IDPO website to close

We are writing to advise you that the International Digital Policy Observatory (IDPO) will be closing. While the project achieved important goals over the past two years, it was unable to secure ongoing Australian Research Council or other funding to keep it active in the long-term. 

The IDPO was initially funded by a 2023 Australian Research Council Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grant led by Professor Terry Flew with a team of interdisciplinary researchers from the University of Sydney, UNSW, and UTS with key project partner, the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA). 

Since its launch in April 2024, the IDPO quickly established itself as a valuable resource for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and civil society advocacy groups seeking to better understand and respond to international trends in the tech policy arena. The IDPO received over 5,000 visits to the website, published five e-newsletters, and was involved in numerous policy submissions, including submissions to the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society, the ACCC Digital Platform Services Inquiry, and the Safe and Responsible AI in Australia inquiry. 

We wish to thank the IDPO Working Group for their time and expertise: Lyria Bennett Moses, UNSW; William Clapton, UNSW; Dr Michael Davis, UTS; Prof Terry Flew, University of Sydney; Heather Ford, UTS; Dr Joanne Gray, University of Sydney; Kalervo Gulson, University of Sydney; Dr Justine Humphry, University of Sydney; Dr Jonathon Hutchinson, University of Sydney; Daniel Joyce, UNSW; Dr Karen Lee, UTS; Catharine Lumby, University of Sydney; Marian-Andrei Rizoiu, UTS; Sacha Molitorisz, UTS; Derek Wilding, UTS. Our thanks to the dedicated and hard-working team who brought the project into existence: Dr Rob Nicholls, Data Scientist Dr Justin Miller, and Project Officers: Teresa Swist, Ellissa Nolan, and Julia Tsalis, and to the team at Datopian led by Uchechukwu Obimma for website development and support.

We thank you for your support of our initiative. If you would like to stay in touch with our ongoing research projects, please sign up to be a Friend of the Centre for AI, Trust and Governance.

Yours sincerely

The IDPO Research Team