Black Swan Summit Australia
Date: 23-25 March, 2026
Location: Winthrop Hall & The University Club, The University of Western Australia
Perth-born and globally connected, the Black Swan Summit 2026 brings together visionary builders in Quantum, AI, Tokenisation, and Green Infrastructure with industry partners, talent, policymakers, thought leaders, and capital to build a human-centred, planet-positive and secure digital economy.
The Perth USAsia Centre is proud to be a Supporting Partner of this event.
About the Black Swan Summit Series
The Black Swan Summit is a global foresight platform that explores how innovation through disruption can build more resilient economies and inclusive societies. It brings together leaders in artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, distributed ledger technology (DLT) and green infrastructure to examine how emerging technologies are reshaping industries and redefining growth. Originating in Perth, Western Australia, and now expanding worldwide, the summit unites thought leaders visionary technologists, policy makers, industry champions, and investors to translate emerging technologies into practical strategies for growth, resilience, and sustainability.
Workshop: Indo-Pacific Unplugged: Digital Connectivity as Critical Infrastructure
The Perth USAsia Centre, in partnership with the National Australia Bank (NAB) and Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN), is hosting a simulation workshop, ‘Indo-Pacific Unplugged: Digital Connectivity as Critical Infrastructure’.
What happens to your organisation when the cables go dark? Payments stall. Authentication fails. Supply chains freeze. Markets go quiet. Join us and work through escalating disruption scenarios alongside C-suite and board-level peers from finance, infrastructure and government, and leave with a sharper picture of how and where your organisation is exposed, and what to do about it.
Undersea cables carry nearly all the data that powers the modern global economy, handling over 99% of international internet traffic and enabling daily financial transfers worth USD10 trillion. Yet these fragile fibre-optic networks face imminent threats from escalating faults that often take months to repair, causing catastrophic blackouts that could cripple economies and national security.
Real-world catastrophes like the 2022 Tonga volcanic eruption severed its sole cable, blacking out the nation for weeks and Iceland’s repeated outages due to man-made and seismic shifts underscore the reality of this threat.
This workshop will take participants through test scenarios involving partial or complete disruption to Australia’s undersea cable connectivity, examining criticality in terms of inbound connectivity for services within Australia and outbound connectivity for exported digital services, including where Australian-based data centres support businesses elsewhere.
The exercises will force participants to face high-stakes operational decisions – what critical systems to prioritise amid chaos, what assets to ruthlessly sacrifice, how to scramble for coordination with crippled communications, and how to convey vital directives under unrelenting pressure.
Register your EOI to participate in the workshop here: https://forms.gftn.co/bssau-nab-2026
Learn more about the Black Swan Summit here: australia.blackswansummit.com
Learn more about Perth USAsia’s bespoke in‑person and online briefings, and in-person workshops by contacting Dr Lisa Cluett: lisa.cluett@perthusasia.edu.au
