$35m for international research into children born into digital age September 24, 2019

QUT will lead international research documenting what life is like when born into the digital age

Education Minister Dan Tehan has announced the federal government will spend $34.9 million setting up an Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child based out of the Queensland University of Technology.

The university's Professor Susan Danby, head of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, said no other centre in the country focused on children's development from birth.

Professor Danby said the centre would bring together academics from Australia, the UK, Europe, the US and South Korea. 

Research would focus on three key area: health, education and connectedness.

"Our vision is to ensure children growing up in the digital age are healthy, educated and connected," Professor Danby said.

"The centre will provide evidence-based research around not only the risks but also the many opportunities and innovations provided by digital technologies that can benefit children and their futures.

"A child's digital footprint begins even before birth, through data generated by health and educational records, as well as social media and the many young children's toys connected to the internet, with activities and preferences tracked by commercial entities.

"And so the research will involve government and non-government agencies, industry here and overseas, policy-makers philanthropic groups, as well as children and their parents."

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