NSW grants to accelerate defence technology
Grants of up to $50,000 are up for grabs to provide seed funding for NSW small-to-medium size enterprises to help develop early stage defence technologies.
NSW Defence Advocate Air Marshal (Retd) John Harvey AM said the Defence Innovation Network (DIN) is calling for proposals to accelerate development of technology that can provide innovative solutions for defence capability challenges.
“The NSW Government established the Defence Innovation Network last year with a $1.25 million investment to bring together leading scientists and engineers from seven of the state’s public universities to focus on areas crucial to Australia’s defence needs,” AIRMSHL Harvey said.
“The $50,000 grants being offered are a fantastic opportunity for NSW SMEs to harness the world-class research skills within our university system to help bring their technology concepts to reality for the benefit of Defence.”
DIN grants of up to $50,000 are being offered on a competitive basis and require a commitment of matching funds from applying SMEs.
Successful SMEs receiving grants will be matched with university teams that can offer the best expertise and capacity to deliver projects.
AIRMSHL Harvey said technology areas considered to have the greatest potential for defence innovation are being targeted.
“These include cutting edge areas for defence like trusted autonomous systems, quantum technologies, hypersonics and medical countermeasures.
“One of the key initiatives of NSW’s Strong, Smart and Connected Defence and Industry Strategy is to enhance Defence and industry collaboration with universities to enable faster development and commercialisation of technologies.
“The DIN has brought together defence industry with seven universities, the Defence Science and Technology Group, and the NSW Government through Defence NSW and the Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer to help make NSW and its defence businesses more competitive and innovative on a global scale,” AIRMSHL Harvey said.
SMEs wanting to apply for grants need to lodge full proposals by 6 August – for more information download the flyer here.
