In this Thought Piece, NSSN Natural Hazards and Smart Cities Theme Lead Peter Runcie writes that environmental sensing should become essential public infrastructure, enabling governments, emergency services and communities to make better decisions through shared, local environmental information.

Adrian Tyson is the founder of Neuranext, a company which is helping build the next generation of talent in smart sensing and robotics through immersive learning experiences featuring computer vision systems, autonomous vehicles, AI-powered drones and advanced robotics.

As the NSSN marks its 10-year anniversary this month, the people who helped create and lead the network reflect on why it was needed, how it was built, and why its collaborative model remains as important today as ever. 

Dr Anastasiia Tukova is a Lighthouse Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Natural Sciences at Macquarie University, where she designs plasmonic nanostructures and applies Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for biosensing and bioimaging.

From AI-powered bird monitoring at wind farms and a low-cost hearing screening test for newborns to satellite-enabled forest monitoring in remote areas and an early warning system for electric vehicle battery fires, five innovative projects have secured funding through this year’s NSSN Grand Challenge Fund.

The NSSN is proud to announce the newest additions to its Board: Tara Croft, Ellen Gorissen, and Jeff Oatman.  

Australia is home to world-leading smart sensing research, yet many promising technologies struggle to achieve commercial scale. In this Thought Piece, technology executive and NSSN Board Member Loïc Barancourt explores one of the sector’s greatest challenges: turning technical excellence into commercial success.

Dr Thor Slater has joined the NSSN as Net Zero Theme Lead and Business Development Manager. He brings more than 25 years’ experience connecting university research with industry and government across Australia and the UK.

Jo White steps down as Board Chair of the NSSN at the end of June after four years in the role. Here, she reflects on “an extraordinarily rewarding journey - one that has reinforced for me the power of connections, collaboration and purposeful innovation.”

NSW Smart Sensing Network Co-Director Professor Benjamin Eggleton has warned Australia is entering a more unstable and technologically competitive era, where smart sensing technologies, photonics, semiconductors and AI are becoming critical to national security, sovereign capability and future economic resilience.

Former Chief Scientist of Australia, Dr Cathy Foley, urged Australia’s sensing and semiconductor sectors to become more collaborative, commercial and ambitious at the Sensing meets Semiconductors Workshop at Macquarie University last week.

The NSSN is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Jill Freyne, current Deputy Chair of the NSSN and Healthcare Industry Lead at Amazon Web Services ANZ, as its new Board Chair effective 3 July 2026, succeeding outgoing Chair Jo White.