November 29, 2023 • 24 mins
In this edition of the Vocus Inspire podcast series, we speak with Dr. Matthew Ilic, our very own satcomms specialist, an Australian army veteran with 32 years of service. We chat to Matt about the significant benefits LEO satellite connectivity offers the defence industry, and the huge impact it can have on humanitarian relief efforts throughout the world.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Vocus Inspire, the podcast full of brilliant ideas
for business.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hi, I'm Luke Coleman, head of government and corporate affairs
at Vocus, Australia's leading specialist fibre and network solutions provider.
Before we get things underway, we want to acknowledge and
pay our respects to the traditional custodians of the land
from wherever you're listening. In this podcast, we dive headfirst
into what's on the minds of Australian business and government
(00:30):
leaders to help inspire you and your organisation to go forward,
go further, and go faster. So let's go.
Hello and welcome to the Vocus Inspire podcast. I'm Luke Coleman,
and today we're joined by Doctor Matthew Ilich, who works
at Vocus. He's got a long list of very impressive
(00:53):
looking letters after his name. He enlisted in the Australian
Army in 19.
In 1991, has attended the Royal Military College in Duntroon.
He has got an extremely interesting history in the military,
and he's now working with Vocus and specialising in our
work with low Earth orbit satellites. Matt, welcome to the podcast.
(01:14):
Thanks, Luke. Great to be here. Now, I was going
to read out your full biography, but I think it's
better if we just hear it from you directly. So
why don't you just tell us a bit about yourself
and your background before we get started? Ah, terrific, mate. Look, I,
my entire working life I spent in the Australian Army,
apart from the last 2 years with Vocus, 32 years
in the Australian Army. The vast majority of that was
(01:35):
with the Royal Australian Corps of Signals. Uh, during the
last 15 years of that career,
I deployed on, uh, no fewer than 10 occasions to
serve in operations across the entire world. Uh, everything from
East Timor through to Iraq. Uh, my final operational deployment
was probably my favourite, and where I was the commander
of the Force installation Team 31 for a couple of
(01:56):
years in the Middle East. And we had to refresh
the entirety of communications for the ADF deployed in that region, um,
everywhere from Qatar to Bahrain.
Dubai, Afghanistan, and Iraq. A terrific opportunity to work with
Australian soldiers overseas. That's an amazing background. And tell me,
so I don't have to read out the long list
(02:16):
of impressive letters after your name. Tell me about your
qualifications so I can decode it. Oh, look, I, I,
I actually started off, uh, pretty late in my academic career.
I failed the HSC and joined the army to sort of, uh,
as an opportunity to, I guess you'd call it a
Hail Mary pass, career-wise. Um,
Started off at about the age of 32 with a
(02:37):
master's in IT, uh, which oddly turned into an opportunity
to do a master's in clinical psychology.
Um, long story about how that happened. Uh, the linkage
was information operations between those two things. Uh, finishing off
with that, I started work on a PhD covering off
on group dynamics and adverse conditions, uh, whilst I was
(02:58):
also at staff college with the Australian Army at the
Australian National University, finishing a.
Masters in military studies the same year. Needless to say,
2014 rocked around and I decided that no more academics
for me. Um, that was well enough. I, I kind
of burnt out my academic, uh, candle at this stage.
(03:19):
And although I've been very, very lucky to have had
those opportunities, um, I think that might be enough for now.
Now you would have seen on all of those deployments
that you mentioned earlier how cutting edge technologies can undoubtedly
give defence forces a real competitive advantage. Matt, what do
you believe are the most important factors for defence forces
(03:42):
to consider, uh, to take advantage of the enormous potential
of low Earth orbit satellite connectivity?
I think the great thing about Leo SATCOM is that
it's cheap, it's very accessible, and enables instant access to
all emergency service government departments. And the ease with which
you can assess, access that, um, particular connectivity is incredible
(04:06):
compared to the technical means of satellite communications in the past,
where we
We used to have a large geo dish to provide
3 megabytes of connectivity and bandwidth. Um, now we can
do the same thing with a very, very small dish,
but instead of 3 MB, it's now 250 meg on
the ground. Um, to say that that's an evolution is
(04:29):
probably understating it. It really
It is a revolution in communications technology from the defence perspective. Now,
I've seen a Starlink dish get set up, and it
really is a plug and play kind of setup. You
stick it on the ground, you open up a, an
iPhone or an Android app, and it pretty much self-configures.
I imagine that's quite a different experience compared to what
(04:50):
you might have wrestled with in the past with GEO
satellites when you were on deployment.
Yeah, the technical nature of Geosatcom is usually meant that
we'd have to get a technician to set that up
to build it. Um, often for the larger dishes, you
would need to build a concrete plinth, you'd have to
have electricity, and you'd have to have some kind of
enormous ground infrastructure to support the communication once it actually lands.
(05:13):
Landing rights has always been a problem as well. You
can't easily use big dishes, um, in every country. It,
it
It uses a lot of power as well. And that
creates other problems for spectrum across the world. These low
power Leo dishes that companies like Starlink use and certainly
the Vocus resells right now are an enormous change to
(05:35):
that environment. They enable a small power dish that can
be set up easily by anybody, um, whether they be
a clerk, a Q store operator, um, or indeed, a technician.
Um, there is no qualification required. It can be taught very,
very simply. And in fact, I taught a whole heap
(05:57):
of soldiers just as they were going out on talisman
sabre this year, and gave them what they call a soldiers'
5 on how to, how to use this equipment. Took
about
An hour to run through, and I had a terrific
experience out on that major exercise where an entire node
of communications where they would normally have multiple geo connectivity
(06:19):
was sold with one very small white Leo dish.
So the, the technical aspects of setting it up sounds
like it's dramatically simpler than Geo, but tell me about
the communications itself. Why is LEO connectivity so crucial to
communications when it comes to security, data sovereignty, you know,
things that are particularly important for defence customers?
(06:41):
Uh, well, the, the LEO systems that are, that are
on offer right now, and the ones that are coming
as well, they're gonna enable a a level of protection
for data that we haven't been able to see before.
Remembering that the bandwidth makes a big difference. Bandwidth means
that you can afford more complex protective systems to be
able to handle heavier, uh, data solutions.
(07:04):
It means that instead of being reliant on foreign owned
suite of joined terrestrial and submarine cables, each of which
needs to be covered, we can achieve similar bandwidth with
a single LEO provider. And that can land directly in
Australia as well. So you've got a bit of a, uh,
a feeling of security and safety and that your data
(07:24):
is being handled with the least amount of hands.
least amount of hands and the least amount of joints
means a lot more security and a lot more uh
faith in that data handling process.
Now Matt, you've spent your entire career working in the
military and over recent years we've seen a uh a
Commonwealth review of defence procurement. Um, you know, there's long
(07:48):
been uh complaints from, from industry and other participants that
it can be a pretty clunky process to be frank.
Um, and in October 2022 you published an article called
Time for Change in Mission Critical Communications in Australia. Um,
and in that article you said that during your time
in uniform, you saw how procurement processes were really getting
(08:08):
in the way of new technological.
Opportunities, particularly in the communications area. So tell me, in
the year or so since you published that article, have
you seen any changes in defence procurement, and why don't
you give us a bit of an overview of how
defence approaches procurement uh for purchasing new comms technologies.
Yeah, absolutely. Look, it's, it's, it's an interesting, a really
(08:31):
interesting beast, and those who have not touched defence and
procurement before, uh, would be surprised to see just how
clunky that can be, especially for technology. I think it's
a reasonable expectation by our public and our taxpayers that
their defence force and their, their people's best who are
serving in the ADF have the best technology on the ground.
(08:55):
The reality is very, very different because it is a
product of a complex procurement system that is not designed
to keep up with technology. When I used to build
these facilities overseas,
Um, after 30 days, once, once the defence force goes
in with their green dishes and what they have on
the shelf to either fight the war or secure ground
(09:19):
or provide that initial support to a humanitarian and disaster
relief operation, about 30 days after that comes a decision point,
where we decide if we're gonna
stay for a long time to do some rebuild and reconstruction.
And if we're gonna have to do that, we will
then bring those green means of of communication back home,
put them back on the shelf for the next crisis,
(09:40):
and replace them with what they call white coms, which
is commercial off the shelf communications.
Unfortunately, defence and government are in the habit of creating
a zero risk environment for procurement. So when you purchase
a spaceship, this is probably a really, really good approach.
You certainly don't want that blowing up and killing the
(10:01):
people on board. Um, this can take years though. And
when you purchase communications technology, those years of risk aversion
mean that, yeah, you'll get 100% of the technology that
you needed.
But it's the technology you needed 3 to 5 years
ago when the process started. So that's to say that
defence and government are always fighting a rear guard action
(10:22):
with antiquated technology for frontline soldiers and emergency service workers,
and they do deserve better. Because LEO SACOM technology is
advancing so fast, every week we see another advance on
how quickly this tech can improve our lives. And if
we sit around and wait for a 3.
to 5 year deliberate procurement cycle, we're going to be
(10:43):
well behind the eight ball. I think the time is
now to change the way that we do that. Army, Navy,
and Air Force along single service means are doing small
procurements of this capability to trial it.
But the large scale adoption across the ADF needs to
(11:04):
have the ADF's blessing and a faster procurement cycle that
is not only rapid, but accepts a lot of risk
when taking this on, noting that the technology is moving
very fast. What they buy now may not be what
they need in 2 to 3 years, and they need
(11:25):
to be OK with that.
Leo, fortunately, is cheap and affordable and very capable. So
it enables them to be able to purchase stuff now
and be able to throw it aside and then re
up and update it or replace it cheaply and easily
in that 3 to 5 year time cycle when the
(11:46):
technology does make the next leap.
It really is moving crazy fast. I'm an avid Starlink
follower myself, you know, they're up to version 2 of
the satellites that they've launched into space, but I think
we're coming close to version 4 of the dishes that
they provide, uh, to consumers. And, and it's only been
a year or two since this technology commercially launched, so
it really is moving quickly. So, Matt, if you, um,
(12:09):
had a magic wand and, and you could improve those
processes you've just spoken about so that defence doesn't miss
out on those opportunities, uh, what would you do?
Uh, that, that's a, that's a good question. It'd be
nice to be, um, you know, Chief of the defence
Force for a day and make those changes. I think,
I think certainly right now, there's a unique opportunity for
defence organisations to change the way it's procured. Um, an
(12:31):
example that's worth exploring is to decentralise procurement of coms technology.
Nested at the service level, so it's a little bit
closer to the user group. Um, there, there's gonna be
an opportunity there to do some real rapid procurement, but
more importantly, really fast test and the evaluation cycles that
don't need to mitigate the usual long lead times. At
(12:52):
the moment, if
Army, for example, gets a satellite dish that's gone through
the usual procurement cycle. Much of the time that is
spent at army headquarters is in trying to make this
old equipment work for the new army, and that's really,
really tiresome. What we need to do is give them
The flip side of that, equipment that is so far
(13:16):
advanced that they've not yet realised what it can be
used for, give it to soldiers early, and trust me,
Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen and women will absolutely find
the best way to use that equipment.
Now Matt, you mentioned uh in your introduction that you
did a deployment in East Timor, which is probably Australia's
most famous peacekeeping mission. I think uh all Australians would
(13:39):
remember the work of our defence forces in uh in
East Timor. So let's turn our focus.
To international assistance and talk us through how defence organisations
have participated in humanitarian efforts. Yeah, I would say that 90%
to 95% of what our ADF does is not war fighting.
(14:00):
That's what we need to train for. That is the
highest level of engagement we could expect, God forbid, for
our defence force to be committed. But 90 to 95%
of what the defence force does.
Is humanitarian and disaster relief both onshore in Australia and
offshore to other countries and also security and stability operations.
(14:23):
Australia is a really rich country and we're uniquely stable,
not only geopolitically but also geographically. We don't have a
direct threat from tsunamis, from volcanoes and major earthquakes, but
with that wealth and stability comes an enormous responsibility to
assist those people who are not as lucky.
Australia has a really rich history of assistance in our region,
(14:45):
not only East Timor, but Indonesia during the tsunami in 2004. Um,
and certainly Tonga, most recently for the massive volcano eruption
that had happened, um, in that country in 2022. They're
two extreme examples, but there are countless examples in between
of storm ravaged, storm ravaged countries like PNG, Fiji, uh, Tuvalu,
(15:07):
where our defence force has
Been tasked to go in with fresh water making facilities,
food delivery, and things like reconstruction as well. We have
enormously capable engineers who can build towns. All of these
efforts are underpinned by a very solid communications plan that
needs to not only support the troops on the ground
doing the hard work, but also connect those devastated communities
(15:31):
with the outside world. And we saw Tonga getting cut off, um,
by internet, and there was our Starlink.
Terminals that went in there after the cloud started to dissipate,
to start re-establishing that wonderful thing for us to be
able to do. But also too, communications back home. So
all of those defence force folks who are deployed forward or,
and the DFAT folks and the non-government organisations that are
(15:53):
deployed forward to assist, they need to talk back to
Australia to enable coordination of those efforts, and that also
can be done now with our LEO satellite communication network.
And tell me, how does Leo connectivity improve humanitarian initiatives?
You've mentioned already that all of the efforts that we make, uh, in,
(16:13):
in rebuilding after a disaster are fundamentally underpinned by solid communication. So,
how would you maximise the value of using LEO technology
like Starlink, particularly throughout the Pacific? That's a great question.
It seems simple, um, but it's, it's really is steeped
in complexity, but I'm gonna have a crack at that. So,
another nation right now.
(16:33):
Um, to the, to our north is using its telecommunications
reach as a means of diplomatic extension. It's running its
own cables and satellite communication landing sites out across the
entire Pacific Rim nations and offering them free internet and
free business cloud services that not only endears them to
the populace of those countries, but also traps them in
(16:55):
a situation where their data is no longer safe, where
their business data is now being shipped off to another
nation to be managed and kept.
Nations like Australia need to recognise the value of telecommunications
as a tool of diplomacy, not just disaster relief. Just
as we do for gifting food and water and books, um,
as we used to in the past, I think the
(17:17):
internet and cloud.
writ large and now the currency that we should be
considering for further use in stabilising and strengthening our region. Um,
if it's done right, I really do think that it'll
enable our neighbours in the region to secure their data
and maintain independence a lot better.
The big plus in all of that is that Australia
(17:37):
would also be in a much better position to provide
humanitarian assistance and disaster relief when needed. Imagine showing up
to one of these um island nations that requires our
assistance and the connectivity is already there.
That would make a huge difference, not only to DFAT,
but to all of our defence forces as they arrive
(17:58):
in those areas to assist. And it also endears a
culture of participation and cooperation with those countries and their
own government and defence forces as well.
Leo technology has developed so quickly in the last few years.
I remember when NBN launched its two satellites, you know,
that was less than 10 years ago, and at the
(18:19):
time they were absolutely cutting edge, and now they appear
to be completely antiquated. So the technology is moving at
a rapid pace. Tell me, look into your crystal ball, Matt,
how do you see Leo connectivity developing over the next decade?
Oh jeez mate, you know, um, it's, it's almost like.
(18:39):
Watching one of those Black Mirror episodes, it's, it's a, uh,
it's a, it's both frightening and exciting at the same time.
I guess the beauty of the competition at the moment
in the Leo space is that 10 years from now,
it's almost unimaginable. Considering the speed of the development to date,
in 10 years,
I don't know. I, I, I, I, I think that
(19:02):
we'll not only have a choice available across many providers,
but I think we'll all be connected by personal devices
that use LEO, not as an alternate or emergency means,
but as the primary means of communications. Doing that, the
world becomes even smaller than it seems today, as a
human in Greenland, for example, can establish a video call
(19:22):
with colleagues in Sydney, San Diego, Berlin, Jayburg. Not only that,
But the concept of always on technology becomes ubiquitous. Imagine
a world where everybody is really connected 24/7. The whole
concept of calling somebody is gone. You just tap in,
tap out to existing rooms that are that are open
(19:44):
all the time. 10 years is not that far away,
but the everywhere nature of communications and communications right now
is that Leo technology enables a massive change in our world.
I don't know what that's gonna look like, but I'm
certainly very excited to be a part of the change.
Those of us that are in the industry really need
(20:05):
to stay on our toes so that we can keep
up with it as it, as it changes. Now, Matt,
to wrap up, this is a segment where I ask
all of our guests on this podcast, if you
Got to make one wish, one request to all leaders of, uh,
enterprise and government organisations to, uh, either avoid missing out
on a, a real massive opportunity or to prevent themselves
from making one mistake. If you had one wish, what
(20:28):
would it be and why? Look, I thought about this actually,
while I was doing my PhD back in 2014. Um, look,
if I, if I could do one thing.
It would be getting people to spend less time looking
for the 100% solution and instead allow a bit of
personal flair. I think our leaders of industry and government
(20:49):
spend too much time governing by committees, and they're too
afraid of reprisal, where reprisals are OK. The real leaders
of history, if you go back through history, didn't pay
too much attention to the advice of committees. They made
decisions and everybody moved forward.
So I think that would be my one change that
I would make across the entire enterprise if I could.
(21:12):
Now we're gonna go into a rapid fire section. I'm
gonna ask you some quick questions. Give me a quick answer.
You ready to go? Oh, nervous, let's go. All right,
deep breath. What's your favourite piece of technology? Uh, hands
down my Model Y Tesla. Oh, very nice. I'm impressed.
Cool car. How do you disconnect?
Um, my wife and I actually play board games, and I,
(21:34):
I enjoy a lot of cooking, and from a personal perspective,
I go hiking. Very nice. What's the most important thing
that you do for your own well-being?
Uh, I'd have to say, I schedule 40 minutes a
day on my iFIT Nordic track bike. I, I kind
of love that I can jump on my bike and
sit on my back deck while cycling through Tahiti with
(21:55):
a trainer. Oh, that sounds very nice. What is one
thing that would surprise people about you?
Um, I, uh, I actually enjoy playing the piano. Uh,
when I was a kid, I did, uh, up to
7th grade, um, Australian Music Examination Board, and, and, and
I'm not, not terrible. I'm impressed. I never knew. That
(22:17):
does surprise me about you. Uh, what do you think
is the one personal trait most important to success? Oh,
that's a risk to a soapbox, isn't it?
Uh, you know what, one word? Empathy. I think most
people in positions of power and influence lack the ability
to connect to their workers, their subordinates, their colleagues, as
human beings. Human beings who hurt and feel like everybody else.
(22:41):
I'd have to say, empathy is the one trait. Final question,
what is the one thing that there needs to be
more of in business today?
Oh, I think linking to that last one, I, I've
got to say, an understanding of the human condition. I
was really surprised when I struggled through my clinical psych
masters and, and later on my PhD, just how little
I knew about human beings. And despite me being one allegedly, I,
(23:05):
I think all businesses and indeed all defence forces would
benefit a lot from their man.
at all levels being exposed to psych 101, and just
learning something about the human condition. I, I think that's
probably the one thing. Dr. Matthew Ilich, it has been
an absolute pleasure talking to you today. You've got some
amazing stories, but we'll wrap it up there. Thank you
so much for joining us on the Vocus Inspire podcast.
(23:28):
Thank you so much, Mr. Coleman.
Thanks so much for listening. I hope you've enjoyed this
episode of Vocus Inspire, and we look forward to bringing
you more inspiration in coming episodes.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
And don't forget, if you want more inspiration and more episodes,
head to Vocus.com.au/podcast. You can follow us on LinkedIn and
Twitter to stay up to date with all things Vocus.
Listen out for the next episode of the Vocus Inspire podcast.
Welcome to Vocus Inspire, the podcast full of brilliant ideas
for business.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hi, I'm Luke Coleman, head of government and corporate affairs
at Vocus, Australia's leading specialist fibre and network solutions provider.
Before we get things underway, we want to acknowledge and
pay our respects to the traditional custodians of the land
from wherever you're listening. In this podcast, we dive headfirst
into what's on the minds of Australian business and government
(00:30):
leaders to help inspire you and your organisation to go forward,
go further, and go faster. So let's go.
Hello and welcome to the Vocus Inspire podcast. I'm Luke Coleman,
and today we're joined by Doctor Matthew Ilich, who works
at Vocus. He's got a long list of very impressive
(00:53):
looking letters after his name. He enlisted in the Australian
Army in 19.
In 1991, has attended the Royal Military College in Duntroon.
He has got an extremely interesting history in the military,
and he's now working with Vocus and specialising in our
work with low Earth orbit satellites. Matt, welcome to the podcast.
(01:14):
Thanks, Luke. Great to be here. Now, I was going
to read out your full biography, but I think it's
better if we just hear it from you directly. So
why don't you just tell us a bit about yourself
and your background before we get started? Ah, terrific, mate. Look, I,
my entire working life I spent in the Australian Army,
apart from the last 2 years with Vocus, 32 years
in the Australian Army. The vast majority of that was
(01:35):
with the Royal Australian Corps of Signals. Uh, during the
last 15 years of that career,
I deployed on, uh, no fewer than 10 occasions to
serve in operations across the entire world. Uh, everything from
East Timor through to Iraq. Uh, my final operational deployment
was probably my favourite, and where I was the commander
of the Force installation Team 31 for a couple of
(01:56):
years in the Middle East. And we had to refresh
the entirety of communications for the ADF deployed in that region, um,
everywhere from Qatar to Bahrain.
Dubai, Afghanistan, and Iraq. A terrific opportunity to work with
Australian soldiers overseas. That's an amazing background. And tell me,
so I don't have to read out the long list
(02:16):
of impressive letters after your name. Tell me about your
qualifications so I can decode it. Oh, look, I, I,
I actually started off, uh, pretty late in my academic career.
I failed the HSC and joined the army to sort of, uh,
as an opportunity to, I guess you'd call it a
Hail Mary pass, career-wise. Um,
Started off at about the age of 32 with a
(02:37):
master's in IT, uh, which oddly turned into an opportunity
to do a master's in clinical psychology.
Um, long story about how that happened. Uh, the linkage
was information operations between those two things. Uh, finishing off
with that, I started work on a PhD covering off
on group dynamics and adverse conditions, uh, whilst I was
(02:58):
also at staff college with the Australian Army at the
Australian National University, finishing a.
Masters in military studies the same year. Needless to say,
2014 rocked around and I decided that no more academics
for me. Um, that was well enough. I, I kind
of burnt out my academic, uh, candle at this stage.
(03:19):
And although I've been very, very lucky to have had
those opportunities, um, I think that might be enough for now.
Now you would have seen on all of those deployments
that you mentioned earlier how cutting edge technologies can undoubtedly
give defence forces a real competitive advantage. Matt, what do
you believe are the most important factors for defence forces
(03:42):
to consider, uh, to take advantage of the enormous potential
of low Earth orbit satellite connectivity?
I think the great thing about Leo SATCOM is that
it's cheap, it's very accessible, and enables instant access to
all emergency service government departments. And the ease with which
you can assess, access that, um, particular connectivity is incredible
(04:06):
compared to the technical means of satellite communications in the past,
where we
We used to have a large geo dish to provide
3 megabytes of connectivity and bandwidth. Um, now we can
do the same thing with a very, very small dish,
but instead of 3 MB, it's now 250 meg on
the ground. Um, to say that that's an evolution is
(04:29):
probably understating it. It really
It is a revolution in communications technology from the defence perspective. Now,
I've seen a Starlink dish get set up, and it
really is a plug and play kind of setup. You
stick it on the ground, you open up a, an
iPhone or an Android app, and it pretty much self-configures.
I imagine that's quite a different experience compared to what
(04:50):
you might have wrestled with in the past with GEO
satellites when you were on deployment.
Yeah, the technical nature of Geosatcom is usually meant that
we'd have to get a technician to set that up
to build it. Um, often for the larger dishes, you
would need to build a concrete plinth, you'd have to
have electricity, and you'd have to have some kind of
enormous ground infrastructure to support the communication once it actually lands.
(05:13):
Landing rights has always been a problem as well. You
can't easily use big dishes, um, in every country. It,
it
It uses a lot of power as well. And that
creates other problems for spectrum across the world. These low
power Leo dishes that companies like Starlink use and certainly
the Vocus resells right now are an enormous change to
(05:35):
that environment. They enable a small power dish that can
be set up easily by anybody, um, whether they be
a clerk, a Q store operator, um, or indeed, a technician.
Um, there is no qualification required. It can be taught very,
very simply. And in fact, I taught a whole heap
(05:57):
of soldiers just as they were going out on talisman
sabre this year, and gave them what they call a soldiers'
5 on how to, how to use this equipment. Took
about
An hour to run through, and I had a terrific
experience out on that major exercise where an entire node
of communications where they would normally have multiple geo connectivity
(06:19):
was sold with one very small white Leo dish.
So the, the technical aspects of setting it up sounds
like it's dramatically simpler than Geo, but tell me about
the communications itself. Why is LEO connectivity so crucial to
communications when it comes to security, data sovereignty, you know,
things that are particularly important for defence customers?
(06:41):
Uh, well, the, the LEO systems that are, that are
on offer right now, and the ones that are coming
as well, they're gonna enable a a level of protection
for data that we haven't been able to see before.
Remembering that the bandwidth makes a big difference. Bandwidth means
that you can afford more complex protective systems to be
able to handle heavier, uh, data solutions.
(07:04):
It means that instead of being reliant on foreign owned
suite of joined terrestrial and submarine cables, each of which
needs to be covered, we can achieve similar bandwidth with
a single LEO provider. And that can land directly in
Australia as well. So you've got a bit of a, uh,
a feeling of security and safety and that your data
(07:24):
is being handled with the least amount of hands.
least amount of hands and the least amount of joints
means a lot more security and a lot more uh
faith in that data handling process.
Now Matt, you've spent your entire career working in the
military and over recent years we've seen a uh a
Commonwealth review of defence procurement. Um, you know, there's long
(07:48):
been uh complaints from, from industry and other participants that
it can be a pretty clunky process to be frank.
Um, and in October 2022 you published an article called
Time for Change in Mission Critical Communications in Australia. Um,
and in that article you said that during your time
in uniform, you saw how procurement processes were really getting
(08:08):
in the way of new technological.
Opportunities, particularly in the communications area. So tell me, in
the year or so since you published that article, have
you seen any changes in defence procurement, and why don't
you give us a bit of an overview of how
defence approaches procurement uh for purchasing new comms technologies.
Yeah, absolutely. Look, it's, it's, it's an interesting, a really
(08:31):
interesting beast, and those who have not touched defence and
procurement before, uh, would be surprised to see just how
clunky that can be, especially for technology. I think it's
a reasonable expectation by our public and our taxpayers that
their defence force and their, their people's best who are
serving in the ADF have the best technology on the ground.
(08:55):
The reality is very, very different because it is a
product of a complex procurement system that is not designed
to keep up with technology. When I used to build
these facilities overseas,
Um, after 30 days, once, once the defence force goes
in with their green dishes and what they have on
the shelf to either fight the war or secure ground
(09:19):
or provide that initial support to a humanitarian and disaster
relief operation, about 30 days after that comes a decision point,
where we decide if we're gonna
stay for a long time to do some rebuild and reconstruction.
And if we're gonna have to do that, we will
then bring those green means of of communication back home,
put them back on the shelf for the next crisis,
(09:40):
and replace them with what they call white coms, which
is commercial off the shelf communications.
Unfortunately, defence and government are in the habit of creating
a zero risk environment for procurement. So when you purchase
a spaceship, this is probably a really, really good approach.
You certainly don't want that blowing up and killing the
(10:01):
people on board. Um, this can take years though. And
when you purchase communications technology, those years of risk aversion
mean that, yeah, you'll get 100% of the technology that
you needed.
But it's the technology you needed 3 to 5 years
ago when the process started. So that's to say that
defence and government are always fighting a rear guard action
(10:22):
with antiquated technology for frontline soldiers and emergency service workers,
and they do deserve better. Because LEO SACOM technology is
advancing so fast, every week we see another advance on
how quickly this tech can improve our lives. And if
we sit around and wait for a 3.
to 5 year deliberate procurement cycle, we're going to be
(10:43):
well behind the eight ball. I think the time is
now to change the way that we do that. Army, Navy,
and Air Force along single service means are doing small
procurements of this capability to trial it.
But the large scale adoption across the ADF needs to
(11:04):
have the ADF's blessing and a faster procurement cycle that
is not only rapid, but accepts a lot of risk
when taking this on, noting that the technology is moving
very fast. What they buy now may not be what
they need in 2 to 3 years, and they need
(11:25):
to be OK with that.
Leo, fortunately, is cheap and affordable and very capable. So
it enables them to be able to purchase stuff now
and be able to throw it aside and then re
up and update it or replace it cheaply and easily
in that 3 to 5 year time cycle when the
(11:46):
technology does make the next leap.
It really is moving crazy fast. I'm an avid Starlink
follower myself, you know, they're up to version 2 of
the satellites that they've launched into space, but I think
we're coming close to version 4 of the dishes that
they provide, uh, to consumers. And, and it's only been
a year or two since this technology commercially launched, so
it really is moving quickly. So, Matt, if you, um,
(12:09):
had a magic wand and, and you could improve those
processes you've just spoken about so that defence doesn't miss
out on those opportunities, uh, what would you do?
Uh, that, that's a, that's a good question. It'd be
nice to be, um, you know, Chief of the defence
Force for a day and make those changes. I think,
I think certainly right now, there's a unique opportunity for
defence organisations to change the way it's procured. Um, an
(12:31):
example that's worth exploring is to decentralise procurement of coms technology.
Nested at the service level, so it's a little bit
closer to the user group. Um, there, there's gonna be
an opportunity there to do some real rapid procurement, but
more importantly, really fast test and the evaluation cycles that
don't need to mitigate the usual long lead times. At
(12:52):
the moment, if
Army, for example, gets a satellite dish that's gone through
the usual procurement cycle. Much of the time that is
spent at army headquarters is in trying to make this
old equipment work for the new army, and that's really,
really tiresome. What we need to do is give them
The flip side of that, equipment that is so far
(13:16):
advanced that they've not yet realised what it can be
used for, give it to soldiers early, and trust me,
Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen and women will absolutely find
the best way to use that equipment.
Now Matt, you mentioned uh in your introduction that you
did a deployment in East Timor, which is probably Australia's
most famous peacekeeping mission. I think uh all Australians would
(13:39):
remember the work of our defence forces in uh in
East Timor. So let's turn our focus.
To international assistance and talk us through how defence organisations
have participated in humanitarian efforts. Yeah, I would say that 90%
to 95% of what our ADF does is not war fighting.
(14:00):
That's what we need to train for. That is the
highest level of engagement we could expect, God forbid, for
our defence force to be committed. But 90 to 95%
of what the defence force does.
Is humanitarian and disaster relief both onshore in Australia and
offshore to other countries and also security and stability operations.
(14:23):
Australia is a really rich country and we're uniquely stable,
not only geopolitically but also geographically. We don't have a
direct threat from tsunamis, from volcanoes and major earthquakes, but
with that wealth and stability comes an enormous responsibility to
assist those people who are not as lucky.
Australia has a really rich history of assistance in our region,
(14:45):
not only East Timor, but Indonesia during the tsunami in 2004. Um,
and certainly Tonga, most recently for the massive volcano eruption
that had happened, um, in that country in 2022. They're
two extreme examples, but there are countless examples in between
of storm ravaged, storm ravaged countries like PNG, Fiji, uh, Tuvalu,
(15:07):
where our defence force has
Been tasked to go in with fresh water making facilities,
food delivery, and things like reconstruction as well. We have
enormously capable engineers who can build towns. All of these
efforts are underpinned by a very solid communications plan that
needs to not only support the troops on the ground
doing the hard work, but also connect those devastated communities
(15:31):
with the outside world. And we saw Tonga getting cut off, um,
by internet, and there was our Starlink.
Terminals that went in there after the cloud started to dissipate,
to start re-establishing that wonderful thing for us to be
able to do. But also too, communications back home. So
all of those defence force folks who are deployed forward or,
and the DFAT folks and the non-government organisations that are
(15:53):
deployed forward to assist, they need to talk back to
Australia to enable coordination of those efforts, and that also
can be done now with our LEO satellite communication network.
And tell me, how does Leo connectivity improve humanitarian initiatives?
You've mentioned already that all of the efforts that we make, uh, in,
(16:13):
in rebuilding after a disaster are fundamentally underpinned by solid communication. So,
how would you maximise the value of using LEO technology
like Starlink, particularly throughout the Pacific? That's a great question.
It seems simple, um, but it's, it's really is steeped
in complexity, but I'm gonna have a crack at that. So,
another nation right now.
(16:33):
Um, to the, to our north is using its telecommunications
reach as a means of diplomatic extension. It's running its
own cables and satellite communication landing sites out across the
entire Pacific Rim nations and offering them free internet and
free business cloud services that not only endears them to
the populace of those countries, but also traps them in
(16:55):
a situation where their data is no longer safe, where
their business data is now being shipped off to another
nation to be managed and kept.
Nations like Australia need to recognise the value of telecommunications
as a tool of diplomacy, not just disaster relief. Just
as we do for gifting food and water and books, um,
as we used to in the past, I think the
(17:17):
internet and cloud.
writ large and now the currency that we should be
considering for further use in stabilising and strengthening our region. Um,
if it's done right, I really do think that it'll
enable our neighbours in the region to secure their data
and maintain independence a lot better.
The big plus in all of that is that Australia
(17:37):
would also be in a much better position to provide
humanitarian assistance and disaster relief when needed. Imagine showing up
to one of these um island nations that requires our
assistance and the connectivity is already there.
That would make a huge difference, not only to DFAT,
but to all of our defence forces as they arrive
(17:58):
in those areas to assist. And it also endears a
culture of participation and cooperation with those countries and their
own government and defence forces as well.
Leo technology has developed so quickly in the last few years.
I remember when NBN launched its two satellites, you know,
that was less than 10 years ago, and at the
(18:19):
time they were absolutely cutting edge, and now they appear
to be completely antiquated. So the technology is moving at
a rapid pace. Tell me, look into your crystal ball, Matt,
how do you see Leo connectivity developing over the next decade?
Oh jeez mate, you know, um, it's, it's almost like.
(18:39):
Watching one of those Black Mirror episodes, it's, it's a, uh,
it's a, it's both frightening and exciting at the same time.
I guess the beauty of the competition at the moment
in the Leo space is that 10 years from now,
it's almost unimaginable. Considering the speed of the development to date,
in 10 years,
I don't know. I, I, I, I, I think that
(19:02):
we'll not only have a choice available across many providers,
but I think we'll all be connected by personal devices
that use LEO, not as an alternate or emergency means,
but as the primary means of communications. Doing that, the
world becomes even smaller than it seems today, as a
human in Greenland, for example, can establish a video call
(19:22):
with colleagues in Sydney, San Diego, Berlin, Jayburg. Not only that,
But the concept of always on technology becomes ubiquitous. Imagine
a world where everybody is really connected 24/7. The whole
concept of calling somebody is gone. You just tap in,
tap out to existing rooms that are that are open
(19:44):
all the time. 10 years is not that far away,
but the everywhere nature of communications and communications right now
is that Leo technology enables a massive change in our world.
I don't know what that's gonna look like, but I'm
certainly very excited to be a part of the change.
Those of us that are in the industry really need
(20:05):
to stay on our toes so that we can keep
up with it as it, as it changes. Now, Matt,
to wrap up, this is a segment where I ask
all of our guests on this podcast, if you
Got to make one wish, one request to all leaders of, uh,
enterprise and government organisations to, uh, either avoid missing out
on a, a real massive opportunity or to prevent themselves
from making one mistake. If you had one wish, what
(20:28):
would it be and why? Look, I thought about this actually,
while I was doing my PhD back in 2014. Um, look,
if I, if I could do one thing.
It would be getting people to spend less time looking
for the 100% solution and instead allow a bit of
personal flair. I think our leaders of industry and government
(20:49):
spend too much time governing by committees, and they're too
afraid of reprisal, where reprisals are OK. The real leaders
of history, if you go back through history, didn't pay
too much attention to the advice of committees. They made
decisions and everybody moved forward.
So I think that would be my one change that
I would make across the entire enterprise if I could.
(21:12):
Now we're gonna go into a rapid fire section. I'm
gonna ask you some quick questions. Give me a quick answer.
You ready to go? Oh, nervous, let's go. All right,
deep breath. What's your favourite piece of technology? Uh, hands
down my Model Y Tesla. Oh, very nice. I'm impressed.
Cool car. How do you disconnect?
Um, my wife and I actually play board games, and I,
(21:34):
I enjoy a lot of cooking, and from a personal perspective,
I go hiking. Very nice. What's the most important thing
that you do for your own well-being?
Uh, I'd have to say, I schedule 40 minutes a
day on my iFIT Nordic track bike. I, I kind
of love that I can jump on my bike and
sit on my back deck while cycling through Tahiti with
(21:55):
a trainer. Oh, that sounds very nice. What is one
thing that would surprise people about you?
Um, I, uh, I actually enjoy playing the piano. Uh,
when I was a kid, I did, uh, up to
7th grade, um, Australian Music Examination Board, and, and, and
I'm not, not terrible. I'm impressed. I never knew. That
(22:17):
does surprise me about you. Uh, what do you think
is the one personal trait most important to success? Oh,
that's a risk to a soapbox, isn't it?
Uh, you know what, one word? Empathy. I think most
people in positions of power and influence lack the ability
to connect to their workers, their subordinates, their colleagues, as
human beings. Human beings who hurt and feel like everybody else.
(22:41):
I'd have to say, empathy is the one trait. Final question,
what is the one thing that there needs to be
more of in business today?
Oh, I think linking to that last one, I, I've
got to say, an understanding of the human condition. I
was really surprised when I struggled through my clinical psych
masters and, and later on my PhD, just how little
I knew about human beings. And despite me being one allegedly, I,
(23:05):
I think all businesses and indeed all defence forces would
benefit a lot from their man.
at all levels being exposed to psych 101, and just
learning something about the human condition. I, I think that's
probably the one thing. Dr. Matthew Ilich, it has been
an absolute pleasure talking to you today. You've got some
amazing stories, but we'll wrap it up there. Thank you
so much for joining us on the Vocus Inspire podcast.
(23:28):
Thank you so much, Mr. Coleman.
Thanks so much for listening. I hope you've enjoyed this
episode of Vocus Inspire, and we look forward to bringing
you more inspiration in coming episodes.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
And don't forget, if you want more inspiration and more episodes,
head to Vocus.com.au/podcast. You can follow us on LinkedIn and
Twitter to stay up to date with all things Vocus.
Listen out for the next episode of the Vocus Inspire podcast.
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