US R&D security firm opens lab in Vic

US research and development (R&D) company Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has set up shop in Victoria, with plans to set up a regional cybersecurity centre in Melbourne.

While the US science firm has called its expansion a cybersecurity R&D centre, cybersecurity is just one of its areas of focus. It will also look at challenges relating to national security, energy, the environment and health. Its US clientele includes the military, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It also has contracts in place with Australia's Defence Materiel Organisation.

The Victorian Minister for Manufacturing, Exports and Trade Richard Dalla-Riva said that the R&D centre would be a collaborative space for researchers from SAIC to develop new hardware and software that is meant to protect information and infrastructure. Other functions of the centre will include further research into data mining and analysis systems.

The establishment of the centre will result in the creation of 50 new Victorian jobs over the next three years. Those research jobs will focus on defence simulation, cybersecurity technologies and other defence areas.

"Attracting a global company like SAIC to Victoria, and commitment to 50 new jobs, is a vote of confidence in our state's ability to compete on a global scale," Dalla-Riva said.

The opening of the centre will result in SAIC being able to take advantage of Australian R&D Tax Credit, provide it with better access to expanding its business in the Asia-Pacific region and better position itself as NBN Co continues its roll-out of the National Broadband Network (NBN).