ASPIRE International Collaborative Research Project working towards Global Forum for a Super‑Smart Society

The ASPIRE International Collaborative Research Program is a five‑year initiative to strengthen academic exchange among graduate researchers (GRs) and to build a real‑time digital twin (DT) platform aimed at realising a super‑smart society. The platform will securely collect real‑time datasets from actual field environments and generate DT infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence (AI) models and core services tailored to mobility, manufacturing, nursing services and agriculture. Annual international matching workshops will bring together early‑career researchers to form collaborative teams, accelerating global knowledge circulation and nurturing the next generation of research leaders.

The University of Melbourne Department of Nursing team - Philippa Marriott, Ingrid Sutherland, Dr Sophie Jones and Dr Lyndal Hickey (Social Work) - will work with a team from Science Tokyo to develop a digital twin to support parents and families of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. The Science Tokyo team (Prof Maki Taniguchi, Fumika Chibana, Risa Kotake and Dr Keiichi Shimatani) are planning a study to monitor emotional dynamics in children, collecting data to inform the DT. This collaboration offers exciting opportunities for staff and GRs to engage in translational research that directly informs family‑centred support, clinical practice and graduate research training across international contexts.