Archived News for IT Professionals
The Australian Government is staging a National Telework Week in November this year to encourage increased uptake of teleworking, making use of the capabilities of the National Broadband Network (NBN).
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, said an increase in teleworking could lead to benefits across the economy and community, from big business through to individual workers and families as well as the environment.
"These benefits include cost-savings and productivity gains, increased workforce flexibility, expanded supply of skilled labour, reduced impact on the environment, reduced stress from traffic congestion and increased time available to spend with family and the community.
NBN notches up 4000th customer
The National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co) has connected its 4000th customer to the service, well behind the target of 35,000 set for June last year by the Federal Government.
AI researcher targets the brain's processing abilities
Senior Research Fellow at UniSA’s Institute for Telecommunications Research (ITR), Dr Mark McDonnell has been awarded a six-month research fellowship as part of the Australian Government’s Endeavour Awards to discover more about how the structure of our brain may provide a model for information processing.
The competitive, merit-based scholarship program provides opportunities for Australians to undertake study, research and professional development abroad in environments where top research in their field is being undertaken.
Dr McDonnell will visit the University of British Columbia, Canada, to work with Professor Lawrence Ward and the Brain Research Centre. A specialist in cognitive neuroscience and consciousness, Prof Ward also focuses on neural synchrony and nonlinear dynamical systems theory and their applications in cognitive neuroscience.
Dr McDonnell says he hopes to gain greatly from the important opportunity to work with high calibre international researchers.
“My goal is to develop new computational simulation methods that will shed light on how learning and memory formation in the brain is mediated by complex structural connectivity between networks of different types of neurons in the human cortex,” he said.
“The brain is an infinitely sophisticated information processor, so the more we improve our understanding of how the brain processes information, the better equipped we’ll be to develop new kinds of artificial intelligence.
“Ultimately we hope the research leads to the development of new methods for biologically-inspired artificial intelligence.”
UTS in intelligent systems collaboration with Chinese university
A joint research centre in Intelligent Systems has been launched in a research collaboration between the University of Technology Sydney and China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU).
ACCC invites submissions on NBN Special Access Undertaking
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released a consultation paper inviting comment on the Special Access Undertaking (SAU) lodged by NBN Co on 5 December 2011.
iiNet to acquire Internode
iiNet Limited is to acquire Internode Pty Ltd and associated companies, Australia’s largest privately owned broadband services company, for $105 million. Based in South Australia, Internode has approximately 260,000 active Internet and phone services, including approximately 190,000 broadband subscribers.
Three-quarters of Australian homes have broadband: ABS
A report issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that almost three quarters (73%) of all Australian households now have broadband
UNSW to incubate student innovations
Computer science students at UNSW will soon gain rent-free access to an on-campus business incubator space for up to six months.
New application smooths the way to supercomputing
A new open source application developed at Murdoch University is giving researchers a revolutionary new way of accessing supercomputers.
Commonwealth IT services panels to be halved
Special Minister of State Gary Gray has announced plans to halve the number of IT services panels currently operating across the Australian Government.
Logistics software wins Innovation award
Software that stands to save billions of dollars and significantly cut greenhouse emissions has won the Australian Innovation Challenge ICT category award.
Research shows broadband adoption factors
New research conducted by Charles Sturt University has highlighted four key factors that determine the uptake of high-speed broadband in Australian households.
Federal Government announces healthy Internet CRC
The Federal Government has announced the formation of a new Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) that will conduct research into new ways of using the Internet, social media and other applications.
Telstra wins wireless dispute
Telstra will be able to market its wireless services as an alternative to the National Broadband Network Co's (NBN Co) services after a ruling by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.
PC hands down NBN competition report
The Productivity Commission has released the results of a six month investigation into the National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co), finding that the company is dangerously close to breaching competitive neutrality rules.
NSW holds mobile pitching event
The New South Wales Government has held an industry networking and pitching event for its Collaborative Solutions - Mobile Government Program.
NBN Co to freeze prices
The National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) has announced it will freeze wholesale prices for key products for the next five years and to limit later increases to less than inflation.
December SSU resolution still on the cards
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has announced its confidence that a resolution to Telstra’s Structural Separation Undertaking by the December 20 timeline is a possibility.
ACS releases ICT survey
The Australian Computer Society (ACS) has released its What is the Future of ICT Industry in Australia report based on its recent survey of the group’s Victoria members.
NBN Co releases final executable contract
The National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) has released its final executable version of its contract with service providers.