Archived News for IT Professionals
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released submissions to its December Consultation Paperon the NBN Co Special Access Undertaking (SAU).
The submissions, from Telstra, Herbert Geer on behalf of iiNet, Internode and TransACT, Nextgen, Macquarie Telecom and Vodaphone Hutchison Australia, all argue that the SAU gives too much control to NBN Co and too little oversight by the ACCC of the application of the wholesale broadband agreement (WBA).
The Herbert Geer submission points that the ACCC has no formal oversight of the WBA, and in the event of an inconsistency between regulated terms set by the ACCC and the terms of the WBA, the terms of the WBA will prevail.
Eye & Ear Hospital tenders for medical photography image management system
The Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital has called for tenders for the provision of a Medical Photography Image Management System.
Defence to call for ICT and AV support tender
The Department of Defence will be calling for tenders in February for the provision of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Audio Visual (AV) Support.
Suppliers call for ACCC to declare wholesale ADSL
The ACCC is considering whether to ‘declare’ wholesale ADSL because of concerns that as the NBN is rolled out, Telstra could move to restrict competition.
IBES joins the Green Touch
The University of Melbourne’s Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) has become a member of a new research consortium - the Green Touch™ Initiative - which brings together leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry players and researchers to fundamentally re-invent the network and reduce ICT energy consumption up to a factor of 1000.
Telstra to provide open access to fibre in South Brisbane and new developments
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, has announced that Telstra will provide an open access wholesale service on fibre networks it is currently deploying in South Brisbane and some new real estate projects.
Hays quarterly report: Information Technology
Recruitment specialist Hays has released its January to March quarterly report into labour and skills demand, examining the ‘current hotspots of recruitment activity and trends’.
Victoria calls for fix for broadband and mobile blackspots
The Victorian Government has submitted its recommendations to the Federal Government’s Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee (RTIRC), calling for a national strategy to ‘fix the significant gaps’ in access to broadband and mobile telecommunications in Victoria’s regional and rural areas.
Optus signs up to NBN
Optus has announced it will sign a wholesale agreement with the National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) following weeks of dispute between over regulatory agreement, liability and oversight.
Roxon rules out SOPA
The Attorney-General’s Department has announced it will not be looking to introduce anti-piracy legislation similar to the controversial United States’ Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
In-home telehealth pilot program to begin in July
A new $20.6 million telehealth program utilising the National Broadband Network (NBN) will provide in-home telehealth services to older Australians, people living with cancer and those requiring palliative care.
AIGroup reports on business investment in new technologies
A report released by the Australian Industry Group, Business Investment in New Technologies, has recommended tax breaks and better collaboration between publicly funded research organisations and business to improve public sector take-up of new technologies.
NBN Co to trial fixed wireless in April
The National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) has announced its fixed-wireless long term evolution (LTE) network will be trialed in April.
Internode rolls out IPv6
Internode has become the first Australian ISP to provide IPv6 to its customers, after the telco announced customers would be provided with an opt-in clause in their contracts, which will provide a ‘gobsmackingly large address space’ for its users after the roll-out of the 128-bit protocol system.
Internet the key to government communication
The internet has become ‘well established’ as the preferred means for communicating with government agencies and accessing government services, according to a study commissioned and released by Special Minister of State Gary Gray.
Australian Government pushes for increased teleworking
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).
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.