Archived News for IT Professionals
The Federal Department of Finance and Deregulation has published the draft of Strategic Vision for the Australian Government’s use of information and communications technology.
The document, developed by the Australian Government Information Management Office, focuses on how the public sector can use ICT to deliver better government services, engage openly with stakeholders and improve government operations.
It sets out directions for ICT investments, capability development, and transformation to support and enhance government operations for the next five years.
Telstra calls on businesses to outsource core ICT functions
Telstra chief technology officer, Hugh Bradlow, has called on businesses to outsource their core ICT functions to specialised companies, including Cloud operators, in order to get with the 21st century.
Australia lags in global network readiness index
Australia has been ranked number one in the world for the time it takes to start a business, although it has been marked down for its approach to ICT and the availability of new technologies.
NBN training facility for Tasmania
The Tasmanian Government is providing funding to Aurora Energy to establish a new NBN training facility that will provide training for specialist skills arising out of the NBN infrastructure development.
Banks spend up on IT
Three major banks - the Commonwealth, the National Australia Bank and Westpac - are investing more than $4 billion in their IT systems to improve service delivery through new technologies including mobile phones and tablets, according to an article in this morning’s Australian Financial Review.
NBN Co signs up RSPs for trials
NBN Co has signed up the first 12 retail service providers (RSPs) to participate in end-user trials across the five first release sites on the Australian mainland.
Consumers guide to the NBN released
The Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) have launched a guide for consumers to the National Broadband Network.
Victorian company wins NBN network software contract
The National Broadband Network (NBN) Co has signed a contract with Victorian ICT company SPATIALinfo to supply software to manage the fibre-to-the-home physical network infrastructure for the rollout of the NBN.
Inquiry finds Government should "justify" snooping
The Federal Government should justify why mandatory collection and retention of personal data is necessary for law enforcement, a senate report into online privacy has found.
Second Wave e-health care groups identified
The Australian Government has announced nine Second Wave sites for the implementation of its $467 million national Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records (PCEHR) project.
New centre for green telecommunications
A new Centre for Energy Efficient Telecommunications (CEET) has been launched in Melbourne with the focus on innovation in energy efficient networks and telecommunications infrastructure with the aim to reduce the industry's impact on the environment.
Australia's internet subscribers exceed 10 million
Internet subscribers in Australia climbed to 10.4 million in the six months to December 2010, according to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This is up from 9.5 million in June 2010, which represents a growth of nearly 10% in the last six months.
The number of business and government internet subscribers grew by 26% to 2.3 million, while the number of household internet subscribers grew by 6% to 8.1 million. The growth in both sectors was driven by the continued uptake of mobile wireless broadband connections, which increased by 777,000 ( or 22.5%) to 4.2 million in the six months to 31 December 2010.
At the end of December 2010, there were 8.2 million mobile handset internet subscribers in Australia. The volume of data downloaded via mobile handsets was 4,029 Terabytes.
Further information is available in Internet Activity, Australia (cat. no. 8153.0).
IBM to handle NBN systems integration
NBN Co has appointed IBM as the prime systems integrator of its operational and business support systems under a three-year agreement.
NBN Co starts again on network construction
NBN Co has indefinitely suspended its network construction tender after construction companies were unable to provide acceptable terms and prices following four rounds of pricing negotiations.
NBN Co Head of Corporate Services, Kevin Brown said the NBN would be built, but not at any price.
“We have thoroughly benchmarked our project against similar engineering and civil works projects in Australia and overseas and we will not proceed on the basis of prices we are currently being offered.
“NBN Co is confident it can secure better value for money by going a different route. We have left the option open to continue negotiations at a later stage.
Discussion paper invites feedback from Queenslanders on National Broadband Network
The Queensland Government has released a discussion paper: Queensland’s approach to the National Broadband Network, and called for feedback from the community about ways to best use the NBN.
Government to develop National Digital Economy Strategy
The Australian Government has announced plans to develop a national strategy to guide the uptake of the National Broadband Network (NBN) with the aim of making Australia a world leading digital economy by 2020.
Call for rethink on NSW's FirstNet health information system
A survey of IT experts by the University of Sydney has supported calls to halt the rollout of the NSW Clinical Information System FirstNet, with a review finding the system should be spearheaded by an IT-savvy clinician.
Future Fund sells down on Telstra
The Future Fund Board of Guardians has announced that it has ceased to be a substantial shareholder in Telstra with the sale of shares down to a holding of 620.4 million shares or 4.99% of the company.
Queensland launches tools to help business transition to global digital economy
The Queensland Government has launched a new online toolkit and ICT database and directory to assist local businesses to take advantage of the National Broadband Network (NBN) as is rolled out.
NBN Companies legislation passes in the Senate
Amendments to the National Broadband Network (NBN ) legislation introduced by Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, have been passed with some late changes.
Cloud computing offers financial services a new future
A white paper produced by the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) and Fujitsu has outlined opportunities for the financial services industry to improve its customer service by using techniques of cloud computing.