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Industry leader in cloud building technology SoftIron has opened Australia’s very first “component-level IT infrastructure manufacturing facility”.
Costing $5 million to build, including $1.5 million from a Sovereign Industrial Capability Grant awarded by the Department of Defence last year, the new advanced manufacturing facility will be responsible for producing hardware for SoftIron’s HyperCloud Intelligent Cloud Fabric.
The company claims that HyperCloud is the “world’s first complete technology for building clouds”.
The opening of the new facility in Botany comes as Australia looks to capitalise on the AUKUS agreement, which will see the US, the UK and Australia share information on an unprecedented level, regarding nuclear-powered submarines.
SoftIron has said that the local manufacturing facility will just about remove the risk of firmware implants or backdoors into critical information systems being introduced by malicious state actors.
“Recent geopolitical events and the deteriorating strategic environment have exposed major weaknesses in global supply chains, particularly in the area of critical technology,” said SoftIron COO Jason Van der Schyff.
“Aside from exposing Australian companies to an unacceptable business risk, our reliance on foreign-manufactured componentry has increased the risk of malicious state actors introducing covert hardware or firmware during the manufacturing process.
“Unlike manufacturers who rely on opaque supply chains for their componentry, SoftIron offers total transparency of the design and manufacturing of hardware and software supply chains in its HyperCloud IT infrastructure.”
Alongside the development of HyperCloud components, the new facility introduces an additional supply chain verification process known as Secure Provenance, which allows SoftIron customers to conduct end-to-end audits of products.
“We are seeing other Western nations like the United States move toward supply chain security in the area of critical technology with initiatives like the CHIPS Act,” said Van der Schyff.
“SoftIron is ahead of the curve here in Australia by identifying the looming challenge and putting in place capabilities to meet it.”
SoftIron’s new facility is the second worldwide, with the company’s California site opening midway through this year. It was opened by Assistant Minister for Defence Matt Thistlethwaite.
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