One of the world’s top ranked University’s is running workshops in Adelaide this week after the Minister for Trade and Investment Nick Champion secured the deal on his trip to America last year.
Off the back of an agreement signed between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) Connection Science Initiative and the South Australian Government last year, MIT are in Adelaide this week to host three days of insights, ideas exchange, collaboration and discussions.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Minister for Trade and Investment Nick Champion at MIT Connection Science in the United States in June during his visit to the country.
The agreement builds upon the MIT Adelaide Living Lab, established at Lot Fourteen in 2019, and will support student exchange and research collaboration between our universities and MIT.
The program, which runs from Monday 22 to Wednesday 24 January, has been put together by MIT Professor Sandy Pentland, Dr Thomas Hardjono, CTO at MIT Connection Science; former University of Adelaide student, Tobin South PhD at MIT Media Lab and Robert Mahari JD-PhD, Harvard and MIT, in partnership with the Department for Trade and Investment, and is set to benefit the South Australian industry, the public sector, academia, researchers, health practitioners and legal professionals.
The MIT partnership focuses on establishing a secure and trusted data framework that will underpin the developing global digital economy. This framework will be an important step in unlocking the state’s artificial intelligence expertise and delivering economic benefits for the state.
With MIT consistently ranked in the Top 3 of the Times Higher Education World Rankings, the MoU enables direct access to MIT’s knowledge and expertise, and supports student exchanges to MIT’s Cambridge campus, further developing Adelaide and Lot Fourteen’s connections as part of a global network.
South Australian data scientist and doctoral student, Tobin South, is based at MIT and helps to manage the Adelaide Living Lab from Cambridge. A recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, Tobin is on a five-year placement, completing a PhD at MIT’s Media Lab, famous for its innovative research and products. He will present at the workshop on Reimagining the Legal Profession, outlining how Large Language Models work and understanding the fundamentals, as well as facilitating a discussion on trusted technology for health.
The three-day program features exclusive roundtables and workshops on topics such as:
- Exploring collaboration between clinicians, researchers and industry
- A deep dive into artificial intelligence and large language models for scalable legal services
- An AI trust and sustainability symposium in partnership with Flinders University, MIT Connection Science and the Department for Trade and Investment will discuss how data and South Australia’s strong AI capabilities can be linked to advanced collaborative innovation opportunities for the green economy.
A range of South Australian industry, public sector representation, academia, researchers, health practitioners and legal professionals, will be in attendance throughout the program.
As put by Nick Champion
I am delighted that our agreement with MIT is already strengthening the partnership with South Australia’s industry, researchers, academia and public sector as these workshops bring everyone together to collaborate on real-world issues across health, the green economy and reimagining the legal profession.
With South Australia’s world-leading research capabilities, the global partnership with MIT combines unrivalled scientific research and knowledge.
Together, we can implement and support secure and trusted data systems that will help drive investment and support job growth within the state, ensuring we are at the forefront of advancements in digital technology, particularly AI.
As put by Sandy Pentland, MIT Professor
We are excited to be collaborating closely with the Department for Trade and Investment, the Australian Machine Learning Institute, and the universities in the Adelaide community. Data and AI are important building blocks to addressing the pressing issues around health, energy and trade.
South Australia is uniquely positioned to provide leadership in solving these challenges. Building a technology industry around the excellent research capabilities in South Australia ensures continuing job growth in the state and establishes South Australia as a leader in Australia and the broader region in the digital economy.
