NATIONAL ICT RESEARCH VISION GROWS
WITH QUEENSLAND LAB

MEDIA RELEASE

The establishment of a new Queensland laboratory for National ICT Australia (NICTA) is another step towards the realisation of the Howard Government's ten-year $380 million vision for a world-class national centre for ICT research and development.

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, and the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, welcome the establishment of the Queensland laboratory, based in Brisbane and focussing on the national research priority of 'Safeguarding Australia'.

NICTA, jointly funded by the Australian Research Council and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, will use the new Queensland lab to develop solutions to address potential and real threats from terrorism, crime, invasive disease and pests, as well as protecting the security of the online environment within Australia from cyber crime.

"The Government welcomes the announcement of the new Queensland laboratory for NICTA which builds on recent agreements with Melbourne University, the Victorian Government and Sydney University," Senator Coonan said.

"This is the fifth NICTA research node to be established in Australia and will build on and complement research activities in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria."

The Queensland Government is also supporting the node, with an in-kind and cash contribution of $4 million over four years and NICTA expects to invest a similar amount of its Australian Government funding over the same period.

"The Queensland node will help to position NICTA as a unique national organisation that will strengthen Australia's capacity to use and exploit information and communications technology," Dr Nelson said.

Specific areas of research for the Queensland node will include software engineering, intelligent systems, information management and integration, surveillance and recognition and security and trusted information access and interaction.

"The Australian Government recognises the critical role that ICT can play in national security and allocated $50.2 million over four years in this year's Budget for the Critical Infrastructure Protection Strategy," Senator Coonan said.

NICTA was established by the Australian Government in 2001-02 and the Government has committed funding for ten years to 2011 to ensure that NICTA develops into a world class ICT research and research training institute.

Further information on NICTA is available from www.nicta.com.au