer architecture to be controlled at molecular and nanoscale levels. T ....Nanoparticles with designed morphology for surface-coating applications. Significantly improved water-based paints, with zero volatile organic content and organic opacifiers, are highly desirable for environmental and health reasons. The science needed to produce such paints has been persistently elusive. USyd and Dulux will collaborate to achieve these paints by using Australian-developed platform technologies that allow polymer architecture to be controlled at molecular and nanoscale levels. This will give us the means to make structured nanoparticles with morphologies that had been regarded as unachievable, and that are the key to dispensing with harmful ingredients in paints.Read moreRead less
Analysis of the financial circumstances of local governments, to assess viability, and improve planning, resource allocation and accountability. The project aims to (a) develop a framework for improved reporting by local government, through a critical analysis of AAS 27 and extant legislative guidelines; (b) assess the financial viability of existing local government units; (c) identify units which may be candidates for amalgamation. Outcomes will include (i) proposals to enhance NSW's pioneer ....Analysis of the financial circumstances of local governments, to assess viability, and improve planning, resource allocation and accountability. The project aims to (a) develop a framework for improved reporting by local government, through a critical analysis of AAS 27 and extant legislative guidelines; (b) assess the financial viability of existing local government units; (c) identify units which may be candidates for amalgamation. Outcomes will include (i) proposals to enhance NSW's pioneering provisions for infrastructure reporting, contained in the NSW Local Government Act 1993 and accompanying guidelines; (ii) a pioneering assessment of the financial circumstances of local government units, having regard to the projected costs of upgrading legacy infrastructure; (iii) development of a framework for assessing future funding needs. Read moreRead less
Architectural glass related injury: implications for improving public safety. The immediate benefit of the project is information for government, the building and furniture industries, regulators, and the community to underpin interventions to prevent architectural and furniture glass injury. A major longer term benefit is to provide the crucial injury and glass data for future conduct of the other two phases of the planned research program, namely, glass performance testing and simulated human- ....Architectural glass related injury: implications for improving public safety. The immediate benefit of the project is information for government, the building and furniture industries, regulators, and the community to underpin interventions to prevent architectural and furniture glass injury. A major longer term benefit is to provide the crucial injury and glass data for future conduct of the other two phases of the planned research program, namely, glass performance testing and simulated human-glass impact studies. These future studies will provide the scientific evidence for review of the Standards for architectural glass for application to the building, design and construction industry to increase safety for the Australian community. Read moreRead less