ADSTAR Summit series: Chief Defence Scientist Tayna Monro on asymmetric advantage

Uh, look, I mean, my first question is just it's gotta be an amazing time to be a defense scientist, right? I mean, I, I look at artificial intelligence, and you've got models escaping and running amok on the internet.

You've got, um, you know, post-quantum cryptography is likely to be, uh, a reality in the next few years potentially.

You've got drone warfare where drones made partly with pieces of wood are winning battles and hopefully wars.

Um, you're responsible for sort of somehow harnessing and channeling all of that into improved capability, uh, for the Australian Defense Force.

I mean, just tell me a little bit about what it's like at the moment having that role.

Look, it's an extraordinary environment.

There's certainly no shortage of really, really difficult problems we've got to solve and really exciting science coming through to solve it.

The challenge is discipline.

Yeah.

The challenge is actually focusing the effort on the things where we can make the biggest difference, because there's just such a range of opportunities and challenges-

Mm-hmm

... that the natural tendency is to spread ourselves across all of them.

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

Sure.

Uh, and that, that is really the heart of the challenge.

But yes, you're right.

Uh, never before has it been so clear how defense science makes a difference, um, and that energizes me every day.

Right.

I mean, t-talk about the process of achieving that discipline and, I guess, channeling things.

I mean, how do you-- You know, what, what, what's the sort of day-to-day process of making decisions about where to concentrate your efforts of not trying to spread yourself too thin?

Well, there's a number of lenses we use to really get after the discipline of making the decisions of where the effort makes the biggest difference.

So the first lens is the strategic signals we're given by government.

Okay.

And so today, with the release of the updated ISMT strategy for defense, we have those six priorities from the NDS, and we have the detail around those to give direction not only for my organization, Defense Science Technology Group, but the national ecosystem.

Uh, look, I mean, my first question is just it's gotta be an amazing time to be a defense scientist, right? I mean, I, I look at artificial intelligence, and you've got models escaping and running amok on the internet.

You've got, um, you know, post-quantum cryptography is likely to be, uh, a reality in the next few years potentially.

You've got drone warfare where drones made partly with pieces of wood are winning battles and hopefully wars.

Um, you're responsible for sort of somehow harnessing and channeling all of that into improved capability, uh, for the Australian Defense Force.

I mean, just tell me a little bit about what it's like at the moment having that role.

Look, it's an extraordinary environment.

There's certainly no shortage of really, really difficult problems we've got to solve and really exciting science coming through to solve it.

The challenge is discipline.

Yeah.

The challenge is actually focusing the effort on the things where we can make the biggest difference, because there's just such a range of opportunities and challenges-

Mm-hmm

... that the natural tendency is to spread ourselves across all of them.

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

Sure.

Uh, and that, that is really the heart of the challenge.

But yes, you're right.

Uh, never before has it been so clear how defense science makes a difference, um, and that energizes me every day.

Right.

I mean, t-talk about the process of achieving that discipline and, I guess, channeling things.

I mean, how do you-- You know, what, what, what's the sort of day-to-day process of making decisions about where to concentrate your efforts of not trying to spread yourself too thin?

Well, there's a number of lenses we use to really get after the discipline of making the decisions of where the effort makes the biggest difference.

So the first lens is the strategic signals we're given by government.

Okay.

And so today, with the release of the updated ISMT strategy for defense, we have those six priorities from the NDS, and we have the detail around those to give direction not only for my organization, Defense Science Technology Group, but the national ecosystem.