AI tools can make decisions, solve problems and recognise patterns without explicit human instruction. Successfully used in health and medical, finance and marketing and agriculture among others, AI has a wide range of applications for decision support and productivity gains.

South Australia has the third-highest proportion of research spending and the highest number of machine learning researchers in Australia, with expertise across all three universities.

Noting the unique opportunities available in South Australia, the globally renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has engaged in a collaborative research partnership to develop a Living Lab at Lot Fourteen. The Living Lab is enabled by principal partner BankSA, MIT, the South Australian Government and technical partners Optus and DSpark. 

This partnership brings together the public, private and global research organisations to analyse data and determine the most effective ways to drive economic and sustainable growth in South Australia. 

Also based at Lot Fourteen is the Australian Institute of Machine Learning, aligned to the University of Adelaide and home to more than 100 researchers solving problems in the fields of medicine, science, space, mining and resources, transport, construction, manufacturing, defence, agriculture and environment. 

Powered by artificial intelligence, computer vision techniques train computers to recognise and classify objects, replicating human vision. These techniques are used in augmented and virtual reality, where a user is immersed partially or wholly in a simulated reality. 

Augmented and virtual reality have many industrial applications across entertainment, simulation and training.

South Australian business Jumpgate VR is one company that has made the leap from entertainment—including film, festivals and music—to apply its virtual reality tech to more traditional industries. 

They’ve partnered with SA Power Networks to create virtual worksites and allow apprentices to learn skills in a safe environment. Elite sportspeople, including AFL players, have also benefitted from virtual training exercises.

Significant growth is predicted for cyber security products and services, driven by increasing digital dependency and transformation. South Australia’s cyber ecosystem includes a host of SME-sized businesses, as well as large prime firms supporting some of the nation’s largest defence contracts. 

Cyber is a dynamic and evolving sector, offering tremendous economic opportunity. Australia’s revenue from cyber has the potential to almost triple by 2030, creating new opportunities for jobs and economic growth. Strengthening cyber skills and capabilities has never been more important. 

To meet growing demand for cyber products and services and to strengthen our skills and capabilities, Australia will require approximately 17,000 more cyber workers by 2026. The $8.9 million Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre (A3C) based at Lot Fourteen will capitalise on the demand for cyber expertise by providing a central connection point for businesses looking to improve business resilience. 

The centre will assist businesses to understand and address their specific cyber needs and challenges, enable hardware and software testing, help launch new products and services to global markets, and provide access to training courses and skilled workers. 

The first cohort of TAFE SA-trained cyber professionals will graduate in 2021 with a Certificate IV in Cyber Security. The qualification is the first national skills-based cyber security certificate level qualification and was developed in partnership between industry and government. Graduates will fill critical skills gaps in the local cyber industry, spurring the growth of local hi-tech businesses and securing supply chains in core industries such as defence.

Internet of Things (IoT) describes devices which capture and exchange data via an internet connection. Examples of IoT technologies from everyday life include fitness trackers and smart homes systems. 

IoT represents a conceptual and practical shift from discrete devices to a system of systems, where everyday objects and places can be viewed as a platform for embedding interconnected digital capability. 

Major areas of IoT growth include manufacturing, automotive, security and essential services.

An example from our research sector can be seen in the way University of South Australia spinoff Cohda Wireless is improving road safety through IoT capability. 

The organisation has developed innovative software solutions which connect vehicles to each other and to smart city infrastructure, enabling accurate vehicle positioning, and cooperative collision avoidance to improve safety and reduce congestion.

With support from the South Australian Government’s Future Mobility Lab Fund, Cohda Wireless is currently trialling its connected autonomous vehicles (CAV) technology using fixed roadside units in Adelaide’s CBD. 

As the largest CAV network in Australia, it will deliver improved road safety outcomes for Adelaide residents through smart technology, supplementing human decision-making with real-time information through interconnected Internet of Things (IoT) systems.

Blockchain technology is disrupting major industries such as retail, finance and logistics, providing businesses with new opportunities for the movement and storage of transactional data locally and around the world. 

Designed around a peer-to-peer system, blockchain allows users to develop a fixed record of transactions. Updates can only be actioned through participant consensus and data is unable to be erased, offering resistance to record tampering. 

The world’s largest wine provenance blockchain trial is being conducted in South Australia’s Clare Valley, aiming to disrupt the multi-billion-dollar market for counterfeit wines. 

Counterfeit wines are a global issue and a sophisticated operation, known to misinterpret a premium producers’ origin, history, bottle labels and corks. 

Clare Valley technology business VinoTrust is working with 12 wineries in the region to trial proprietary technology combining blockchain, IoT, cloud, mobile, automation and geolocation on a platform to fully integrate immutable winery information management in real time. 

The trial has enabled real-time tracking of grapes leaving the vineyard, weighbridge data, automated yield averaging and live comparisons of yields in various Clare Valley sub regions. The secure-by-design distributed ledger technology can be made available to consumers via bottle labels, allowing them to track and trace products from the vineyard to their glass.