Archived News for IT Professionals
International telecommunications hardware specialist has announced a $11 million expansion to its Dee Why fibre manufacturing facility in New South Wales.
The National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) has welcomed the decision, with CEO Mike Quigley hailing the commitment to keep as much fibre manufacturing in Australia as possible.
"The expansion came about after a commitment was made to source approximately 80% of the value of the NBN Co Prysmian cabling contract within Australia," Mr Quigley said.
Victoria calls for input in ICT overhaul
The Victorian Government has called for industry feedback on its plan to overhaul information and communication technology procurement practices of government departments and agencies.
Westpac to trial mobile payment
Westpac bank has announced the launch of a new pilot app for wireless payment systems in collaboration with MasterCard.
$1.4 billion NBN blowout draws flak
The National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) has released its Corporate Plan for 2012-15, outlining an expected $1.4 billion increase to its capital expenditure over that period. The plan also outlines a $3.2 billion overall increase over the life of the rollout of the network.
Government announces NBN education initiatives
The Federal Government has awarded $27 million to 12 projects under the new NBN-Enabled Education and Skills Services Program, which aims to integrate the use of the National Broadband Network into schools to enhance education and training outcomes for students.
Flinders Uni to launch Tonsley Park centre
Flinders University has announced it will establish a teaching and research centre at South Australia’s new advanced manufacturing hub in Adelaide’s Tonsley Park.
Visionstream wins Telstra works
Leighton subsidiary Visionstream has announced it has signed a contract with Telstra for the provision of national Wideband and Dedicated Digital Network (DDN) works, worth an estimated $120 million over the three year life of the deal.
ACCC calls for comment for NBN points of interconnection
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a consultation paper son the draft section of 151DB points of interconnection (POI) to the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Government announces NBN funding for local government
The Federal Government has outlined a $5 million package to help 14 local government bodies take advantage of the National Broadband Network to provide better services to their communities.
M2 data centre officially opened
The Victorian Government has officially opened the state’s new $150 million data centre in Derrimut, with State Technology Minister Gordon Rich-Phillips saying it will stimulate widespread economic activity throughout the state.
New Chief Executive of CSIRO Information Sciences
Dr David Williams, former Chief Executive of the United Kingdom Space Agency and Chairman of the European Space Agency, has been appointed as CSIRO Group Executive, Information Sciences.
New director for NBN Co
The Federal Government has welcomed the appointment of Brad Orgill as a new director on the board of the National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) as well as the reappointments of Diane Smith-Gander and Siobhan McKenna.
New supercomputer to build WA's capacity
A new $4 million terascale research supercomputer, funded under the Australian Government's Super Science Initiative, has been launched at The University of Western Australia.
Named Fornax, Latin for 'furnace', after a southern hemisphere constellation known as a birthplace for stars, the computer is the second of three supercomputers commissioned as part of the $80 million Pawsey Centre project, which is a participant in Australia and New Zealand's successful bid to co-host the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope.
Telstra beefs up WA wireless coverage
Telstra has announced it will seek to significantly bolster its mobile and broadband telecommunications coverage with the construction of new network mobile base stations across the state’s North-West region.
IBSA seeks new directors
Innovation & Business Skills Australia (IBSA), one of eleven Industry Skills Councils authorized by the Australian Government to provide a voice on vocational education and training issues, is seeking to appoint new board directors.
WA backs crowd-funded digital projects
The Western Australian Government has partnered with Australian crowdfunding platform Pozible, to launch the ‘3 to 1’ initiative - an incentivised fundraising program to make up to $250,000 available for WA digital projects.
Culture and Arts Minister John the ‘3 to1’ initiative will inspire digital creators to be entrepreneurial about how they raise capital for their production budget, as well as capture the interest of their audiences at the outset of their creative process.
“Creative teams will need to attract contributions online from individuals to secure the ScreenWest grant. This will in effect quadruple their production budget.”
Instead of the more traditional grant allocation, the ‘3 to 1’ initiative will see ScreenWest treble those funds raised by successful Western Australian creative teams.
This means for every dollar teams raise through online crowdfunding, ScreenWest will contribute a further three dollars to the budget, from a minimum of $15,000 to a maximum contribution of $150,000, (meaning creative teams must crowdfund between $5,000 and $50,000 respectively).
The program will support professional narrative-driven screen-content for digital platforms that is not reliant on a television broadcast or film distribution outcome.
Projects can be drama or documentary, traditional short form or challenge convention with interactivity and user generated content, but they must be delivered on at least one digital platform.
More information is at http://www.screenwest.wa.gov.au
ICT Literacy Report released
The 2011 National Assessment Program in ICT (NAP – ICT) Literacy Report has been released, providing an overview of how Australian students are performing in the digital age.
Local governments funded for NBN uptake
Federal funding totalling $5 million has been announced to help 14 local governments take advantage of the National Broadband Network.
NSW Trade and Investment signs up for SAP operational systems
NSW Trade and Investment has signed a $14.5 million, three-year agreement with German business software company SAP to use its ByDesign software, hosted on a German server, to run finance, human resources and payroll functions for 16 member agencies. The agreement will eventually see ByDesign taken up by up to 8500 users, and SAP says it is the largest roll-out of ByDesign world-wide.
Survey of business cybercrime impacts launched
CERT Australia has launched a survey of Australian business to get a better picture of how cyber incidents affect business and the Australian economy.
ICT labour market contracts
“The growing split between contract roles and permanent positions is a function of a nervous market being affected by global economic uncertainty. Many companies are reluctant to hire permanently in this environment, and continue to look for contractors for most ICT projects,” said Ms Mills.