The report highlights the science and technology Australia should prioritise to better prepare for future pandemics, and lessen the disruption caused by lockdowns, border controls and quarantine.
It assesses six critical science and technology areas and provides 20 recommendations on implementing them.
These include:
The report demonstrates how a more efficient and technology-enabled health system could act as an infectious disease early warning system, and it would also:
CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said preparing and protecting the nation from pandemics would take a Team Australia approach.
“Australia played a critical role in the global response to COVID-19 to contain outbreaks and find a vaccine, including detection, safety, data tracking, vaccine manufacture and testing, virus analysis, and predictive data analytics.”
“As infectious disease continues to grow in frequency and impact, science can prepare us for what’s ahead as well as drive our recovery and resilience to protect our people and secure our future prosperity.
TRI will continue to play a vital role in contributing to science and technology enabled solutions by leveraging its world-class research capabilities, including the development of Australia’s first scale-up biomedical manufacturing facility.