The Sunshine Coast has taken a decisive step toward becoming Australia’s next major tech hub. At the recent Tech in Paradise event, over 200 entrepreneurs, investors, and tech leaders witnessed something remarkable: the strategic positioning of the region as a global digital powerhouse. What unfolded was a masterclass in global digital strategy, sovereign AI positioning, and the real-world application of cutting-edge technology.
Here’s what the visionary speakers revealed, and why it matters for every tech entrepreneur in Australia.
Google’s Master Plan: Australia as the Digital Bridge
Anderson Silveira, Strategic Negotiator for Google Global Networking, opened the event with a revelation that immediately captured attention: Google scouted 200 kilometers of Australian coastline north of Sydney before choosing the Sunshine Coast for their second submarine cable.
“This wasn’t convenience,” Anderson explained, “this was strategic calculation.”
The Global Context That Changes Everything
The reality is striking: 98% of all global internet traffic flows through submarine cables. Not satellites, not wireless – underwater fiber optic cables no thicker than a garden hose carry nearly all digital communication worldwide.
The challenge? Most of these cables are concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere. Anderson showed the global submarine cable map – a dense web of connections between North America, Europe, and Northern Asia. “If there are any issues of geopolitical or physical nature, disasters, tectonic plates moving in that part of the world, that impacts the whole world in terms of communication and our ability to live our lives.”
Australia Connect: More Than Just Fast Internet
Google’s Australia Connect initiative isn’t just about delivering faster internet. It’s about diversifying global internet infrastructure through the South Pacific. The Tabua cable landing at Maroochydore in 2026 connects Australia directly to Fiji and the US, but more importantly, it plugs the nation into Google’s mesh network.
As Anderson emphasized: “Once you touch an on-ramp point of Google’s network, you are anywhere in the world you want to be.”
The Geopolitical Advantage
Alex Lynch, Manager of Public Policy and Government Relations at Google Australia/NZ, joined via video from Canberra to explain why Australia’s position is becoming increasingly strategic.
“Australia is very well placed because of the close relationship of trust with some of the centres for this technology in the west,” Alex explained. “There’s a real opportunity to increase investment over time and provide trusted services into Asia and other areas that might be affected by changes in geopolitics.”
Australia’s Five Eyes status, stable regulatory environment, and skilled workforce make the country incredibly attractive for sovereign AI infrastructure – especially as global tensions reshape where companies feel safe storing and processing sensitive data.
NEXTDC’s $200 Million Bet on the Future
Craig Scroggie, CEO and Managing Director of NEXTDC, took the stage with commanding energy. His message was clear: we’re witnessing the most significant technological transition since the cloud computing revolution.
The Intelligence Era Has Arrived
“We are making a transition from what over the course of the last 10 years has been the cloud computing era to something completely different,” Craig began. “Everything is about to change again.”
Craig traced the moment this shift became undeniable: November 2023, when OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public. “It really showed the commercial and user application capability of what large language models will do to the future of society.”
The Scientific Calculator Moment
Craig’s most powerful analogy came from his own experience: “35 years ago when studying maths in high school, the single most important question was: would students be allowed to take a scientific calculator into the exam? Would the use of a scientific calculator constitute cheating? Or would it allow them to do something more important – build on a foundation of technology that could make a larger contribution?”
His point resonated strongly: “Today, everybody could be a software engineer. We will have access to more technology than we’ve had at any other point in time in our lives.”
The Intelligence Era Has Arrived
“We are making a transition from what over the course of the last 10 years has been the cloud computing era to something completely different,” Craig began. “Everything is about to change again.”
Craig traced the moment this shift became undeniable: November 2023, when OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public. “It really showed the commercial and user application capability of what large language models will do to the future of society.”
The Scientific Calculator Moment
Craig’s most powerful analogy came from his own experience: “35 years ago when studying maths in high school, the single most important question was: would students be allowed to take a scientific calculator into the exam? Would the use of a scientific calculator constitute cheating? Or would it allow them to do something more important – build on a foundation of technology that could make a larger contribution?”
His point resonated strongly: “Today, everybody could be a software engineer. We will have access to more technology than we’ve had at any other point in time in our lives.”
The Real-World Application: Bundle of Rays Shows What’s Possible
While Google and NEXTDC provided the infrastructure vision, Bradley Chesham from Bundle of Rays demonstrated what happens when local innovation meets global connectivity.
From Nurse to Global Tech Entrepreneur
Bradley Chesham’s story is remarkable: a critical care nurse who worked in heart-lung transplants, he identified a specific problem in healthcare education. “There’s two things that nurses really struggle to learn: bundle branch blocks (on ECGs) and chest X-rays.”
Instead of accepting this limitation, Bradley built Bundle of Rays – an AI and VR platform that delivers complex medical training at scale.
Global Scale, Local Roots
The numbers speak for themselves:
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India’s largest higher education immersive learning program – contract signing September 1st with the Queensland Premier present
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Sri Lankan government negotiations for nationwide basic life support training (40,000 nurses, 20,000 doctors)
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Valuation growth: $1M to $10M in two years, targeting $100M in 3-4 years
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Revenue efficiency: Just three sales in India generated $1.5M+ in business
The Technology That Changes Everything
Bradley revealed Bundle of Rays is part of Google for Startups program with $100,000 in credits, working closely with Google’s AI infrastructure. They’re developing for the new Google Glasses developer kit launching in October – essentially “thick Ray Bans with compute” that can overlay digital information onto the real world.
“We can put digital information into the real environment,” Bradley explained. The demo video he showed featured real-time translation between Mandarin and English – enabling fluid natural language conversation between people who don’t speak the same language.
The Latency Revolution
Here’s where the submarine cables become critical: Bradley can train nurses in India in real-time from his office on the Sunshine Coast. “If that person is in Wangaratta in regional Victoria and he’s at home in his office with a cup of coffee,” he demonstrated, “we can deliver remote, meaningful education at scale.”
This is only possible with ultra-low latency connections – exactly what the submarine cables provide.
The Sovereign AI Opportunity
Craig shared insights from his recent meeting with Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia (now the world’s most valuable company at $4+ trillion market cap). Their discussion centered on Australia’s potential for sovereign AI infrastructure.
“Jensen explained that one of the most important components of building global AI capability was to have investment in sovereign AI so that Australia could host infrastructure and train models in a Five Eyes secured environment,” Craig revealed.
The implications are staggering: Australia could become the trusted AI processing hub for the Asia-Pacific region.
NEXTDC’s Commitment: $200 Million
Craig announced NEXTDC’s $200 million investment in a new data center right in Maroochydore CBD – the largest private investment in Sunshine Coast history.
“It’s an incredible privilege to have the relationship that we have with Google in many locations and to extend that out here again is an amazing opportunity for the Sunshine Coast.”
Beyond Innovation Theater
Bradley made a crucial point that resonated with everyone in the room: “I actually hate the word innovation. People like patting themselves on the back and talking about innovation… Six months later you look back and realize what did you actually do?”
His focus on real revenue, real customers, and real impact drove home a critical message: the Sunshine Coast isn’t just talking about becoming a tech hub – companies like Bundle of Rays are already proving it’s possible.
Building on Two Decades of Proven Success
The Sunshine Coast tech story didn’t start with this event. The region has been producing globally competitive tech companies for two decades: Typefi, Schoolzine, CommissionFactory, Optii Solutions, Traffika, FishBowl, InnovateMedia, PointDuty, AtMail, CloudDC, and many innovative startups that emerged from regular Startup Weekends.
These companies proved that the talent, business acumen, and entrepreneurial spirit exist in the region. They succeeded despite infrastructure limitations – building great software businesses with whatever connectivity and compute resources they could access.
What’s Different Now: The AI Infrastructure Convergence
The established companies proved software works from the Coast, but they couldn’t build the next generation of tech that requires ultra-low latency, massive compute, and real-time global distribution.
Consider what’s now possible that wasn’t before:
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Bundle of Rays trains nurses in real-time from India – impossible without submarine cable latency
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Sovereign AI processing for Asia-Pacific – needs the data centre infrastructure NEXTDC is building
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Google Glasses AR translation in real-time – requires mesh network connectivity that didn’t exist
The established ecosystem proved the business model works. The new infrastructure unlocks AI-first, globally distributed, real-time services that simply weren’t technically feasible from regional Australia before 2026.
From Software Success to AI Infrastructure Advantage
This isn’t about the birth of Sunshine Coast tech – it’s about the infrastructure catch-up that will amplify an already proven ecosystem. Companies that succeeded with limited connectivity can now build the compute-intensive, latency-sensitive, AI-powered services that define the next wave of technology.
This represents the infrastructure upgrade that turns two decades of proven success into a genuine competitive advantage for the AI era.
The Ecosystem That Makes It Work
The transformation has been orchestrated by Wendy McDonald (Investment Lead, Sunshine Coast Council) and Chris Le Serve (Chief Economic Development Officer).
Wendy’s global marketing efforts span from Hong Kong to Croatia, with webinars featuring 15 speakers reaching audiences in Egypt, Croatia, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, and the US. Her “Business with Benefits” campaign and Testing Tech in Paradise program are turning infrastructure investments into real economic outcomes.
Chris captured the vision perfectly: “We want a lot more Bundle of Rays, a lot more Brads coming here, starting their businesses, serving the international community right here from our own backyard.”
The Strategic Timing
As Mayor Rosanna Natoli said: “Australia’s entire digital landscape is changing thanks to the vision of the Sunshine Coast community.”
The pieces are aligning at exactly the right moment:
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Infrastructure: Two submarine cables providing redundant, ultra-low latency global connectivity
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Investment: $200 million in data center infrastructure from NEXTDC
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Ecosystem: Active council support, growing angel investment community, Testing Tech in Paradise program
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Validation: Companies like Bundle of Rays proving the model works at global scale
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Timing: Geopolitical shifts making Australia increasingly attractive for sovereign tech infrastructure
What This Means for Australian Tech
The implications extend far beyond the Sunshine Coast:
For Entrepreneurs: It’s now possible to build globally competitive tech companies from a location with world-class lifestyle, lower costs than Sydney/Melbourne, and infrastructure that rivals Silicon Valley.
For Investors: The combination of infrastructure, ecosystem support, and proven success stories creates compelling investment opportunities in an undervalued market.
For Corporates: Australia’s position as a trusted digital bridge between the US and Asia, combined with sovereign AI capabilities, offers strategic advantages for companies needing secure, compliant, low-latency operations.
For Government: The Sunshine Coast model demonstrates how strategic infrastructure investment, combined with ecosystem development, can create genuine competitive advantages in the global digital economy.
The Bottom Line
The Tech in Paradise event showcased the convergence of global strategy, massive infrastructure investment, and real-world application that creates genuine competitive advantage.
The submarine cables land in 2026. The data center is under construction. The ecosystem is forming now.
The question isn’t whether the Sunshine Coast will become a major tech hub. The question is: will Australian businesses be part of building it?
What’s your take on Australia’s positioning in the global digital landscape? Are we witnessing the birth of our next Silicon Valley, or something even more strategic?
AI Compass is proud to be part of this technological transformation on the Sunshine Coast, delivering cutting-edge AI solutions from Australia’s emerging Silicon Coast.
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