The Australian Government has today announced a strategic partnership between the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) worth at least $2 billion over the next decade, which will transform the way the National Intelligence Community (NIC) and Defence work together to protect Australia and stay ahead of our adversaries.
The Top Secret (TS) Cloud will facilitate rapid sharing of Australia’s most sensitive information and intelligence material among the 10 agencies that make up the NIC, fostering collaboration at speed and at scale.
Director-General of National Intelligence, Andrew Shearer said:
"The Top Secret Cloud represents a truly transformative capability boost for the National Intelligence Community."
"As program sponsor on behalf of the National Intelligence Community, ONI considers the Top Secret Cloud will help lay the foundation for a connected, modern and resilient intelligence community. We look forward to working in partnership with Amazon Web Services, the Australian Signals Directorate and other National Intelligence Community agencies on this transformative capability," Mr Shearer said.
"It will drive even closer integration, sharing and collaboration between agencies, greater resilience, and greater interoperability with our most important international intelligence partners."
AWS is a world-leading cloud computing provider with a longstanding presence in Australia and specialist expertise in delivering classified cloud platforms.
Director-General Australian Signals Directorate, Rachel Noble PSM said the capability is a vital part of ASD’s REDSPICE program, which is lifting intelligence and offensive and defensive cyber capabilities.
"The Top Secret Cloud with Amazon Web Services in Australia will provide a state-of-the-art collaborative space for our intelligence and defence community to store and access top secret data. This will transform how we work together as agencies and partners."
"This is another fantastic example of what we can achieve for Australia when the private and public sector work together in partnership," said Ms Noble.
The government also announced the partnership will provide opportunities to harness other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Read the announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence here:
Media Release(Opens in a new tab/window)(Opens in a new tab/window)
4 July, 2024