The ASD-ANU Co-Lab is a 15-year partnership between the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and the Australian National University (ANU).
The Co-Lab brings together researchers, academics and technical leaders to solve national security challenges and nurture Australian talent.
Based at ANU, in a state-of-the-art purpose-built unclassified facility, this unique partnership was formed in 2018 to accelerate the transfer of knowledge and cutting-edge expertise with joint collaboration activities. It brings together leading ANU academics and ASD's foremost analysts and technologists to collaborate on a program which puts Australia's national security at its centre.
Uniting problem solvers from a variety of disciplines, the program of activities focuses on areas such as cryptography, computational linguistics, secure communications, computing, cyber security, psychology and vulnerability research.
The goals of this unique partnership are:
- Promote research collaboration in areas of mutual interest to ASD and ANU.
- Identify and foster talented students working in areas related to ASD.
- Provide a focal point and meeting place for STEM outreach initiatives to grow Australia's STEM pool.
- Facilitate education and training activities and opportunities for ASD staff and ANU students.
Who is ASD?
The Australian Signals Directorate is an intelligence and security agency within the Australian Defence Portfolio. It has three roles:
- Inform- by the covert collection of foreign signals intelligence
- Protect- Provide proactive advice and assistance to improve the management of cyber risk by government, business and the community
- Disrupt- apply offensive cyber capabilities offshore to support military operations and to disrupt terrorism, cyber espionage and cyber-enabled crime.
ASD and ANU are both invested in the development of Australian skills and capability that support our mission. To learn more about ASD, please visit asd.gov.au.
Where is the Co-Lab?
The Co-Lab is located at Level 5, Hanna Neumann Building (#145), ANU. During construction, the architects worked with ASD cryptographers to embed secret codes throughout the building. The challenge involves finding and breaking the codes hidden on each floor, and then putting them together to uncover the final secret message. Legend has it that if you break the code, you unlock the secret 6th floor of the building.
Want to know more? Email us at co-lab@anu.edu.au to join our mailing list and get the latest news and events directly to your inbox.
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