Power Partner
WADSIH was the AI Power Partner for The Indo-Pacific Robotics, Autonomy, AI and Cyber Conference (IPRAAC) 2025.
It was a role that let us not just see some of the most exciting new advances in the field but help direct the conversation around AI and the impacts it’s already making for resiliency, inclusion, efficiency and the role it will play in the companies and industries of tomorrow.
The Hon Stephen Dawson, Minister for Regional Development; Ports; Science and Innovation, officially opened the conference on October 7. The welcome address was provided by Australia’s home-grown astronaut, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, Director of Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency, whose talk about the leading role Australia can play in space and AI innovation inspired everyone.
We also contributed to or took inspiration away from several on -stage events, panel discussions and presentations. WADSIH Director Alex Jenkins was part of the Sovereign AI and Australia’s Future discussion, talking about the opportunities and potential pitfalls involved in creating an AI resiliency policy to assure Australia’s technological capability.
Few technologies since the dawn of the internet era have caused as much discussion around ethics as AI, and the panel and discussion led by Maxwell Scott of the US, Power With Purpose – Responsible AI for a Resilient, Inclusive Future, investigated and collected viewpoints on the latest thinking around ethical use of the technology.
But Maxwell also wasn’t the only international speaker, with Mark McDonald of Google’s DeepMind leading a discussion on the road to artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Another popular focal point for the conference was the WADSIH Booth, which was buzzing throughout the conference. As well as Minister Dawson, we hosted WADSIH board members Paul Vivian and Tina Ambrose, and a particular highlight was the robotic arm project by Curtin University student Timothy Lance Tan.
Timothy led booth visitors through demonstrations of his device, powered completely by the Raspberry Pi 5 operating system and generative AI, where asking the robot to manipulate and interact with objects using plain English in text and speech resulted in precise robotic movements.
We were also joined by start-up founders Ryan Liebregst and Dre Siwela of AI-powered camera tracking system provider Indrus, which transforms existing security cameras into a precise tracking system, monitoring assets without additional hardware.
Ryan and Dre’s system is currently being trialled by logistics partners as a way of transforming the way ports and yards manage assets, improving efficiency, visibility, and cost-effectiveness.
The conference provided a forum for the latest and best ideas, opinions and viewpoints on Robotics, Autonomy, AI, and Cyber, and WADSIH was thrilled to take part. We’re already looking forward to next year’s event!
Meanwhile, scroll down to see more photos from IPRAAC 2025 or read more on our social media posts here and here or read our blog post here.
