ASSA’s Professor Anthony Elliott has been awarded more than $600,000 to establish a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and a Jean Monnet Network, aimed at strengthening Australia-EU relations through research, teaching and diplomatic activities.

Professor Elliott, University of South Australia’s Dean of External Engagement and Research Professor of Sociology, will be Executive Director of the new Hawke EU Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, which will be launched in Adelaide in September 2018.

Prof Elliott will also lead the new Jean Monnet Network, bringing together a consortium of 12 distinguished researchers from universities in Australia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, New Zealand and Japan to examine the impact of driverless vehicles on society.

The Hawke EU Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence will focus on three main themes:

  • Industry 4.0, reflecting the era of cyber-physical systems powered by artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous machines and big data;
  • Creative Industries, including the design of business models and skills for digital markets;
  • Migration, Mobility and Culture to track the global and regional migration of people and the transformation of cultural identities.

“Through this award of a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, this is an enormously important opportunity to develop and deepen EU-Australia relations on the most critical global transformation of our times,” Prof Elliott says.

“One of the characteristics of the 21st century is the digital revolution – from AI to advanced robotics to Industry 4.0. UniSA will play a central role in generating and promoting synergies in European studies to better understand these global technological changes.”

The Jean Monnet Network will undertake research on the development and impact of driverless vehicles in Europe and Australia, identifying issues for governments and local authorities and making policy recommendations.

“The opportunities for closer ties between the EU and Australia on Industry 4.0, connected mobilities and smart cities has expanded, given the backdrop of recent European Commission developments in intelligent transport,” Prof Elliott says.

“We hope that through the Jean Monnet Network we will promote a better understanding of these issues and encourage discussions among policy makers, key stakeholders and the public,” he says.

Jean Monnet Network
Cooperative, Connected Automated Mobility: EU and Australasian Innovations (CCAMEU)
Network Director: Professor Anthony Elliott
The Network will assemble a consortium of 11 key researchers drawn from 6 universities: The University of South Australia; Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Sciences (Germany); Roskilde University (Denmark); University of Tartu (Estonia), University of Canterbury (New Zealand); and, Keio University (Japan).
The network will conduct research on the development and deployment of driverless vehicle systems in Europe, identify issues for national, regional and local authorities, facilitate discussion between academics, key stakeholders (including organised civil society) and the public, develop evidence-based policy recommendations and evaluate 3rd country transfers of EC policy innovations.

Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence
Hawke EU Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (HEUJMCOE)
Executive Director: Professor Anthony Elliott
Will establish a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, building on the success of the existing EC-funded Hawke EU Centre (HEUC) at the University of South Australia. The Centre will develop public diplomacy events (including Ambassadorial Lecture Series and “Europe Now” Video Series), establishing education activities and sponsor research aimed at promoting a deeper understanding of European Union integration, and especially EU-Australia relations. The programme will focus on the digital revolution, specifically AI, robotics and  Industry 4.0

Professor Anthony Elliott
Dean | External Engagement
Executive Director | Hawke EU Centre|
Research Professor of Sociology, FASSA
Super-Global Visiting Professor, Keio University, Japan | Visiting Professor, University College Dublin, Ireland

WEBSITE:HTTP://WWW.ANTHONYELLIOTT.ORG

Latest books
Identity Troubles (Routelage 2016)
The consequences of global disasters (Routledge 2016, WITH ERIC HSU)
The Routelage Handbook of Pschoanalysis in the Social Sciences and Humanitites (Routelage, 2016, with Jeff Prager).
www.unisa.edu.au