SPOTLIGHT: Deconstructing Defence’s Digital Engineering Strategy, with Downer’s Rachel Hatton and Connie Heaney

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, hosts Major General (Ret’d) Dr Marcus Thompson and Liam Garman invite Major General (Ret’d) Gus McLachlan back for a follow-up podcast, unpacking irregular warfare, information operations and military modernisation.  They begin the podcast discussing Russia’s “little green men” during the invasion of 2014, and how Russian units were able to take over swathes of Eastern Ukraine.  MAJGEN (Ret’d) McLachlan then unpacks his priorities in uniform in modernising the Australian Defence Force. The podcast then examines how two Russian nations were charged with laundering money to spread disinformation ahead of the US presidential election.  Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Defence Connect podcast, recorded live from Land Forces 2024, host Steve Kuper is joined by the chief executive of Land for Babcock International, Tom Newman, to discuss the evolution of land warfare. The pair discuss: The pair discuss the latest announcements and key focus points for Babcock at the 2024 Land Forces exhibition and Chief of Army Symposium and the key narratives shaping the conversation. They also discuss the UK’s current Strategic Defence Review process implemented by the newly elected Labour government and what that means for the British Army in the context of broader geopolitical and strategic challenges in the European theatre.  Finally, they discuss the rapid proliferation of advanced technologies on battlefields in Ukraine and the Middle East and the role of innovation in shaping defence capabilities and delivering them at scale and quickly to our warfighters. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

In this episode of the Defence Connect Spotlight podcast, Downer Professional Services’ Rachel Hatton, General Manager - Mission Engineering, and Connie Heaney, General Manager - Advisory & Technical Services, join Liam Garman to discuss what Defence’s Digital Engineering Strategy means for Australia, offer insights on digital and mission engineering approaches, and provide real world examples. The podcast begins by illuminating how the DE Strategy relates to the National Defence Strategy, and how it directly addresses the challenges that traditional capability life cycle processes have keeping up with technological advancements. Hatton and Heaney then unpack the strategy’s five strategic goals and talk about its potential to revolutionise the Australian workforce and innovation within the capability development system. They wrap up the podcast discussing what this means for industry, from transitioning to a digital environment, more pilot projects to test DE tools, and greater collaboration across Defence, industry and academia. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Joe Hockey, former Australian ambassador to the United States, joins hosts Phil Tarrant, Major General (Ret’d) Marcus Thompson and Steve Kuper to discuss the continued importance of the Australia–US relationship. The trio begin by discussing the fallout of the latest presidential debate between contenders, former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, touching on the implications for the bilateral relationship. They also discuss the role of grey zone warfare and information warfare efforts in the upcoming election and how they may shape the outcome. Finally, they discuss the importance of the partnership in helping Australia reindustrialise and build a truly sovereign defence industrial base, with a pathway forward to establishing an integrated Australian prime. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of Cyber Uncut, host David Hollingworth is joined by Daniel Croft to unpack the week in cyber security. From hacks abroad and closer to home, the changing tactics of the once prolific LockBit ransomware gang, to new Australian laws introduced to protect our privacy and stop the spread of misinformation, the pair cover a lot of ground and try to find a bright spot in the Australian Federal Police (AFP) looking to mentor neurodivergent into a career in cyber security. Croft talks about a disclosure by the third-largest cyber security firm in the world, Fortinet, with the company revealing that a malicious actor accessed a third-party repository, while closer to home, the RansomHub gang posts a trove of customer data stolen from a New Zealand accounting firm. The pair also discuss sneaky new “data duplication” tactics being used by LockBit, where it takes an old leak and threatens victims a second time. Then Hollingworth and Croft discuss new government regulations boosting the powers of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) while pondering the scope of coming to grips with the social media giants before closing a brighter note, praising the AFP for its neurodivergent mentoring program. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Andrew Hastie MP, shadow minister for defence and shadow minister for defence industry, joins hosts Phil Tarrant and Liam Garman to discuss how Australia must develop sovereign capability amid growing geopolitical uncertainty. The trio begin the podcast discussing how Australia needs to support Defence SMEs to deliver sovereign capability amid rising political uncertainty before looking into additional uses of Australia’s special forces capabilities. The shadow minister then discusses how decision makers must clearly articulate the grey zone and kinetic risks that Australia faces, and outlines what some of his key objectives would be in government. The podcast wraps up discussing Ukraine’s continued fight for freedom. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Major General (Ret’d) Gus McLachlan, former Commander Forces Command, joins hosts Major General (Ret’d) Dr Marcus Thompson and Liam Garman to unpack modern asymmetrical warfare: from the Taliban in Afghanistan to Chinese Coast Guard vessels in the Philippine Sea, and even how social media is spurring political divisions. The podcast begins by analysing what grey zone warfare looks like in the modern geopolitical environment, from resource competition to militarisation of civilian capabilities to compel an adversary beneath the threshold of armed conflict. The trio then discuss lessons from the Taliban in Afghanistan, including the utilisation of information to seize control of the narrative. They then examine the need to seize freedom of manoeuvre in the online domain, and the risks of forfeiting social media. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, host Steve Kuper is joined by Andrew Henderson, principal of AgSecure. The pair discuss: The role and importance of Australia’s multibillion-dollar agriculture industry in the nation’s security. The importance of maintaining the nation’s access to sea lines of communication that provides the nation’s economic lifeblood and flow of trade between Australia and the broader Indo-Pacific. The central role securing the nation’s food security plays in a whole-of-nation response to a conflict or crisis in the new multipolar world. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

In this episode of the Defence Connect Spotlight podcast, Ventia’s John Rogers, executive general manager - defence, and Belinda Grealy, executive general manager - telco fixed networks, join host Liam Garman to unpack how industry can help support Defence’s strategic objectives, including delivering advanced ICT capabilities, providing emergency response efforts and managing remote sites.  The trio begin the podcast discussing what makes a successful partnership between Defence and industry. Grealy then discusses how Ventia supports the delivery of advanced information and communications technology and how this underpins Defence’s future mission, with Rogers unpacking the challenges of supporting remote Defence bases.  They wrap up the podcast analysing how industry can support the Defence Force’s surge capability and emergency response efforts. Enjoy the podcast,The Defence Connect team

In this episode of Cyber Uncut, Shaq Johnson – ANZ bank’s head of customer protection – joins hosts David Hollingworth and Liam Garman to break down the current scam landscape in Australia, from what the scammers are doing to the real, personal impacts of falling victim to a scam. As Hollingworth says in the podcast, 164,111 scams have been reported to the National Anti-Scam Centre’s Scamwatch already this year, so while scams are slowing down, it’s still a significant challenge. Our discussion with Johnson opens with what some of the most reported scams are and how they work. Johnson then goes into the challenges that ANZ and other banks face, from tracing accounts linked to money mules and offshore organised scam organisations to whether scam victims should be reimbursed once they’ve fallen victim and sent money to a scammer. Finally, Johnson explains the unique challenges of being a first responder to scam victims and outlines the approach ANZ takes to support its employees on the coalface of the fight against scammers. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team