ASCA EDT Decision Advantage

ASCA EDT Decision Advantage

Funds Australian companies and universities developing AI and data-fusion technologies for Defence decision-making capability.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The ASCA EDT Decision Advantage program is a contract round run by the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator within Australia's Department of Defence, sitting under the ASCA EDT (Advanced Technologies Research) stream. EDT funds deep, long-term partnerships with industry and universities to nurture research and development capability aligned with Defence's future needs. The Decision Advantage round sought proposals in AI and data technologies that strengthen Defence's ability to process, interpret, and act on information faster and more accurately across air, land, space, maritime, and cyber domains.

The round issued contracts through the AusTender procurement system under an Other Transaction-style flexible arrangement, not a conventional grant. Contract values across the 14 awarded organisations ranged from AUD 1,023,209 to AUD 3,286,010 (including GST). No total pool figure is stated. Duration and payment terms were set per contract and are not published at the program level.

Eligibility covers Australian for-profit companies (Pty Ltd and other registered entities) and Australian universities and research organisations. Foreign entities are not eligible. The marketing briefing targeted industry and academia. The RFP was approved by the Chief Defence Scientist and published via AusTender.

The Request for Proposal opened on 11 November 2024 and closed on 24 January 2025. Contracts have been signed. The current status is between cycles — the first round is complete and no second round has been announced. Seven topic areas were covered: Automated Data Integration and Interpretation, Machine Reasoning, Multi-Modal Data Fusion, Augmented Human-Machine Reasoning, AI Agents, AI Multi-Modal Foundation Model, and AI Orchestration.

Future rounds under EDT are anticipated but not confirmed. Monitor asca.gov.au and AusTender for the next Decision Advantage RFP or any successor EDT activity.