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This month I was fortunate to join an elite group of Australia’s most successful AI and automation ‘rock stars’, brought together by the team at 6 Degrees media, to share critical insights on how these emerging technologies are being applied as core accelerants to their digital business initiatives. We shared the stage with math genius and MC Adam Spencer to share best practice AI and automation with an audience of 150+ senior tech and business executives from Australia’s top industries at the Voco Brisbane City Centre Hotel. I've tried to reproduce some of the content from my fireside chat with Adam in this blog post.  Credit: Wilma James, CSIRO's Data61
Like the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists that formed to highlight challenges to Australia's water and biodiversity, the Kingston AI Group has formed to raise our concerns at the low level of investment that Australia is making into AI research compared to our peer nations. To address this we need a strategy with a clear vision of where Australia wants to be in the AI space, supported by funded initiatives. Incentivising government departments and businesses to adopt AI by de-risking is important, for example, if organisations had confidence that they could implement technologies and would not sustain a financial loss in doing so, it would support them to work with local AI suppliers. In turn, more engagement with the business sector feeds back into the research and commercialisation process so that solutions to relevant problems can be fast-tracked.
AI will open up a range of new creative enterprises and require new business models so, for those willing to design AI-first businesses the results will be transformative. An example of this would be the application of computer vision to robotics. Until very recently robots have remained limited in their application to the factory floor and within university laboratories, but advanced in computer processing power and the ability for robots to use cameras to gain awareness of their surroundings in real-time, usually by applying AI algorithms on the edge to enable real-time decision-making has been transformative for robotics, resulting in a while new class of robots, called field robots, that are designed to work in the complex and ever changing world which we inhabit. Soon we will see robots far more commonly out and about and interacting with us in a range of home and work environments.
While Australians are fast adopters of new technology in their personal lives, Australian businesses are far more conservative. The biggest hurdle to implementing innovation is risk aversion and fear of failure. In Australia we have a much lower tolerance for this than in other countries such as the US, leading to the irony that many Australian AI companies find it easier to sell into the US military than into Australia. Acceptance that some technology projects will fail is essential to take advantage of innovation. To reap the benefits of automation and to see business transformation requires responsible risk-taking and will increasingly become a source of competitive advantage for those companies able to do this well.
Australia will experience difficulties in filling jobs in many sectors by 2030. Growing demand for technological and soft skills. Greatest skills shortfall in computers and mathematics. We will never have enough mechatronics engineers and electrical tradespeople, especially those with a background in control. We will see significant shortfalls in: engineering; technical support; health care; community and social services; management; business and financial operations. Creative thinking and human-computer interaction skills in general will be in high demand.
The #1 industry that will be disrupted is Construction, a high risk low margin sector that has been impervious to innovation until relatively recently and hence will see great disruption when it does occur. >80% of Australians are employed in the Services sector so logistics and transportation will be one of the first areas where we will see significant changes, followed by Defence, Emergency Response, healthcare, personal services and hopefully the education sector will benefit from automation, to take some of the drudgery out of teaching. Increasingly we will see cross-overs of technology from when sector into another, e.g., from Mining into Construction and vice versa.
Who benefits from the implementation of AI and autonomous robotics? The case of robotic surgery in hospitals demonstrates how benefits may be unevenly distributed. In Australia access to robotic surgery is limited to the private sector. At what point will patients of public hospitals be able to benefit from this capital intensive technology? The open question is whether these new technologies will be applied to the benefit of all members of society and how can we make sure that happens. A lot of people have raised concerns about whether these technologies will lead to a widening gap between rich and poor and lead to further income inequality, at which point we might see people actively disengage from the technologies that are not supporting them to have better lives.
Australia was the first country in the world to automate its ports using automated straddle carriers - large robots that move shipping containers around. The impact of these robots have seen significant savings in terminal operating expenses such as labour and maintenance costs. Other direct benefits include increased efficiency, more predictable operations, higher availability, significantly improved occupational safety (zero safety incidents), better site security and longer equipment life spans. In an automated terminal, horizontal transportation and lifting equipment is always handled optimally. Collisions due to human error and unplanned repair tasks are eliminated. Automated equipment also conserves resources and contributes to the sustainability of resources. Significant fuel savings are realised through optimal driving patterns, a reduced need for air-conditioning, and consistent implementation of engine stop functionality during equipment idle time. An automated terminal also requires less lighting in the yard, which decreases power consumption and reduces the environmental impact of operations. Automation can directly help achieve organisational ambitions towards decarbonisation.
Quantum sensors. Quantum sensors allow greatly improved performance and will transform navigation and positioning capabilities for self-driving vehicles of all kinds - underwater, in the air, on land and beneath the earth's surface. These sensors will be so precise that the laws of quantum physics are required to understand how they function. Quantum sensors will revolutionise robotics and I can't wait to see them in action.
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I recently attended a family reunion in Reefton, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. An area that was once remote and inhospitable, cut off from the more civilised east coast by impassable mountain ranges but made attractive by the discovery of extensive gold reefs in the 1880s, for which the town is named. Reefton has now turned into a welcoming historical relic visited by the odd tourist and nature/adventure lover and, in February 2023, more than 30 of the Hocking clan. From left to right: (1) main street of Reefton today; (2) the ghost town of Waiuta; and (3) the dense forest of the West Coast above the Snowy River battery. My great, great grandparents, John and Margaret Hocking, emigrated from Cornwall to New Zealand on the Edwin Fox in 1878. John Hocking was a miner who had been forced into farming as the Cornish mines closed, while Margaret Oates Hocking was the daughter and sister of Cornish miners. Their passage was paid for by the New Zealand government to help build up their farming workforce and, on arrival, they were sent to a farm near Richmond where conditions were very primitive. At the same time, word was spreading of the gold discovered at Reefton and the need for experienced miners. John and Margaret moved to Blacks Point, near Reefton, as the mines opened up on the West Coast. John found work as a pick and shovel man at the Energetic gold mine, in 1879 and purchased shares in several other mines in the area. Margaret ran a boarding house at Blacks Point, notable for being the only temperance (no alcohol) boarding house in the area. She was also one of the first women suffragettes to sign the 1893 petition for women to get the vote in New Zealand, which occurred that same year more than 20 years before most other self governing nations. The Blacks Point museum preserves some of her treasures as well as part of the Golden Fleece stamping mill (relocated downstream by helicopter in the 1970s), which crushed and separated the gold from the quartz extracted from the Energetic Mine, which was then transported down the mountain by tramway. (1) John and Margaret Hocking and family pictured on the verandah of their West Coast home, pictured from left to right Maggie, Nicholas and Howie (Richard Herbert) in the pram, Margaret, Caroline Jane (aka Jinny), Beatrice, Ada and John; (2) Mrs Hockings Boarding House at Blacks Point; (3) the 1893 petition for women to get the vote. John died of Miner's phthisis in 1898 caused from breathing in the dust generated during mining and crushing of the quartz veins. Today we would call it silicosis. John and Margaret had a daughter Caroline Jane, my great grandmother, who married an Australian, named Herbert Thompson who had moved to New Zealand and had experience operating steam engines. Bert worked mainly above ground at the Energetic mine, operating a steam motor that lowered the cage down the 2120 foot deep main shaft, a position he was favoured with as he didn't drink and hence was considered reliable. From left to right: (1) slowly decaying remnant mine road bridge; (2) the top of the 2120 ft shaft of the Energetic Mine where both my great great grandfather and great grandfather worked; (3) a swing bridge on the trail up to the Energetic Mine in Victoria Forest Park. Caroline and Bert Thompson had 6 children including Doris (my grandmother) and the entrepreneurial Arthur (her younger brother) who joined a cooperative to start a private coal mine in the hills above the Energetic mine, worked by 4-5 partners who did the blasting and shovelling and shared the profits (if any) of the enterprise. The mine was called Defiance and is not recorded on any maps but overlooked the Waitahu River. While in the area we joined some of our relatives in hiking up the Murray Creek track that follows the old mine roads into gold and coal country. We visited the well-marked Energetic mine (see above) where the relics of the cage my great grandfather used to operate still lie crumbling near the surface of the exposed shaft. The more enthusiastic members of the party (the Thompsons) were determined to rediscover the small private coal mine their father (Arthur - the grandson of John Hocking) had owned and worked. They had advertised the adventure as a 4.5km walk, neglecting to mention that was only one-way. Distances were also sketchy as the position of the mine relied on 60+ year old memories of a visit by one of Arth's children to the mine when they were 10 years old. Arth had stopped mining and the family moved away from Reefton after the roof of the mine collapsed on him and he spent more than a year in Greymouth hospital. The Thompson brothers were determined to find the mine and were rewarded with the mid-afternoon rediscovery of Defiance (pictured below). Little now remains visible apart from the dark, flooded entrance and some abandoned rusty implements. The forest is reclaiming all the old mines in the area but their legacy will live on while adventure tourism remains popular, with the old mine roads in the region converted into hiking and mountain bike trails. After our 12km hike we all regrouped in Reefton in time for a well-earned family reunion dinner. Left to right: (1) Hiking through the Victoria Forest Park to find the Defiance mine; (2) View down the valley of the Waitahu river; (3) the flooded entrance to the Defiance coal mine. Reefton's School of Mines was a real treat. I couldn't decide whether I liked the Wilfley table, the furnace, the rock displays or the old mining manuals best... Golden Fleece quartz mine stamper battery, relocated close to the Blacks Point museum and generating its own electricity. To see a fabulous video of the rediscovery of the Defiance coal mine, please visit my second cousin Grant Thompson's YouTube channel.
 In 2019 we held the inaugural Hopper Down Under conference in Brisbane - a celebration of women technologists created by women technologists. With more than 700 local women technologists in attendance, it was a great way to announce to the Asia Pacific region that, as far as women technologists are concerned, #wearehere.  Hopper Down Under is our very own version of AnitaB.org’s Grace Hopper Celebration. AnitaB.org is a nonprofit, social enterprise that envisions a future where the people who imagine and build technology mirror the people and societies for which they build it. Amongst other community-building initiatives, AnitaB.org runs the world’s largest event for women technologists called the Grace Hopper Celebration. Later this year, in September in Orlando, Florida, more than 25,000 women technologists will gather for the Grace Hopper Celebration making another clear statement that #wearehere. A diverse set of people already contribute to the development of the world’s technologies and we need to encourage and grow that contribution. Ini August 2019 we captured a little bit of that magic in our region, with Hopper Down Under showing that #wearehere. #wearehere is the first step in challenging the myth that there are no women in tech or that women somehow choose not to engage with technology. #wearehere is the rally call that will see the establishment of an AnitaB.org community in our region and an increased profile and recognition of the contributions women make to technology. During Hopper Down Under, as Master of Ceremonies I had a lot to say about change and how change happens. The number of women we have in the local tech industry in the Asia Pacific is not high enough. It won’t be high enough until the percentage of women in tech is equal to the percentage of women in society - about 51%. So how do we achieve this? I believe it is through events like Hopper Down Under and through the work of organisations like AnitaB.org that are about building communities. And communities don’t get built by people sitting on the sidelines wishing it were so. When the local steering committee first started approaching people with the idea of having a Grace Hopper Celebration style event in the region, we were asked to help justify this against sponsorship decision criteria. And it soon became apparent that it is really hard to justify supporting an inaugural conference like this one because it had never been done in the region before and we had no answers to simple questions like:
Change does not happen without leadership. It is clear that we need to be doing more to support women technologists in our region, and all of the people and organisations who donated their time and dedicated resources towards making Hopper Down Under happen showed leadership. Which is why I’d like everyone to think about our foundation sponsors. We spoke to a lot of people and organisations about the need for Hopper Down Under and the response of many was to say, “we’ll see how it goes this year and then think about it”. #wearehere because our foundation sponsors thought differently. Our foundation sponsors stood out in being prepared to place their bet on women technologists in the region, and Hopper Down Under would not have happened without them. A big thank you to:
I like to think of our foundation sponsors, and all the people who attended and volunteered their time to make Hopper Down Under happen as the true believers. The people and organisations who turned up - not fully knowing what to expect but with the belief that we need to do something, to do more to ensure that we have diversity in our local tech communities. Congratulations to everyone involved for showing up and being part of Hopper Down Under. Community-building starts with showing up and being prepared to serve your community #wearehere.  For many attendees, Hopper Down Under was the first time they had attended a tech conference dominated by women. With more than 700 people registered, 79% of delegates were from Australia, and we also welcomed people from the USA, Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, India, China and a large contingent from New Zealand. We had more than 90 student scholars, we received 131 submissions, we recruited 59 volunteers to review all the papers and another 25 people volunteered to chair sessions. We also had our on-the-ground volunteers or “Hoppers”, recognisable by their distinctive t-shirts. On Day 1 of the conference the community rallied behind the event and our hashtag #hopperdownunder was trending #1 for 10 hours straight.  Behind the scenes, the people that spent the last 12+ months making Hopper Down Under happen included the 5 person Hopper Down Under steering committee (pictured left to right) - Sally-Ann Williams, Kat Falkner, Anabelle Cooper, Jane Scowcroft and me.  Also the >30 members of the AnitaB.org team, who worked tirelessly to make this event become a reality. Not all of the AnitaB.org team travelled to Australia for the event but those who did travelled from all over the US and Canada enduring more than 24 hours air travel to attend. For many on the AnitaB.org team it was their first trip to Australia (and their first time trying TimTam slams), but hopefully not their last as they work with us to build up a community here in Australia, New Zealand, and the rest of the Asia-Pacific, where the thirst for technology development is increasingly strong. We were especially lucky to have the Chief Operating Officer for AnitaB.org, Dr Jackie Copeland, give opening and closing presentations at the conference and the amazing Deidra Freeman producing the whole event.  The decision to host the inaugural Hopper Down Under in Queensland has been questioned by some - mainly our southern cousins - who are sometimes surprised to learn that we do any tech at all up here in the north. Yet in Queensland we are responsible for producing 60% of the world’s mining software, we host the world’s first automated port facility - the Port of Brisbane, we operate our world first autonomous mines via integrated remote operations centres here in Brisbane and we are the fastest growing state in Australia for new start-ups. More than half of Queenslanders reckon they have had an idea worth commercialising - which shows we are a state of optimists. And blind optimism is the reason this all came about. As someone relatively “new” to technology and seeking ways to redress the gender imbalance in my own field (robotics), I was inspired by the work happening in Australia in astronomy where an influential annual “Women in Astronomy” conference appears to be making a difference. I started asking around about what sort of “Women in Computer Science” conferences might be out there and many people said, “Oh, you mean like the Grace Hopper Celebration”. Being new to technology I was not embarrassed by my lack of knowledge of this event and was also blissfully naive as to its scale and influence, I figured, let’s not reinvent the wheel, maybe they’ll let us have one of these in our region? Then things got tricky. It was the second half of 2017 and while I’d tracked down everything I could about GHC and AnitaB.org I didn’t seem to be able to get their attention, nor were we on their community map. Enter Nicky Ringland who introduced me to Sally-Ann Williams at a SuperStars of STEM event. Sally-Ann was able to get us a foot in the door. There was a lot of talk, we formed our local steering committee, but convincing AnitaB.org to trust us with this significant event boiled down to a face-to-face meeting at my first GHC in September 2018 in Houston Texas, accompanied by Jane Scowcroft.  Another important player and unsung hero in events was AusTrade. Like our foundation sponsors, AusTrade, (especially Janelle Casey and Gabrielle Hall) were true believers. The Hon Peter McGauran, our Trade Commissioner based in Houston, accompanied us to the meeting with AnitaB.org and the rest is history. AusTrade and AusIndustry went on to also host the inaugural “Australian Women in Tech Pitch” event the day after Hopper Down Under to help support our local ecosystem.  And finally a big thank you to all 700+ people who supported Hopper Down Under by presenting and attending the event. We were able to put together an inspiring program full of awesome content thanks to you. You are the true believers who joined us because you know this is important. You are why #wearehere. And this is not the end, this is just the beginning. We now have an AnitaB.org community for Australia and New Zealand. Sign up to the group now https://community.anitab.org/groups/australia/ In September we will be holding Hopper events in Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne (and hopefully Auckland and Wellington) to livestream segments of the Grace Hopper Celebration from Orlando, Florida. Last week we ignited a flame - it’s now up to you to keep the flame alive. AnitaB.org has challenged all of us to develop action plans to achieve gender parity 50:50 by 2025. Remember, change does not happen through inaction. It is within the power of all of us to contribute to positive change to help us achieve the Vision of AnitaB.org, and see “a future where the people who imagine and build technology mirror the people and societies for which they build it.” This is the start. #wearehere and we now need to take action. So to all of you - you #truebelievers - Let’s keep the dream alive.  |
AuthorA youngest child, always searching for meaning. Archives
June 2023
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