In June 2026, the Chief Scientist addressed the Indonesia–Australia Leaders Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation.

Thank you for that generous introduction and the warm welcome. 

As Australia’s Chief Scientist, and on behalf of the Australian Government, it is an honour to join you at this important event.

Firstly, I would like to acknowledge Dr Najib, the Director General for Science and Technology, and Dr Yudi, the Director for Dissemination and Utilisation of Science and Technology.

More broadly, it’s a privilege to be here with such a wide cross-section of senior figures and experts – from government, from universities and from across Indonesia’s research and innovation system.

Today’s timing couldn’t be better! 

On this date – exactly one year ago in Canberra – I had the pleasure of meeting an Indonesian delegation that made a lasting impact on me. 

Among others, it involved a number of government officials from BRIN and other agencies, as well as academics and teachers. 

It stands out in my memory because I was so impressed with the calibre of the delegation and its focus – on research, innovation, education and collaboration. All themes I am keen to explore today.

This is my first visit to your remarkable country. 

I’ve been very impressed by what I’ve seen so far, and very appreciative of the warmth and hospitality you’ve shown to me and our Australian delegation.

This is no surprise. Australia and Indonesia have a strong history of working closely together in a range of areas to the mutual benefit of both our nations.

We’ve been doing business with one another for centuries.

Now, Australia and Indonesia work together and apply our skills to new industries – and new avenues of science and innovation.

Today I want to explore some of the issues we both face. Issues regarding: our scientific workforce; the place of universities; the roll-out of AI and spread of misinformation; and the power of collaborative research that delivers breakthrough innovations.

At an early stage of my career, I realised that nearly all innovation relies on collaboration … because science is a team sport. And so often, an international one.

Indeed, no country can go it alone when it comes to the big global challenges we face. Those problems are too big and too complex, and we can’t solve them in silos.

On that topic of integration and collaboration, I have enjoyed learning more about your Ministry and the BRIN model. 

I understand it brings together functions that in many countries are distributed across multiple agencies. I imagine that integration can potentially create unique opportunities to align priorities, funding, infrastructure – and impact – all in one system.

Australia and Indonesia have also built a strong relationship across higher education. 

And so, on this visit, I am also keen to better understand how Indonesian universities are translating research into real-world outcomes that support national development.

Because, for the university leaders here today, your role is not confined to education alone. 

You are central to that national development – because universities, in both our nations, are where talent is formed … where ideas are tested … and where the connection between research and real-world application begins.

And the science that happens in universities is especially critical to success. It is a powerhouse: for evaluating concepts; training future generations; preserving scientific independence; and driving innovation.  

Universities are where talent is formed, and where new knowledge begins its journey into the world.

So, if we want to build future industries, we cannot focus only on research that looks useful today.

We need to invest in both 'the now' and 'the next'.

That means supporting research with clear applications to national priorities – while also backing discovery that may not have an immediate pay-off, but can deliver profound long-term impact.

Strong systems do both. They generate ideas in the short-, medium- and long-term. And they translate them.

These are challenges that many countries are working through – how to connect discovery to application, and research to economic and societal impact.

In Australia, we’ve seen many examples of small teams producing world-leading discoveries. But we have not always been as effective at scaling and commercialising those breakthroughs.

That is why recent work, including the Ambitious Australia review of our research and development system, has emphasised the need for stronger system settings. Settings that can better support the identification of great ideas – as well as their development, and their translation into real-world outcomes.

And this is where institutions across the system – universities, government, and national research agencies – all play a critical role.

For Australia and Indonesia to achieve their ambitions – regarding sustainability and prosperity, for example – we will need a scientific workforce that continues to be fit for purpose. 

In Australia, I am mindful that we must take care to avoid potential skills shortages in many areas of strategically important science, technology, engineering and maths – or STEM, for short. 

However, none of us has a crystal ball.  And it’s hard to say exactly what the STEM jobs of the future will look like. 

Yes, we can make predictions – and people are doing that – but the future reality might surprise even the experts.

It’s likely that interdisciplinary work won’t be optional; it’ll be the default. 

And the work will happen at the intersection of various fields. Areas like bioinformatics, neuro-technology, climate engineering, and quantum biology. 

And as we know, everything will be deeply integrated with AI. 

Graduates will also need to be ready to approach complex, messy problems with creativity – plus a deep awareness of the ethical and social implications of their work. 

Early in my career, I lived and worked abroad, collaborating with teams in different countries and learning new ways of thinking. 

That experience shaped my path and fuelled my progress.

It also reinforced something that I’ve believed ever since – that mobility is one of the most powerful forms of collaboration between like-minded countries.

When researchers move between countries, they bring skills, perspectives and relationships that strengthen both systems.

When that happens between Indonesia and Australia, it has consistently built connections that endure – at professional, personal and institutional levels.

That’s why, in Australia, I encourage institutions to help more researchers gain international experience, and to do so early in their careers.

We see the impact of that clearly. Significant numbers of Australians are working in Indonesia and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific, tapping into global networks to address some of the greatest challenges we face. 

And conversely, Australia’s research system is deeply international. Large numbers of post-graduate researchers – and our top scientists and engineers – have come from overseas and brought their global experience to our shores.

So, to address our shared challenges, we need talented people – and great equipment too! – plus access to research infrastructure facilities that complement our priorities.

Universities have always played a critical part in research infrastructure. 

Your staff, students and researchers rely on that infrastructure. And in turn, that infrastructure, be it national or global, relies on a talented workforce that you help to shape.

Some research infrastructure is in universities and controlled by them. But some is too big for one institution, or even one country, to manage.

Regardless of the scale, universities must continue to play a crucial role in how it’s used and how we educate the scientific workforce needed for those facilities in both our countries.

Unfortunately, when it comes to global research infrastructure, we can't have one of everything. The projects are very expensive. But they are imperative, so we must be strategic with our investments.

And we do that because these facilities are more than buildings. They’re places where knowledge is gathered and where ideas ignite.

They attract the world’s brightest minds.

They accelerate innovation that provides solutions to complex problems. 

And they turbo-charge discovery. 

Put simply, research infrastructure is the backbone of scientific progress. And universities must continue to play a crucial role in the creation and operation of that infrastructure.

I was pleased yesterday to see some of Indonesia’s cutting-edge research infrastructure at the BRIN Science and Technology Park in Cibinong, and the world-class BRIN LATERIO oceanography facility in Ancol.

I also met some of the excellent scientists who work at these facilities. And at Cibinong, I was pleased to visit the new ASEAN-Korea High-Performance Computing Centre.

Right now – and in the years ahead – one of the most important pieces of the infrastructure puzzle is high-performance computing and data infrastructure.

It now underpins almost all modern research.

If that capability is constrained, we risk slowing everything down – from materials discovery … to healthcare breakthroughs … to mineral exploration.

In Australia, demand for super-computer time already outstrips supply, and global benchmarks are moving rapidly ahead of us.

Some nations are investing heavily – but the question is not simply how much we spend. 

It is how we invest, and where we focus, to maximise national benefit.

That means making clear-eyed choices regarding big questions like:

• How to balance computing power and data.
• Do we take the data to the computing or the computing to the data, for example?
• When do we build sovereign capability versus partnering with other countries?
• And how to meet rising demand from areas like AI. 

Artificial intelligence is super-charging the pace of research and innovation.

It’s compressing cycles of discovery, testing and translation at unprecedented speeds.

But the goal must not be speed alone.

It must be trusted progress at scale. Because while AI can accelerate these processes, its adoption relies on confidence – among researchers, investors and across the community. 

And that confidence cannot be assumed. Rather, it must be built.

It’s built through transparency and strong ethical frameworks that ensure new systems are safe to deploy and scale.

Late last year, the Australian Government released its National AI Plan. The Plan rests on three pillars – capturing the opportunity, sharing the benefits, and keeping Australians safe.  

As an immediate action from the plan, an Australian AI Safety Institute has been established to monitor, test and share information on emerging AI capabilities, risks, harms and trends. 

I welcome this move. It will help build the trust and the social licence that must underpin innovative measures that strengthen national prosperity. 

As part of implementing the National AI Plan, the Australian Government is developing a Strategy for International Engagement and Regional Leadership on AI. 

Australia will work with partners to encourage safe and beneficial adoption of it in our region – and to support reciprocal access to trusted and secure digital infrastructure where possible.  

When it comes to new technologies, and AI in particular, the consideration of ethics is a pressing priority – how to devise them and embed them consistently, effectively and at scale.

Strong ethical frameworks do not slow innovation. Instead, they reduce risk, enable responsible experimentation, and build confidence in new technologies that increasingly underpin daily life.

Today, AI systems are embedded across institutions we rely on every day.

From hospitals to classrooms, from carparks to courthouses, from finance to weather prediction. 

And because of that reach, the ethical questions surrounding AI are more consequential than ever. They are not theoretical. They speak to issues of fairness, inclusion, privacy and accountability.

At the same time, the opportunities are extraordinary!

For example: systems like AlphaFold are accelerating drug discovery, while Australian researchers are using AI to enhance radiology – detecting multiple conditions from medical imaging in just seconds.

Ultimately, AI ethics is not about machines – it’s about people. And that’s why the humanities and social sciences are essential.

They help us navigate these questions and ethical issues. They help us understand human behaviour, anticipate impacts and respond to them effectively. Because innovation depends not just on capability, but on trust – and on people.

More broadly, the social sciences are key to tackling other complex challenges. 

These challenges demand systems thinking – examining whole systems around a problem, not just individual components. Systems that often involve complex human behaviours as well as institutions, organisations, communities, markets and, increasingly, misinformation.

Sadly, artificial intelligence and social media are super-charging the spread of misinformation around the world. 

Recent work by Australia’s National Science and Technology Council, of which I’m the Executive Officer, helps explain why. And this work reflects something quite fundamental about human behaviour.

We tend to trust information that feels familiar, that’s simple, or that comes from someone we recognise. And when we see something often enough, it can start to feel true – even when it isn’t.

It’s part of how our brains process information.

But it creates a real challenge for science – because trust in science is not about asking people to simply believe something. It’s about helping them understand how knowledge is built, tested, questioned and refined over time.

For those of us in science, that process is second nature. But it’s not realistic to expect the broader community to apply it to every piece of information they encounter.

That is why institutions matter.

Universities and research organisations do not just produce knowledge. They embody the scientific method – rigour, independence, and transparency.

And as misinformation becomes more sophisticated, that role becomes more important.

Science communication must go beyond explaining results. It must also build understanding of how science works – and why it can be trusted.

Sadly, as tech gets better, the tide of misinformation is likely to get bigger and more sophisticated. 

Because of that, we’ll need to consistently remind the community that universities and research institutions are pillars of the scientific process.

Despite that issue, this is an extraordinary time to be working in science, and in the fields that support it.

Yes – an anxious time in some ways, but a hopeful one too.

We are living through rapid technological change, at the same time as we face complex global challenges: from climate and sustainability, to health pressures and misinformation.

These challenges do not respect borders – and neither can the solutions.

That is why our collaboration matters – across our countries and institutions, and across disciplines.

As Australia’s Chief Scientist, I acknowledge the significance of the Australia–Indonesia relationship, and the value of continued collaboration across our universities, research systems, government agencies, and shared priorities.

Visits like this deepen our understanding of each other’s strengths and priorities. And that understanding helps us build more focused and effective partnerships. Because the work you do will help shape how our countries – and our region – respond to the challenges ahead.

After all, science has always been a shared endeavour – one that connects people, ideas and nations.

As Louis Pasteur once said: science knows no country because knowledge belongs to humanity.

It has been a privilege to speak with you today about our knowledge sharing – and I look forward to continuing the discussion.

Thank you.