August 2024: Australian technology news

Australian technology news in August of 2024 captured headlines in subject areas including: the Sun Cable project, connecting Australian solar energy to Singpaore; Metakosmos’ space- and extreme-environments suiting; the Victorian state government’s support for Australian tech startups; Goterra’s modular, fly-larvae waste management solutions, and many more.

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Indo-Pacific Space and Earth Conference – Australia in November

Australia: An intro to the 6 Australian startups that made it onto the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, working in space technologies, payments, AR and more / full item
Australia: Employees now have the right to ignore work emails, texts and calls after hours under ‘right to disconnect’ legislation, with employers facing heavy fines for breaches / full item
Bupa 2024 ecoDisruptive program applications close Sept 2 for startups in Australia, NZ and Hong Kong working on healthy societies solutions / full item

Australia: “Already, the number of drones licensed to operate in Australia is greater than the number of existing airspace users combined…” / full item

Australia: Gov’t research body, CSIRO, and Google partner to aid critical infrastructure operators in addressing vulnerabilities in commonly-used software / full item

Tech Femme Fusion business consultancy and services

Australia to export energy to Singapore with Au$30BN solar & battery Sun Cable project, based in remote north and featuring solar arrays, batteries and 4300km subsea cable / full item
Australia’s Sun Cable project, potentially to become the world’s biggest renewable energy project, mulls technology options as it works towards final commitment on $35BN project / full item
Australia: New South Wales gov’t has approved the Goulburn River solar farm, a 450MW project featuring battery storage, set to deliver electricity to 191,000 homes annually / full item
Australia: Woolworths adds $7M to previous $4M in funding for Seedlab Australia food and drink startup incubator / full item

“Australians overwhelmingly support regulating social media and censoring harmful content, with 6 in 10 people polled backing an unproven proposal to ban access to children…” / full item

Australia: ARENA & Innovation Bay Renewable Startup Showcase 2024 applications are open for early-stage renewables, clean-tech and climate-tech startups / full item
Australia: Metakosmos space and extreme environments suit startup gains $2M Pre-Seed funding from Saudi Arabia’s Alzadhar Al-Sanai / full item

Australia: “The report also found customers picked up the financial burden of being scammed in 96 per cent of losses, and 4 per cent were reimbursed or compensated” / full item

Australian Securities & Investment Commission service targeting investment scams, including crypto, has taken down over 7300 websites in its first year / full item
Aus/NZ: Here’s a quick intro to 5 Australian and New Zealand startups that between them raised $38.5M in the past week, working in medtech, fitness and more / full item

GITEX Asia Tech Conference & Expo: April 2025 in Singapore

Australia: A look at ElectraLith, extracting and refining lithium to produce battery-grade hydroxide from a range sources using no water or chemicals, and minimal energy / full item
Australia: DeCarice gains funding with hydrogen tech reducing carbon emissions in heavy-duty diesel engines, capable of replacing 90% of fuel while maintaining power output / full item
Australia: Gov’t looks at developing Trust Exchange initiative, giving citizens access to and control of ID and credentials already held by government / full item
Australia: Tech Ready Women launches in Queensland with Investment Ready Program, aiming to boost funding for local female-founded startups / full item
Australia: Gov’t allocates $39.9M over 5 years for AI policy and capability development to capitalise on potential economic benefits of up to $280BN by 2030 / full item

Microsoft and Accenture: New Zealand’s Generative AI Opportunity

Australia: City of Melbourne has banned rental e-scooters, citing unacceptable safety risks following hundreds of accidents, and public complaints / full item
Australia: A look at some of the Australian mining and mapping technologies making an impact on space exploration / full item
Australia: Birchal crowdfund platform launches Birchal First network, backed by LaunchVic, to connect investors with early-stage Vic hardware tech startups seeking pre-seed to Series A / full item
Australia: Victoria Government backs 8 VC funds with $300K grants in bid to attract funds to support local, early-stage Victorian startups / full item
Australia: A quick intro to 7 startups that raised $45.6 million in the past fortnight, working in ridesharing, travel payments, eye health and more / full item

Cushman & Wakefield: Asia Pacific Data Center Market H1 2024

Australia: University of Wollongong iAccelerate named as a finalist in higher education entrepreneurship focused 2024 Asia-Pacific Triple E Awards / full item
Australia: “…principals in NSW are weighing up banning smartphones and social media for some years…” / full item

“…evidence suggests excessive smartphone use is associated with depression, anxiety and poor sleep quality… disordered smartphone use significantly impaired cognitive performance.” / full item

Australia: Goterra adds country’s largest hotel, 878-room Hyatt Regency Sydney, to clients, installing fly larvae based modular food waste management system / full item
Australia: Global Digital Asset Regulatory Summit 2024 is set for August 30th, hosted by the Digital Economy Council of Australia / full item

“Australia could host up to 100 rocket launches, including SpaceX launches… as a result of the US Technology Safeguards Agreement…” / full item

Australia: Canva to acquire LeonardoAI, fast-growing AI-driven text-to-image and text-to-video platform / full item
ICYMI: Singapore’s Equatorial Space rocket firm secured $1.5M pre-A led by Singapore’s Farquhar VC, with Australia’s Paspalis participating / full item
India-Australia RISE Accelerator applications close September 15th for startups and SMEs with agri-tech solutions / full item
Innovation Leaders Summit, Asia’s largest open innovation matching event, is set for December, matching Japanese firms with businesses and startups / full item
2024 Indo-Pacific Space & Earth Conference is set for Perth, Western Australia, in November / full item
New Zealand: NZ venture capital firm, Pacific Channel, announces expansion into Australia, supported by LaunchVic, the Victorian gov’t startup agency / full item
New Zealand’s Ruminant BioTech gains $3.5M Australian Gov’t grant with feed additive potentially reducing cattle methane output by over 80% / full item

ChatWTO: An Analysis of Generative AI and International Trade

August 2024: Australia

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