US–Aus university partnership to expand data security and intelligence

A new partnership between Australia’s Flinders University and a leading US data research centre at the University of Virginia will expand research and knowledge exchange in the areas of artificial intelligence, data security and democracy.

“Technology plays an essential role in the operation of modern society but when misused can present existential threats to the operation of modern democracies across the world,” said Professor Melissa de Zwart, Director of the Flinders University Jeff Bleich Centre for the US Alliance in Digital Technology, Security & Governance.

“These risks must also be considered in the broader global security context and rapidly shifting global dynamics.”

The new partnership between the Flinders University Jeff Bleich Centre and the University of Virginia’s School of Data Science commences in the wake of the recently announced AUKUS security pact and international technology acquisition program.

“This presents new and unparalleled opportunities for Flinders University to continue its thought leadership and research into artificial and augmented intelligence technologies, data collection and impacts, and the role of technology in modern democracies,” de Zwart said.

The partnership will also activate new international collaboration opportunities in technology, science, engineering and other disciplines.

Jeff Bleich — a former US Ambassador to Australia and active supporter of the Jeff Bleich Centre — said technology is now often used to “weaken democratic institutions and norms, and increase scepticism about democracy due in part to abuses of technologies from within and without”.

“In the midst of all this turbulence created by misinformation and disinformation, development of new technologies will have potentially powerful effects on democracies depending on how they are deployed,” Bleich said.

“Democracy is messy because human beings are messy, and our digital world won’t be any different. But free nations need to work quickly to ensure that the digital world is at least as safe, secure and manageable as the physical world that we all share.

“The collaboration between the University of Virginia and Flinders University in Australia — drawing the best minds from like-minded and trusting democratic nations — is an important step towards ensuring we avoid the mistakes of the past and restore and strengthen democracy,” he said.

The Dean of the University of Virginia’s School of Data Science, Professor Philip Bourne, welcomed the new alliance with Flinders University, saying the “partnership will grow”.

“The application of data science is a key part of maintaining the security of our nation in the digital era,” said Bourne, who completed a PhD at Flinders University in 1980 and later was made a foundation Dean of the School of Data Science in 2019. He joined the University of Virginia in 2017 after a stint as associate director for data science at the US National Institutes of Health.

The amount of data in the world is more than doubling every two years, and data scientists analyse and interpret data to help make informed decisions by using scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract knowledge and key insights from data.

Data science sits at the intersection of computer science, statistics, mathematics, information science and specialised fields of knowledge or study, such as medicine, the arts or music.

Image: Multidisciplinary Flinders University representatives on the US delegation included (rear) Associate Professor Greg Falzon, Dr Stacey Richardson and Joel Lisk, with Professor Michael Gilding (front left), Professor Philip Bourne, Professor Melissa de Zwart, Jeff Bleich, Professor Don Debats, Professor Alistair Rendell and Professor Emma Thomas in the US last week.