Defence Science Institute Advisory Board. Meeting 01/2015

Transcription

1 Defence Science Institute Advisory Board Meeting 01/ March 2015 Attendees Chair: Dr Roger Lough AM Attendees Prof Jim McCluskey Dr Len Sciacca Mr John O Callaghan Mr Miles Partridge Dr Michael Green Mr Lou Pivato Prof Rob Evans Assoc Prof Simon Ng Ms Charlotte Morris Mr Craig Butler DVC-R, University of Melbourne Chief, Partnerships and Engagement, DSTO Director - Defence & Government Relations, Australian Industry Group Technical Director, Tectonica Australia Director Industry Programs, Employment, Trade, Aviation, Defence & Aerospace, Dept. of Economic Development Head of Engineering Operations, BAE Systems Director, Defence Science Institute Associate Director, Defence Science Institute Government and Industry Engagement, Defence Science Institute Engagement Manager, Defence Science Institute Secretariat: Ansonne Yap Defence Science Institute Apologies: Ms Laura Anderson Chairman, SVI Global The meeting commenced at 13:00 hrs. Agenda Item One Welcome/Introductions/Apologies The Chair noted the apology from Ms Laura Anderson who was unable to attend due to prior commitments at the 2015 Australian F1 Grand Prix, the late arrival of Mr John O Callaghan and the early departure of Dr Michael Green. Also the Chair welcomed Mr Lou Pivato from the BAE Systems who was attending in lieu of Mr Steve Worlock and also the successor of Mr Martin Bartlett. All attendees were introduced for the benefit of first-time attendees at the DSI Advisory Board meeting. Agenda Item Two Minutes from previous meeting 2 October 2014 Paper One: Minutes from previous meeting The Minutes were accepted by the Board with no changes. 1

2 Agenda Item Three Actions Arising The Board noted the status of the Outstanding Actions from previous meetings This action related to Prof Rob Evans to meet with the IBM R&D. Initial meeting has been carried by Simon Ng and future meeting arrangements have been confirmed The Board noted the setup of Ai Group Defence Industry roundtable was still in progress Craig Butler and Charlotte Morris met with Megan Lilley to promote the professional intern program and received positive endorsement from the Ai Group. Roger and Rob also reinforced this initiative at an Ai Group Defence Council meeting. The Ai Group has asked for relevant case studies for reference Simon Ng adjusted the action plan for organizing a DSTO research priority workshop to inform the Research Program themes. He has prepared a submission paper outlining the value of DSI for DSTO and actions to improve engagement and alignment This action was deferred to synchronize with the submission paper proposed in Simon Ng presented on the suitability of the CRC impact tool to measure the influence of DSI had in each of the targeted funding outcomes and some general issues DSI needs to overcome in order to apply the CRC impact tool in its context. These include: DSI does not manage research project which makes tracking more difficult, but not impossible. Tracking impact at the program level, and not the level of individual research project may make it more relevant to assessing DSI s initiatives. Estimates of risk would need to be done in consultation with researchers and with reference to success rates with grant bodies The CRC model aims for large measuring program and allows usage outputs up to 12 years. Given the DSI s timescale, it may be challenging to apply tracking measure in that regard. DSI s grant review process would provide some data that could be used to assess each grant using this tool, such as chance of output information, probability of usage, etc. The CRC model recommends a test run with a part of the DSI program over the next 6 months or maybe a retrospective analysis of a program. Simon Ng suggests working with the DMTC to understand their adaptation, but also raised concerns about resources needed to manage this trial-run. In DSI s context, Simon Ng explained his study was focused on how much DSTO dollars DSI had influence over and how much DSTO dollars DSI had channelled into the University sector in Victoria along with several other qualitative measures of impact for example productivity growth, GDP, etc. 2

3 For the period of , based on the data recorded by the DSTO, it has invested $7.7 million in the Victoria University sector while DSI directly contributed $1.1 million via grant schemes to the same sector together with $300,000 on support of Universities workshops. DSI had also indirectly leveraged $15.2 million (contribution of ARC, Defence, DSTO, Universities and others) into the University sector. From the DSTO s perspective, DSI had guided $2.16million of Defence R&D investment, which was 28%, into the Victoria University sector over the period of Data suggests that the DSI was accountable for 18% of DSTO s investment budget in the Victoria University sector. Research suggests that publically funded research had a net positive impact on the economy 1 3:1 ROI ratio for each dollar invested in public funded research project over a period of 15 years. DSI capitalises on this by funding Defence related research through the public research sector. As part of measuring DSI s impact, and the current contract (round 2) reporting requirement, DSI will now track publications and other outcomes from its DSI funded projects. DSI has currently supported 30 PhD students via RHD grants to date. One of the measures of CRC impact tools focuses on how much co-contribution created by the targeted groups. Over the past four months, in the 2015 round 1 grant schemes, collaborative projects supported by the DSI are expected to attract over $400,000 cash contribution from industry and half a million cash from the DSTO, plus other in-kind contribution from the respective stakeholders. Prof Rob Evans shared observations on the CRC impact tool by highlighting that the State Government of Victoria would like DSI to attract more people interested in working with the Research Institute while industry would like more research emphasize on Defence related projects and the University sector would like to get more industry members engaged in their research. He also stressed that lots of work was needed in order to activate the cultural change in the current situation. 1 Research suggests funding of PFROs has a net positive impact on productivity, but funding of multi-domain consortia (eg CRCs) and Defence R&D Institutions has less impact. This is consistent with the spill-over effect generally observed with publically funded research. Not all research is done with an objective of creating impact in terms of productivity or through spill over. 3

4 Len Sciacca commented that Defence technology exposure to industry is an issue and it requires cultural change. The Chair agreed with the observation shared by Prof Rob Evans and Len Sciacca on the need for cultural change across the board The paper on return of investment in R&D was completed by Prof Rob Evans Monash University has committed to participate in the DSI s initiatives in principal Simon Ng, Charlotte Morris and Craig Butler met with David Henderson of University Melbourne to provide a brief on the DSI. The outcome of the meeting was an agreement to bring the key contacts in the network of University of Melbourne Research Office to meet with DSI regularly to enhance the quality of collaboration. Agenda Item Four Defence Science Institute Overview of DSI Progress KPIs The Board was briefed on the status of Contract One KPI indicators. In overall performance, DSI had overachieved for the deliverables set out for Contract One. Please refer to the table below for details. DSI KPI Indicators Summary Contract 1 KPI Result Target Total Number of Employees Total PhD Students Total Universities Under MOU 4 4 Total Universities Participating 8 N/A Cumulative Spend $6.5M $6M The money DSI managed to inject into the University Sector was mainly contributed by the Australian Research Council (50%), Defence R&D (28%), DSTO (18%), University (2%), Industry (1%) and others (1%). Every DSI $1 invested to support R&D project had yield $15 of contribution from other sources. DSI Finance (Contract One) The Board was advised on the expenditure breakdown of DSI during the contract period. DSI expected a marginal overspend of $8, upon the conclusion of the Contract One period with the largest portion of expenditure associated with personnel ($1,323,056) followed by research 4

5 funding ($1,032,306), facilities and infrastructure ($361,380) and the remaining expenses related to research workshops and engagement. 40% of DSI budget during the Contract One period was spent on non-research activities. In this regard, the Board was assured that DSI has adopted a new budget model for Contract Two covering period and would aim to reduce the non-research expenditure to 10% of the given budget. DSI is moving towards an independent funding model. Agenda Item Five Defence Science Institute Activities DSI Activities -University Engagement Five universities (Monash, RMIT, Deakin, Swinburne and Federation University) have made inprincipal commitment to contribute cash, $300,000 and in-kind $350,000 in total. The breakdown of contribution was cash $ 100,000 from Monash and RMIT each, cash $50,000 from Swinburne and Deakin each, Federation University is providing in-kind contribution only. DSI is working on the engagement details with Latrobe and Victoria University. No in-principal participation agreement with these universities has been established at this stage. DSI was ahead in terms of its university engagement KPI, with anticipation that it would achieve its target as stipulated in Contract Two by the end of Prof Rob Evans further elaborated that with the new funding model DSI was using the money from the Vic State Government to manage facilitation on its behalf and later distributing the money to the University sector. The Chair questioned whether the rules defining in-kind has been established with these Universities. Simon Ng assured the Board that the five Universities understood the in-principal agreement and the parameters of in-kind sought by DSI. The details of specific in-kind requirements of each university member have yet to be established. The Chair suggested using the Participant s in-kind contribution (a partial FTE) to task someone within that university to work with DSI to identify capabilities and appropriate researchers for collaborations. Prof Rob Evans supported this idea. Strategy on a Page The Board noted that the previous general business plan would be replaced by the Strategy on a Page in order to better achieving the long term objective of DSI. A work plan detailing DSI goals and 5

6 actions over the next 12 months was introduced to the Board. Prof Rob Evans recapped that the focus of this new strategic plan is how DSI connects the research the university sector, the DSTO and Industry. Lou Pivato asked if DSI would focus only on the Victoria Universities. Prof Rob Evans advised that the State Government of Victoria has not restricted DSI to only cooperate with the Victoria Universities. Once DSI has established a functional model to connect with the targeted groups, it would explore new initiatives with other collaborators in other states when it has the capability to do so. DSI has been approached by the South Australia government and asked to build a mutually beneficial ongoing engagement or sister organization when funding becomes available. Communication Strategy DSI has redesigned its website to better communicate what DSI is about and what it does. The new website is designed specifically to communicate the opportunities, engagement activities and news of DSI transparently in order to achieve a more effective communication with the target audience. Social media / twitter feed has been installed to stay in touch with the community members. Update of DSI Simon Ng informed the Board that DSI has met it financial/kpi targets for the first agreement and had finalized the 2 nd agreement with the State Government. The first payment ($200,000) scheduled in the 2 nd agreement has been received. In addition, DSI has almost achieved the KPIs listed in the 2 nd agreement by having set up the participant model with Victorian Universities. It has produced a Strategy on a Page and a detailed work plan to achieve the 2nd Agreement KPIs. A new CRM database is also in place to collect data on key technology areas in the hope to turn them into full capabilities resource. ITRP The Board was advised that the ITRP Digital Engineering initiative was delayed due to the need to negotiate participation from a suitable Prime. The original focus on LAND400 has been expanded to encompass digital engineering as applied to large-scale projects more generally. DSI is working to ensure the right partners and the right primes are involved in the renewed ITRP bid. Mentoring program in DSTO The Board discussed the possibility of the DSI supporting the mentoring program in DSTO. Positive 6

7 response received from the Board regarding this proposal, which would help DSTO to enhance engineering practice and professional development. The Chair asked how DSI was going to communicate and market this opportunity to enable University members to be part of the DSTO mentoring program. Len Sciacca responded that the DSI should work through the D1 initiative within DSTO and committed to helping the DSI make contact with D1 lead. Standing Offer Panel Prof Rob Evans announced that the DSI had helped the University Melbourne to win a seat on the DSTO Panel for the Scientific, Engineering and Other Technical Services. It did well in the standing offer panel on a large list of academic expertise. University Melbourne had 70 academics from the School of Engineering, the Faculty of Science and BIO21 participating in this DSTO tender and takes pride of place as the record for a single tender submission. In terms of adding tangible value to the DSTO tender process, Len Sciacca commented that University Melbourne has the knowledge to help match the relevant academic expert (university) with a DSTO position which subsequently increases the efficiency of strategic partnering. The Chair then sought feedback from the Board regarding the overview of DSI progress before looking at some of the DSI issues and initiatives closely. Action: Len Sciacca to introduce the idea of DSI supported mentors in DSTO to the D1 initiative /leads through the DLT submission. Jim McCluskey questioned if the DSI PhD apprenticeship would receive any kind of Defence/DSTO/ industry experience or exposure once they move beyond the University context. He also indicated that CRC PhD students had expressed high satisfaction from participating in the CRC mentoring program. DSI assured the Board that the existing DSI grant (2015 grant) would enable the PhD students to receive mentoring from the DSTO or industry partners and emerge with real world experience of Defence and industry needs. Action: DSI to work with DMTC and organize conference annually to bring all stakeholders on board. Action: DSI to consider how it might provide its PhD students with a cohort experience. 7

8 Miles Partridge was interested in the research grant outcome and how to justify the money spent to support DSI facilitation activities. The Chair noted Miles s concern. Simon Ng pointed out that only some research grants lead to commercial outcomes (for instance the voice project produced by RMIT) because that has not been the focus on DSI in the past four years. The Board noted more work needed to be done in this area. DSTO and University Engagement DIF, Innovation & Collaboration Development Craig Butler provided a brief on the overall outcome of the DSI Showcase at the Avalon Innovation Precinct. DSI provided a low cost, high visibility mechanism for promoting University, the DSTO and Industry innovations. The event was well received by a panel of investment experts and the audience. Miles raised concerns that they had never been able to sell any innovation for the past 20 years and questioned who the investors were at this event. This prompted a broad discussion about government policy, business and Defence culture, and the obstacles to collaboration. The Chair reminded the Board that DSI was a small player in the field and could not control all other barriers that already exist in the Australian industry sector. Simon Ng reported that the 2015 Round 1 Grant attracted significant collaborative submissions from the University and Industry Sector. 16 collaborative cases involved DSTO while 28 cases involved Universities. Industry Engagement Craig Butler provided an update on the DSI s Industry Engagement. Since October 2014, DSI has actively built networking and stakeholder participation in DSI activities. As a result, 440 organisations had been recorded in the system (translated from old records) and 54 new industry accounts (14 Primes, 31 SMEs and 9 other industry) and 100 new organisations were added to the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system since its introduction in Oct This new CRM is capable of tracking DSI activities their outcomes and actions required to ensure alignment with the Institutes objectives. From the Avalon showcase, DSI managed to analyse what efforts was successful and what was not. In short, this CRM will help to communicate to the right audience. The Board was advised that the ability of tracking DSI research grant/ facilitation activities would result in a sea change in 8

9 DSI s ability to map its stakeholders capabilities and fine tuning its strategic plan. DSI has six campaigns with industry involvement ongoing at the time of reporting. With the implementation of the new CRM system, DSI managed to identify 12 opportunities with a mixture of University, DSTO and Industry collaboration as well as connection to new customers or investors. Below are the details of existing campaign with industry involvement. 1. Activated Carbon Technology 2. Cyber and IT Security initiative 3. Foreign Comparative Testing Office 4. Grants Round Innovation Showcase 6. SME Engagement Government Engagement Charlotte Morris presented an update on DSI s Government Engagement. Between October 2014 and March 2015, the key priority of DSI was to make the new State Government aware of DSI s role as soon as possible. DSI was able to meet with the Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade; the Hon Adem Somyurek MP attended DSI s EOY event 10 December The new Minister heard from RMIT why universities see value in DSI and also met SMEs who have engaged with DSI in the past. The Chair and Prof Rob Evans met with the Minister for Industry the Hon Lily d Ambrosio MP and the Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade on 16 February Key matters discussed were: The role of DSI to facilitate industry innovation The $200m Future Industries Fund Potential whole of Government, industry and academia initiatives such as a Cybersecurity Centre Scalability of the Institute The Board was made aware that the new government was instantly engaged. The new government has indicated preliminary support for DSI s proposed Cyber & IT Security Centre initiative. DSI will function as a hub for linking multiple stakeholders located in different locations in Australia to build the Cybersecurity center. 9

10 The Minister for Industry sought advice from DSI on how to better distribute future industry funds. DSI was asked to provide feedback on what DSI would do with more funding. In that regard, some interesting solutions, for example business development grant and setting up training centers, were raised up by the Board members. Action: DSI to prepare submission to government on its strategy for growth vis a vis increased funding and/or increased resourcing. Action: Charlotte Morris to coordinate the participation of Jim McCluskley in the next meeting with the new government. The Chair suggests Charlotte works as the point of contact to the Minister of Industry s Office about future industry funds and stressing Defence should be the priority for Victorian industry. Action: Charlotte will continue to report on the status of The Innovation Voucher Program. Charlotte Morris wrapped up the Government Engagement briefing by providing an update on the key personnel for defence industry matters within the Department of Economic Development. Agenda Item Six Items for Board Discussion The Board noted that DSI currently has five technology themes. DSI announced a new Technology Theme, the Cyber & IT Security. Defence Technical Challenge Program DSI presented a new initiative it is considering: the Defence Technical Challenge Program. Defence Technical Challenge Program is similar to the mathematic study groups program in UK. It aims to find an industry member with a specific technical problem and bring them together with a select group of senior experts from the scientific, engineering and mathematical fields (public funded research group) to workshop and solve the problem over 3 days at PACIFIC At the end of the process, a report with solution insights will be delivered to the industry member. It is very much a hands-on problem solving activities. The University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney University and potentially other universities local 10

11 to the event venue would be invited to be part of the partnership of PACIFIC The Chair sought clarification on why UTS and/or Sydney University s involvement was required. Simon Ng explained that the tie to PACIFIC2015 meant it made sense to work with a university in Sydney. The Chair asked how the DSI would focus the event at PACIFIC2015. Simon Ng responded that the DSI would work closely with a number of industry bodies to draw out potential participants that fitted the Maritime focus of PACIFIC2015. If the pilot was successful, then it would be conducted at Land Forces and Avalon Airshow. Simon Ng commented that the DSI will need to find the right (one industry) technical problem, the right industry partner, and the right researchers (academic). DSI has approached DMTC and the Defence Industry Innovation Centre to help find the industry problem for PACIFIC Action: John O Callaghan offered the Ai Group annual meeting as a vehicle for promoting the workshop and the DSI agreed to capitalize on this opportunity. The DSI will work towards a presentation and engagement at the Ai Group Meeting mid-year. The Chair questioned what the decision criteria is for the problem to be solved and how much it would cost to solve the technical problem. Simon Ng suggested that cost of solving the problem would be minimal as the University would have the infrastructure in place and could potentially contribute resources free in aid, but conceded that a full cost analysis had not yet been done. Action: The Chair supported the proposal but suggested the DSI might find value in developing an implementation plan for the program. Defence Innovation Accelerator DSI presented a second initiative it is considering: the Defence Innovation Accelerator. The intent of this initiative is to expose innovation in the DSI s university and industry community to potential investors, venture capital providers, etc. in order to enhance transition to commercial outcomes. DSI proposes to align itself with the University of Melbourne s accelerator program, MAP. The Board discussed ways of initiating this program; the risks involved and suggested that the DSI examine potential approaches for their alignment to DSI objectives. 11

12 Action: The Chair supports the idea of a Defence Innovation Accelerator program and offered that the DSI could provide further details to the Board for more targeted advice as the plan developed. Cyber and IT Security Centre DSI presented a third -initiative the Cyber and IT Security Centre (CITCS). This initiative aims to setup a Cyber & IT Security Centre aimed at enhancing practices and capacity in the industry environment through targeted training, research and policy development. Prof Rob Evans noted this initiative would help the SMEs to meet the challenge of current and emerging cyber security risks, develop university training programs in order to get PhD students trained to address industry problems and concerns. The Board suggested that DSI engage the relevant division in Defence to set up the Centre. The Board gave in principal support this initiative but would like DSI to study a feasible approach to setting up a Cyber Security Centre in Victoria. The Board also had concerns about supply chain, source of funding, the scale of coverage, etc. Action: DSI to form a group with University Melbourne, Monash and Deakin to approach the State Government, Defence and appropriate Federal agencies to undertake an initial scoping study. Agenda Item Seven Agree actions and follow up issues The Board has agreed on the following actions and issues to be followed up / actioned between 12 March and 9 September # Action POC Status Prof Rob Evans to attend further meetings with IBM Research Australia John to work with Charlotte to establish a one off Ai Group Defence Industry roundtable with defence research as the key theme Organise a DSTO research priority workshop to inform the Research Program themes has been realigned to support the submission paper outlining the value of DSI for DSTO and actions to improve engagement and alignment. R. Evans In progress C. Morris In progress S. Ng In progress 12

13 Len Sciacca to provide a list of the contacts to Simon Ng in order for him to begin to coordinate a workshop to determine key research themes. This has been deferred to synchronize with the submission paper proposed in Len Sciacca to introduce the concept of DSI supported mentors in DSTO to the D1 initiative /leads and in the DLT submission DSI to work with DMTC and organize conference annually to bring all stakeholders on board DSI to consider how it might provide its PhD students with a cohort experience DSI to prepare submission to government on its strategy for growth vis a vis increased funding and/or increased resourcing Charlotte will work as the point of contact to the Minister of Industry s Office about future industry funds and coordinate the participation of Jim McCluskley in the next meeting with the new state government. L. Sciacca Completed L. Sciacca To be initiated SC. Morris S. Ng R. Evans/ S. Ng To be initiated To be initiated To be initiated C. Morris In progress Follow up on The Innovation Voucher Program. C. Morris In progress DSI will work towards a presentation and engagement at the Ai Group Annual Meeting in June to promote the Defence Technical Challenge Program. S. Ng/ C. Butler To be initiated DSI to develop an implementation plan for the Defence Technical Challenge Program DSI to develop a work plan for the Defence Innovation Accelerator DSI to form a group with University Melbourne, Monash and Deakin to approach the State Government, Defence and appropriate Federal agencies to undertake an initial scoping study on the Cyber and IT Security Centre for Victoria. S. Ng/ C. Butler S. Ng/ C. Butler R. Evans/ S. Ng In Progress In Progress To be initiated Agenda Item Eight Other Business/ Next Meeting It was proposed the next meeting should take place in September No other business was raised. The Chair declared the meeting closed at 3.30pm. 13