“Our country has really woken up to and started to fully understand not just the opportunities of a digital future, but also the need to be thinking about cyber and data security at the same time,” O’Neil said.
“We have some really significant cyber issues and geopolitical tensions to manage as a country, and there’s every reason to believe the challenges we see are going to grow and exacerbate in the years ahead.”
The Government’s 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy has a heavy focus on protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure and strengthening its sovereign capabilities.
“This is a big opportunity for Australia, and one we are uniquely placed to benefit from. We have extraordinary companies which are doing world-leading things, and Macquarie is among them. One of the great things about Macquarie is that it’s based in Australia and owned by Australians. This is sovereign capability and will create jobs in technology and construction,” said the Minister.
The campus will include a sovereign Cyber Security Centre of Excellence which integrates the latest in physical and virtual infrastructure security and is supported by Australian Government-cleared engineers.
“So profound is the impact of AI and cloud, that it’s being hailed as the fourth industrial revolution, powered by a different kind of factory, AI factories. Scalable and flexible data centres purpose-built for high-density compute,” added David Hirst, Macquarie Data Centres Group executive.
“IC3 Super West is our answer to the nation’s need for sovereign AI and cloud data centre capacity. As we continue to expand, we will be acquiring new campuses here in Sydney’s north zone. We’re committed to supporting the growth of Australia’s digital economy and retain our intellectual property within Australia.”
Construction on the facility started in June after Macquarie appointed FDC Construction as the main build contractor.
