National Science and Research Priorities (NSRPs)

An expanded Internet Observatory will support research across the National Science and Research Priorities:

Transitioning to a net zero future

The transition to net zero will require a whole of society response and the digital transformation of social and economic services will play a critical role in this transition. Digital platforms, services and smart devices, from news and search to transport and smart homes, play a key role in providing access to commercial and public information, advertising, personal and sensor data and services. However researchers and regulators have limited access to the data generated through our interactions with digital platforms. To address this we need to invest in innovative data collection methods such as data donation and APIs, and new approaches to visualisation, digital twins and simulations combining social and environmental data and analysis. 

Extending the capability of the Australian Internet Observatory will give researchers across the environmental sciences, humanities and social sciences access to new technologies and data, allowing them to explore new resources for the net zero transition, connecting social and sensor data and synthetic models with environmental and urban data and models. An enhanced AIO will work collaboratively with other research infrastructure facilities including AURIN, the ARDC Planet Research Data Commons and integrated Social Science data to support cross disciplinary insights from social data and new technologies. 

An enhanced AIO will support key research directions for the transition to a new zero future identified in the NRPs including attitudes to adopting and applying new technologies, advancing critical technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) in responsible ways, and providing the necessary skills and training across HASS disciplines and beyond. 

Supporting healthy and thriving communities

Recent digital transformations have had a major impact on the way in which individuals, families and communities access and share health and wellbeing information and services, generate data, interact with the health system. Digital platforms and services play a critical role in Australia’s health systems, yet our capacities to observe and analyse the systems remain extremely  limited. To maximise the benefits and address the harms of digital technologies on the health and well-being of Australians, we need new forms of research infrastructure designed to meet the digital transformation challenge.

The Australian Internet Observatory (AIO) is currently developing tools for collecting and auditing data from a range of platforms and services using data donation methods and visualisations. The proposed Phase 2 of the AIO will expand to include new ways of collecting data from personal devices and sensors, create digital twins and innovative visualisations and develop Digital Public Infrastructure to ensure data portability, privacy and algorithmic diversity.

An expanded Australian Internet Observatory will provide the critical research infrastructure needed to support many of the key research directions identified as NRPs for supporting healthy and thriving communities including: social, cultural, developmental and environmental drivers of individual and community health; preparing for pandemics; social and technological solutions for improved care;  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led, place-based and culturally appropriate approaches to build community; and addressing the impacts of climate change on communities. 

Elevating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders knowledge systems

The digital transformation challenge provides many benefits and challenges for Indigenous communities and represents a critical area of investment for research and research infrastructure for Indigenous researchers. AIO supports investment in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Data Commons (ATSIRDC) as a dedicated NCRIS facility as a recommendation in the 2026 Roadmap. At the same time the work of AIO will support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander digital research methods by providing access to data donation collection tools and methods for conducting research with Indigenous communities on digital platforms, services and sensors. It will also prioritise interdisciplinary approaches, and support Indigenous-led frameworks and data governance principles. 

AIO is currently working within the HASS & Indigenous Research Data Commons and the ARDC and developing our understanding of and frameworks for working with Indigenous data governance. The proposed Phase 2 of AIO aims to further collaborate with Indigenous researchers and NRI facilities to develop digital public infrastructure standards that ensure data interoperability. GenAI tools and Digital Twins will also provide new forms of analysis, and expand the capacities for data collection and control from digital platforms and sensors by Indigenous researchers and communities. 

Phase 2 of the Australian Internet Observatory will provide the critical research infrastructure needed to support a number of the key research directions identified as NRPs for Elevating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research and data governance including: incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander expertise into the development and application of critical and emerging technologies, particularly digital and data technologies; and approaches to climate change adaptation to support regional and remote communities.

Protecting and restoring Australia's environment

Participatory research and citizen science approaches have become increasingly important for environmental research and the Australian Internet Observatory is also adopting and adapting many of these methods and developing new ways of collecting data and engaging with participants that will benefit and inform environmental research. Digital platforms, services and the IoT present a huge source of data currently not readily available for environmental researchers. 

Environmental research will also benefit from new ways of connecting and visualising diverse data, via simulations and digital twins, and the tools to ensure information is reliable and verifiable, including ways of auditing the flow of information across platforms. Digital public infrastructure lies at the heart of a circular economy, ensuring data portability, standards and public interests are protected. 

Phase 2 of the Australian Internet Observatory will provide the critical research infrastructure needed to support a number of the key research directions identified as NRPs for protecting and restoring Australia's environment including: new and innovative approaches to discovering, protecting and restoring biodiversity; tools and techniques to collect and analyse environmental data; and transitioning to a more circular economy.

Building a secure and resilient nation

Investing in national infrastructure for digital observability is critical for ensuring that researchers, regulators, and the public can effectively scrutinize political activity in an era where online communication is both increasingly diffuse and intentionally obscured. Given the centrality of the Internet for communication, public interest information, the economy and national security, research infrastructure to address the digital transformation is absolutely essential to building a secure and resilient nation. Many cyberthreats, digital scams, and misinformation campaigns go undetected as they require observability from a user perspective and large scale testing in secure environments. The emergence of AI-driven misinformation and fraud, particularly in political and economic/financial sectors is a growing threat to the stability of democracy and free markets. The fragmentation of the media and communications landscape is also making it increasingly difficult to monitor national and international conversations, posing serious challenges for election integrity, policymaking in all areas, and public accountability. Without robust data access, unethical campaigning, disinformation, and digital political manipulation will go unchecked. 

New tools are required to detect, capture and respond to these emerging threat actors. Continued investment in emerging data donation tools being pioneered through the Australian Internet Observatory would allow greater capture of these emergent threats and challenges through the development of GenAI and Simulation environments to test and 

respond to various kinds of cyber attacks and the development of Digital Public Infrastructure principles and standards to ensure national sovereignty over data portability and standards. 

Phase 2 of the Australian Internet Observatory will provide the critical research infrastructure needed to support many of the key research directions identified as NRPs for Building a secure and resilient nation including: secure and resilient technologies; technologies that support Australian resilience to natural and human-induced challenges; technology design frameworks that increase democratic resilience; causes, impacts and mitigation of misinformation and disinformation; responding to natural disasters.