CompTIA Newsroom

Washington D.C. –The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the leading trade association for the global information technology industry, announced today that it has signed a new agreement with the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) to promote an improved environment for bilateral trade and investment in space-related goods and services between the two nations.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by CompTIA’s Space Enterprise Council (SEC) and SIAA, a nonprofit organization created to develop space activity in private and public entities in Australia.

“Australia and the United States have a rich history of space cooperation, dating back decades,” said The Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO, Australia’s Ambassador to the United States. “With this first of its kind, historic agreement between two of the largest trade associations, another building block has been set in place to take the Australia/U.S. relationship to another level. The Australian Government encourages closer commercial and industrial links to achieve our goal of tripling the size of the national space industry to $12 billion and adding another 20,000 jobs by 2030.”

“This agreement is a prime example of the dedication both nations share in promoting and growing the space industry,” said David Logsdon, Senior Director, Public Sector, and Executive Director of CompTIA’s SEC. “CompTIA looks forward to facilitating many productive partnerships between private companies in the U.S. and Australia as the commercial space industry continues to grow and expand.”

The agreement focuses on four primary areas of activity:

1. Developing strategies for advocating for a U.S.-Australia space partnership in their respective Administrations and Congresses; coordinating on advocacy strategy and activities to share information, pool ideas, and ensure consistency of messaging and non-duplication of efforts; developing joint letters with policy recommendations for both governments for use in these advocacy activities; and organizing and hosting trade missions and other meetings so that companies and government officials from each nation can learn each other’s capabilities and positions while exploring business opportunities.
2. Sharing information on capabilities and supply needs by providing information on each party’s respective members’ offerings of space-related products, services, and technologies on a quarterly basis and to inform each other’s members of any interest in sourcing products, services, or technologies in each other’s industries.
3. Working with each nation’s respective government to identify projects that could be executed through a binational partnership and to seek to identify companies from their memberships possessing technologies applicable to those projects to ensure binational content.
4. Organizing and facilitating discussions to define strategies and joint activities, and to work toward accomplishing joint goals and to organize business trade missions to each nation, typically in conjunction with a government-to-government meeting or industry trade show.

This is the second MOU signed by CompTIA’s SEC in as many months. The group now has agreements with trade groups or government agencies in four countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and now Australia.

The SEC was founded in 2000 to represent businesses with a commercial interest in space. Throughout the years, the council has grown to represent all sectors of the industry including commercial, civil, and national security. As a forum for space-related companies, the Council brings the collective power of its affiliation with CompTIA and its diverse members into a single, unified voice that is used in advocating member interests to policymakers.

For more information on participating in CompTIA’s Space Enterprise Council, contact David Logsdon at dlogsdon@comptia.org.

About CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a leading voice and advocate for the $5.2 trillion global information technology ecosystem; and the estimated 75 million industry and tech professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the world’s economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, and market research, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce. Visit www.comptia.org to learn more. 

CompTIA Contact: 
Roger Hughlett
CompTIA
202.503.3644 / 571.289.5282
rhughlett@comptia.org