2026 Agenda
Tue 24 Mar3:00–4:15pmPublic-Private Roundtables
[Roundtable] Where’s the Real Value? Investing Beyond Hype in the Next Economy (Quantum, AI, Tokenization, Green Infrastructure)
Add to calendar
About This Session
The “next economy” is already here (but not evenly distributed) with AI in everyday services, new digital markets through tokenisation, quantum-driven security upgrades, and green infrastructure powering modern compute. But not all growth stories are sustainable, and bubbles do happen (is AI due for a reset? Is Quantum finally ready?). That leaves a simple question for everyone—from mums and dads, VCs and family offices to Australia’s super funds:
What does this mean for savings, wealth, retirement and the kind of economy we’re building?
This roundtable brings together investors, technologists and researchers, regulators and practitioners to separate durable value from hype, and to define what high-return, responsible investing looks like under real uncertainty.
We also ask the hard questions: if some jobs disappear or shift, how do large funds still deliver for members and the broader economy—not just short-term winners?
- When
- Tuesday 24 March3:00–4:15pm, Perth time
- Where
- Public-Private RoundtablesUniClub - Roundtable Room 2
- Access
- Open
Speakers
-
Alvinder Singh
Head, Innovation Acceleration Office
Monetary Authority of Singapore
-
Drew Bradford
Chief Executive Officer
Macropod
-
Josh Phillips
Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder
ClearAI
-
Laksh Gangwani
Chief Growth Officer
ViewTrade
-
Lisa Schroeder
Associate Managing Director
QAI Ventures
-
Sebastien Picard
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
xcube.co
-
Tetiana George
Co-Chair / CEO
Insurtech Australia / Curium
-
Dr. Jo Hawkins
Head of Research Translation and COO
International Centre of Radio Astronomy
Moderator
More Securing the Future Sessions
-
3:00–5:00pmMon 23 MarWorkshopUniClub - Workshop Room 2Invite-Only
Securing the Future
Indo-Pacific Unplugged - Digital Connectivity as Critical Infrastructure
WorkshopUniClub - Workshop Room 2Invite-Only
-
Dr. Andrzej GwizdalskiCo-founder & ChairmanWestern Australia Web3 Association
-
Brad CarrExecutive, Geopolitical RiskNational Australia Bank
-
Prof. Gordon FlakeChief Executive OfficerPerth USAsia Centre
About this session
Indo-Pacific Unplugged is a closed-door executive tabletop simulation that treats international digital connectivity—especially undersea cables—as critical infrastructure for the modern economy. The exercise stress-tests scenarios of degraded or disrupted connectivity and the cascading impacts across national security, transport and logistics, communications, utilities, finance and payments, and health services.
Australia is the scenario “home base,” with Western Australia as the live stress-test environment—anchored by Perth, one of the world’s most geographically isolated capital cities, which makes WA a uniquely valuable resilience laboratory for the Indo-Pacific. WA is rapidly strengthening its position as a green digital infrastructure and connectivity hub—linking renewable energy, data centre growth, subsea routes, and sovereign-grade capability. This simulation highlights the benefits of that trajectory while pressure-testing the assumptions it relies on, including degraded-mode operations, cross-sector coordination, and the role of decentralised / distributed networks as additional layers of continuity when “always-on connectivity” cannot be taken for granted.
Participants will stress-test realistic scenarios involving partial degradation or temporary loss of international connectivity, and work through the operational choices that follow—what to prioritise, what to throttle, what to switch to, how to coordinate across sectors, and how to communicate credibly under uncertainty. This simulation prepares leaders for decision-readiness in extreme situations where there is no time to prepare.
Following the precedent of Iceland’s “Unplugged” exercise and similar industry-led resilience simulations, this session is designed to surface hidden dependencies, identify second- and third-order impacts, improve public–private coordination, and generate a short list of practical mitigations that organisations can act on immediately. -
-
9:30–9:45amTue 24 MarSummit StageWinthrop HallOpen
Securing the Future
Life, Finance & the Quantum Universe
Summit StageWinthrop HallOpen
About this session
Quantum is more practical, near-term & consequential than most of us have appreciated. Ravi Menon unpacks what quantum actually is and why these principles speak directly to how our economies & institutions work. From computing to cryptography to sensing, he maps the three quantum technologies that will matter most for our industry, and why the window to prepare is already narrowing. Expect a clear "why now" - and a major announcement on Q-FINEX (Quantum Finance Industry Experimentation)
-
11:50am–12:20pmTue 24 MarSummit StageWinthrop HallOpen
Securing the Future
The Long Game in the Indo-Pacific - Engineering Conviction in the World’s Most Compelling Investment Region
Summit StageWinthrop HallOpen
-
Neil ParekhDeputy Chairman, Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN); Vice Chairman, Asia Pacific, SMBC & Former Nominated Member of Parliament, SingaporeSumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)
-
Prof. David Lee Kuo ChuenChairmanGlobal Fintech InstituteModerator
About this session
The Indo-Pacific's most consequential opportunities reward the fastest movers and embedded patience in their very structure. With young demographics, maturing capital markets, and digital infrastructure still forming, this is one of the most compelling investment theses of the coming decades - but the returns will accrue to those who entered during formation and stayed. This conversation explores what it actually takes to engineer long-term growth.
-
