Australian Government partners with Amazon Web Services to bolster national defence and security
4 JULY 2024
The Albanese Government will invest at least $2 billion over the next decade to bolster Australia’s cyber capabilities with the announcement of a strategic partnership between the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Australia to deliver a Top Secret (TS) Cloud for the Australian Government.
This landmark partnership will see AWS establish a sovereign TS Cloud in Australia to deliver resilient information, communication and technology (ICT) services for the Australian Government, generating up to 2,000 local Australian jobs.
AWS is the world’s most widely adopted cloud computing service with a longstanding presence in Australia and specialist expertise in delivering classified cloud services that provide world-class security, reliability and resilience.
The TS Cloud will be purpose-built for Australia’s Defence and National Intelligence Community agencies to securely host our country’s most sensitive information. It will improve our ability to securely share and analyse our nation’s most classified data at speed and at scale, and provides opportunities to harness leading technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The TS Cloud will bolster the resilience of Defence’s communications networks and is a critical enabling capability in supporting the Australian Defence Force’s military operations, and will also support greater interoperability and deeper collaboration with the United States.
This partnership with AWS is a major investment from the Albanese Government and is another important step in implementing the 2024 National Defence Strategy.
This significant investment is part of the $15‑20 billion to 2033-34 to enhance Defence’s cyber capabilities and the $8.5-11 billion to 2033-34 to bolster Defence’s enterprise data and ICT announced in the 2024 Integrated Investment Program.
The joint initiative offers significant opportunities for Australian industry. It will see AWS engage Australian businesses to design and build the TS Cloud, driving innovation and job creation in cybersecurity, data analytics and cloud computing. Australia’s defence industry will see additional benefits with new opportunities to deliver and integrate new capabilities using these cloud services.
The TS Cloud builds on AWS’ planned $13.2 billion investment in Australian infrastructure to 2027 – the largest tech investment in Australia’s history, supporting the creation of 11,000 local jobs. This is in addition to the $9.1 billion AWS has invested in Australian infrastructure since its launch in 2011.
Source Defence