Desert Knowledge Australia

Desert Knowl­edge Aus­tralia (DKA) is a not-for-prof­it statu­to­ry cor­po­ra­tion of the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry, estab­lished in 2003 to facil­i­tate learn­ing, research, socioe­co­nom­ic devel­op­ment, and envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­i­ty in Cen­tral Aus­tralia. DKA is com­mit­ted to devel­op­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties to build a stronger and more con­nect­ed desert and remote Australia. DKA is land­lord of the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct and its pri­ma­ry oper­a­tions include ful­fill­ing that respon­si­bil­i­ty, exe­cut­ing its strate­gic plan, and fos­ter­ing its two flag­ship projects: Codes 4 Life and the Intyal­heme Cen­tre for Future Ener­gy.

DKA proud­ly acknowl­edges the Arrernte peo­ple as the cus­to­di­ans and first knowl­edge hold­ers of the land on which the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct stands. DKA works with the peo­ple, com­mu­ni­ties and organ­i­sa­tions of Cen­tral Aus­tralia who share our vision for a stronger remote Aus­tralia, to cre­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties and deliv­er projects of tan­gi­ble val­ue to the region. These projects are focused on:
– Pro­mot­ing pos­i­tive social change
– Cre­at­ing STEM oppor­tu­ni­ties, and sup­port­ing eco­nom­ic development
– Work­ing towards envi­ron­men­tal­ly sus­tain­able societies
– Iden­ti­fy­ing and deliv­er­ing on research oppor­tu­ni­ties of prac­ti­ca­ble value

In 2019 – 2021, DKA’s strate­gic plan is focused on:
– The con­tin­ued devel­op­ment of the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct and the DKA Solar Centre
– Grow­ing the role of the Intyal­heme Cen­tre for Future Ener­gy as a self-sus­tain­ing enti­ty that forges part­ner­ships, builds on exist­ing knowl­edge and gen­er­ates new knowl­edge about renew­able energy
– Fos­ter­ing desert lead­er­ship by con­nect­ing peo­ple, knowl­edge and oppor­tu­ni­ties, sup­port­ing Abo­rig­i­nal enter­pris­es and employ­ment, incu­bat­ing inno­va­tion and devel­op­ing pro­grams such as Codes 4 Life that cre­ate pos­i­tive social change; and sup­port­ing strong gov­er­nance and organ­i­sa­tion­al practices
– Estab­lish­ing a Dig­i­tal Inno­va­tion Cen­tre with state-of-the-art resources, and work­ing to devel­op strong desert data gov­er­nance sys­tems, prac­tices and knowledge
– Acti­vat­ing the Desert Knowl­edge Research Insti­tute to con­duct com­mu­ni­ty-dri­ven, tar­get­ed research pro­grams in the areas of peo­ple, place and knowledge.