Science and Technology Council: Communique 3 - March 2026

WA Science and Technology Council: Meeting 3

March 2026

The third meeting of the Science and Technology Council of Western Australia (the Council) was held on Tuesday, 03 March 2026 at the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre. 

This meeting focused on Western Australia’s digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence capability, and the State’s strategic position in a rapidly evolving global technology environment.

Digital infrastructure and AI

The Council received presentations from the Western Australian Data Science Innovation Hub (WADSIH), Pawsey, CSIRO and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) and discussed the growing importance of sovereign AI capability, particularly inference where AI applications require access to sensitive data. Members noted emerging opportunities for synthetic data generation, automation of scientific and industrial workflows, and WA’s strengths in resources, health and biotechnology as high‑value AI use cases. 

The Council discussed pressures on digital infrastructure driven by rapid AI model development, including increased global demand for compute, long lead‑times for infrastructure, and misaligned capital and operating funding cycles. Members emphasised the need for clear differentiation between AI, High Performance Computing (HPC), supercomputing and data centre infrastructure to support effective planning. 

WA’s strategic positioning was highlighted, with potential to leverage the State’s connectivity to Southeast Asia. Members also discussed national developments, including AI safety governance and SKAO’s progress towards large‑scale science operations by 2030 – reinforcing the importance of long‑term planning for compute, energy requirements, and social licence.

Strategic priorities

Across the discussion, the Council identified the need for a coordinated approach to AI and digital infrastructure to maximise WA’s opportunity, and strengthening national visibility of WA’s capability. Members also emphasised the need for flexible, future‑ready infrastructure planning and deeper cross‑sector coordination including leveraging public and private resources.