New technologies to future-proof the National Broadband Network, defend us against cyber attacks and make computers run faster will become a reality thanks to the Gillard Labor Government’s continued support for CUDOS, the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Ultrahigh bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems.
The Centre was awarded $23.8 million under the most recent Centres of Excellence funding round, allowing it to undertake a new and expanded research program.
Launching the CUDOS research program today at the University of Sydney, Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr said the new photonic chip technology being developed by CUDOS will complement the National Broadband Network.
“As the NBN fibre is rolled out to more and more homes, the traffic on the core of the network will rise,” Senator Carr said. “New technology being developed by CUDOS to increase the core network capacity will help ensure home users can get 1Gbps, 10Gbps or more in the future as their need grows.”
The Innovation Minister said there are many other uses for the technological spin-offs of the research work undertaken by CUDOS.
“CUDOS is generating and processing new wavelengths of laser light for sensing chemical signatures which can detect explosive material or chemicals potentially used in a terrorist threat, environmental pollutants or disease,” Senator Carr said.
“This has enormous implications for the nation’s border security in areas like Customs and Quarantine. The technology being developed will also help to maintain our envied reputation for providing clean, green, disease-free products and, importantly, will help to ensure that exotic diseases do not become established in Australia.”
The Centre is a consortium of six Australian universities with research characterised by strong Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) performance in their disciplines of optical physics and electrical and electronic engineering.
For more information on CUDOS visit, www.cudos.org.au. For more information on the ARC, the Centres of Excellence scheme and the Government’s support for research, visit www.arc.gov.au and www.innovation.gov.au.