Page 14 - Australian Defence Magazine - June 2018

DEFENCE BUSINESS
CIVSEC
Securing Society CIVSEC 2018
The five eyes panel at CIVSEC
security agencies, and the document sets out the newly-created National Security Science and Technology Centre’s (NSSTC) role in helping national security agencies with understanding and prioritising their science and technology requirements and to co-ordinate research and development efforts to meet the ever evolving threat.
An NSSTC Interdepartmental Committee was established in March 2017 to provide a cross agency governance mechanism to review and endorse national security poli- cies and priorities and the chief technology officer is Dr Richard Davis, who chaired the stream on the opening day of the conference.
In his keynote address Dr Zelinsky told delegates that national security has been a growing concern over the last two decades and that the environment is becoming increasingly unstable, with threats for- ever changing and that timely and accu- rate intelligence is vital to countering the emerging threats.
“At this conference is that we’re putting science and technology in a strategic role and this is actually something new. Over the last two decades national security has been a growing concern for countries all over the world and for western nations in particular. Certainly for Australia we can no longer rely on distance to the rest of the world to remain safe,” he said.
“Australia’s regional environment is becoming increasingly unstable. The terror- ist threat to our security and way of life is lurking at our doorstep. These threats are for- ever evolving and it is paramount that we’re not only ready to meet these threats, but to be fully-prepared to prevent such threats from surprising us. Science and technology can be an integral part of national security.”
Dr Zelinsky highlighted the government’s six national security priorities in this area, which include cyber security; intelligence exploitation; border security and identity management; investigative support and forensic science; preparedness, protection, prevention and incident response; and tech- nology forecasting.
Strategic Security stream
Events on the second day of CIVSEC 2018 were led by the Strategic Security Summit Stream, which the organisers touted as the ‘primary policy and thought leadership forum’ at the event.
Chaired by Professor Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University, the stream kicked off with a keynote address by Michael
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
The second biennial Civil Security Congress and Exposition (CIVSEC) was held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 1-3, with the event building
on the inaugural forum launched in 2016.
RUN by the Aerospace Maritime Defence and Security Foundation of Australia (AMDA), the three day event took place in parallel with the invitation-only Police Conference (PC18), which attracted Police Commissioners from around Australia and NZ, together with the Chief Police Officer of the ACT.
According to AMDA officials, CIVSEC 2018 had around 2,000 delegate registrations over the three-day period and the modest exposition hall attracted 74 exhibitors, with a range of capabilities and products on display.
The conference itself was broadly organ- ised into 13 conferences and seminars stretched across the three days, including the Strategic Security Summit; ‘Civil Security in the 21st Century’; Cyber Security Careers Forum; the ‘Drones in Civil Security’ forum;
an aviation stream dealing with critical infra- structure; AustCyber Pitchfest; and the DST Group-led ‘Science and Technology Innovation for Civil and National Security’ series of discussions and presentations.
Science and Technology for
Civil and National Security
In kicking off the S&T stream on the open- ing day of the conference, Chief Defence Scientist Dr Alex Zelinsky launched the Australian Government’s National Security Science and Technologies policy and priori- ties document.
The 2016 Defence White Paper recognised Defence Science & Technology Group’s role in leading the delivery of science and tech- nology in support of Australia’s national
14 | June 2018 | www.australiandefence.com.au