Perth perfectly placed to seize digital opportunities of the future

In an opinion piece for The West Australian, Dr Ian Langford, Executive Director for Security & Defence PLuS, argues that Perth is “perfectly placed to anchor the nation’s most important new industry: data.”

Almost all of Australia’s international digital traffic — 99 per cent — currently runs through undersea cables routed east, leaving the country exposed. Langford contends that diverse routes landing in Western Australia would not only improve speed but also provide resilience against sabotage or natural disasters, positioning Perth as “the secure digital gateway between Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the rest of Australia.”

He highlights the state’s unique advantages — abundant land and energy, a skilled workforce, and resources critical to clean energy and digital infrastructure. But he also stresses the need for a clear plan: treating subsea cables and data centres as critical infrastructure, ensuring sovereignty is “built in from the start, not added later,” and connecting WA’s resource base to the global race for data capacity.

“WA has never been afraid of scale… If we bring that same discipline to digital infrastructure, Australia gains a faster, safer and more resilient gateway to the world. The question is whether we seize the moment or let it pass.”

Read the full article in The West Australian: Perth perfectly placed to seize digital opportunities of the future