#57 $73B Australia Al Backbone: Data Centres, Renewables | Pete McCrystal
Australia is moving fast to secure its digital sovereignty through new AI “factories” and national-scale data centres. In this episode of Intelligence Optimised Podcast, Todd Crowley speaks with Pete McCrystal about the Firmus–CDC–Nvidia alliance and the national push to establish “AI factories” across multiple states. Together, they unpack what sovereign capability really means when applied to the digital domain.In this episode:✔️ Firmus–CDC–Nvidia alliance — and what “sovereign” control means in practice.✔️ Energy and cooling needs for AI-scale data centres within Renewable Energy Zones.✔️ Why infrastructure planners and policymakers must align on grid stability and capability uplift.✔️ Lessons from global outages and liability risks when AI systems self-modify.✔️ The practical meaning of the Critical Infrastructure Act for data, AI, and national control.✔️ What success by 2028 could look like — from 3D-printed defence parts to domestic manufacturing revival.Listeners gain a grounded view of how AI, energy, and infrastructure intersect in national resilience. The episode offers practical steps for policy, defence, and ICT leaders who need to prepare for an AI-enabled economy without ceding control of the core systems that power it.For Policy advisers, CIOs, defence planners, infrastructure executives, and anyone shaping Australia’s AI and energy strategy across the Indo-Pacific, this is a practical guide.Find deeper briefs inside Vaxa Bureau.
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#56 Sovereign Digital Chains | Swaroop Tulsidas - Part 2
In part 1 of this two-part conversation, Intelligence Optimised explored practical sovereignty — how Australia can’t be fully sovereign in technology, but can be far more prepared. Todd Crowley and Swaroop Tulsidas (formerly of CSIRO and a key figure in the creation of Nature IQ) mapped the digital landscape: AI, IoT, cloud, and digital twins; the rise of Southeast Asian super apps; and the policy trade-offs shaping markets and data rights. That discussion set the stage — outlining how digital infrastructure and natural-capital intelligence can give governments and industry faster, more confident decisions in the Indo-Pacific.Now in part 2, the focus turns from capability mapping to execution and strategy.Swaroop and Todd examine what building true sovereign capability looks like when global supply chains tighten and political cycles shorten. They trace the long game — China’s 50-year rare-earths strategy — and contrast it with how democracies like Australia must build strategic consistency through public-private partnerships, adaptive procurement and trusted friend-shoring.The conversation broadens into manufacturing, capital and talent. From sovereign defence tech such as DroneShield to advanced materials startups and energy innovators like Aquila Earth, they show how regional collaboration and targeted investment can lift resilience without retreating from global markets. Southeast Asia’s industrial realignment emerges as both a test and an opportunity for Australia’s mid-power role: using its science base, venture capital and alliances to fill high-value gaps in AI, robotics and clean-energy supply chains.Listeners will gain perspective on:✔️ How to identify which industries demand sovereign control — and which rely on partnerships✔️ Why capital, not capability, is the real bottleneck for Australian innovation✔️ What lessons India’s defence self-reliance offers for other sectors✔️ How AI and automation can anchor a Southern Hemisphere industrial hubAcross both parts, the message is consistent: sovereignty isn’t isolation — it’s preparedness.Part 1 charted the systems; Part 2 explains how to build and fund them. Together they form a grounded blueprint for leaders navigating risk, technology and power shifts in the Indo-Pacific decade ahead.Find deeper briefs inside Vaxa Bureau.
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#55 Sovereign Digital Chains | Swaroop Tulsidas - Part 1
Australia can’t be fully sovereign in tech - but it can be more prepared. In this episode of Intelligence Optimised, Todd Crowley speaks with Swaroop Tulsidas - formerly of CSIRO and a key figure in the creation of Nature IQ - about practical sovereignty: how to cut risk in an interconnected world by building the right capabilities at home and choosing dependencies wisely.They map the landscape: AI, IoT, digital twins and cloud; the rise of super apps in Southeast Asia; and the policy trade-offs that shape markets and data rights. On the ground, examples matter. We examine Australian moves like an emerging sovereign large language model trained on local content, a digital twin platform for faster infrastructure design, and low-power IoT for agriculture (e.g., smart collars for welfare and tracking). Each points to sovereign digital infrastructure as a means to lift decision speed and reduce exposure in Indo-Pacific supply chains.The conversation tackles environmental regulation and investment timing. With the EPBC Act review flagging gaps, Australia needs clearer rules and faster approvals so capital can flow into housing, energy transition and critical industry without sidelining natural capital. We discuss sequencing natural-capital risk (start with direct exposure, then supply-chain Scope 3), and how predictive analytics and real-time monitoring help leaders move from reports to decisions.Hardware and materials remain hard limits. Australia depends on chips and compute built offshore, and on magnets tied to rare earths where China dominates mining, refining and manufacturing. That creates real risk if regional tensions escalate. Leaders should plan for alternatives, diversify suppliers, and back local processing and manufacturing where it moves the needle.Strategic takeaways:✔️ Use AI digital twins for scenario planning and approvals to cut months from decisions.✔️ Treat natural capital as an asset on the balance sheet to guide trade-offs.✔️ Map supply chains for social and commodity risk; set triggers for rerouting and substitution.✔️ Assume partial sovereignty: decide which dependencies you will own, share or insure.This is frank, usable insight for planners across defence, energy, agrifood, infrastructure and ICT in the Indo-Pacific. Find deeper briefs inside Vaxa Bureau.
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#54 Redesigning Childcare for Productivity & National Growth | Madeline Simmonds & Jen Fleming - Part 2
In Part 1, the conversation exposed the lived impacts of Australia’s current childcare model - from parents driving hundreds of kilometres to reach centres, to professionals unable to return to work because care options don’t fit their family needs. The discussion framed childcare not just as a social issue, but as a national productivity challenge. Part 2 moves from problem to policy. Todd Crowley, Madeline Simmonds and Jen Fleming unpack “Family Selected Care” - a proposed reform to the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) that would let funds follow the family rather than the centre. Parents could choose registered grandparents, nannies, or au pairs as approved carers, giving them flexibility without adding cost to government. The conversation builds on national debate following the Productivity Commission’s early childhood report, which called for universal childcare by 2036 but left families questioning whether flexibility was still out of reach. Simmonds and Fleming argue for a simple shift: let subsidies follow the family, not the centre. Their proposed “Family Selected Care” category within the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) would allow registered grandparents, nannies, or au pairs to receive payments the same way approved centres do.The episode also contrasts Australia’s approach with models in the UK, France, and New Zealand, where parental choice already underpins childcare funding. The guests argue that the current system - centred on providers - fails families in rural regions, shift workers, and households managing health or disability needs. Key takeaways:✔️ A direct, low-cost reform to increase workforce participation ✔️ A pathway to recognise informal and kinship carers ✔️ Alignment with NDIS principles of choice and control ✔️ How current rigidity costs families and productivity alike ✔️ A call to policymakers to modernise subsidy delivery For government advisers and social planners, this episode shows how subsidy design can drive both equity and productivity. It’s a grounded, data-backed conversation that challenges leaders to act before birth rates, workforce shortages, and parental stress deepen the gap.Find deeper briefs inside Vaxa Bureau.
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#53 Redesigning Childcare for Productivity & National Growth | Madeline Simmonds & Jen Fleming - Part 1
Why childcare subsidy reform matters for productivity and family policy. Hear from parents leading the national debate.In this Part 1 episode of Intelligence Optimised, Todd Crowley speaks with Madeline Simmonds and Jen Fleming, co-founders of the 4 Parents advocacy group, about the critical intersection of childcare policy, productivity, and family wellbeing.Simmonds and Fleming are driving a national petition—already with more than 18,000 signatures—urging the federal government to rethink how childcare subsidies are delivered. Their core proposal is simple but far-reaching: pay subsidies directly to parents, mirroring the National Disability Insurance Scheme, so families can choose the care model that actually fits their circumstances. This could mean grandparents, nannies, or au pairs—options currently excluded from subsidy support.The discussion dives into the Productivity Commission’s 2024 report on early childhood, which set out 56 recommendations and a pathway to universal childcare by 2036. Yet the lived reality for families shows systemic gaps: long waitlists in childcare deserts, shift workers paying for unused places, parents facing 300-kilometre round trips, and families locked out by health or disability needs. The conversation highlights how rigid models leave many without viable choices, forcing some women out of the workforce and dragging national productivity down.This episode covers:✔️ Why current childcare subsidies don’t fit modern family and work patterns ✔️ The call to fund parents directly and broaden approved care models ✔️ How lack of flexibility impacts productivity and workforce participation ✔️ Stories from rural, shift-working, and medically vulnerable families ✔️ The wider economic cost of childcare-related sickness and absenteeism For policy advisers and planners, the implications are clear: flexibility in subsidy design is not just a family issue—it is an economic and workforce priority. Listeners gain concrete insight into how policy can close gaps, reduce hidden productivity costs, and better align with contemporary work and family structures across Australia.Find deeper briefs inside Vaxa Bureau.
In this series our Indo-Pacific experts navigate the complexities of safeguarding our present and fortifying our future in these uncertain times. Our focus is on delivering expert analyses and insights under the national security umbrella, to help you: "Be Ready for Today. Prepared for Tomorrow." This series is crafted for a discerning audience, including defence professionals, policymakers, academics, technology experts , logistics and supply chain managers, public health officials, and food and agribusiness purveyors.It's designed for those who seek to stay ahead of the curve in understanding and implementing the cutting-edge strategies and technologies that define global security today and shape its evolution tomorrow.The “Vaxa Bureau - Intelligence; Optimised Podcast” is a part of the Vaxa Grow Series and brought to you by the Vaxa Bureau team. Find out more: https://vaxabureau.com/
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