ACS CEO Week in Review: 12 October 2012
Reports out this week
ACS in the news
- BRM Holdich recruits security experts, The Australian
- Defence head spruiks IT career, CIO
- Want to earn more in IT? Being a man helps, SMH
- 3000 finance a year maybe offshore, Banking Day
- Skills shortage driving offshoring: Westpac CIO, CIO.com.au
- Coca-Cola Amatil CIO says views about IT careers are “too narrow”, CIO.com.au
- IT careers have demand, opportunity, and cultural impact: Westpac's Clive Whincup, ARN
- Virtual humans reliable, but what are the implications?: MyCyberTwin, ARN
- Offshoring myths perpetuating IT skills shortage: Westpac CIO, ZDNet
- App marketing more important than creation: Microsoft's Carraro, ARN
- ROI metrics retard IT innovation: Harte, ITNews
- Commonwealth Bank CIO talks future of IT careers, CIO.com.au
- Intellectual capital key for IT career: CBA's Michael Harte, ARN
- Services hold prominence in the broadband world: CSIRO’s Sarah Dods, ARN
- IT professionals need business skills: CBA CIO, ZDNet
- Businesses lack IT leadership skills: PwC, ZDNet
ICT in the Media
- Digital Economy: Boost for nations digital economy: PM Digital Forum
- Patents and Copyright: Internet is now “mainstream” in Australia – but what about piracy?
- Security: Canada looking at banning Huawei
- ICT jobs market and skills: Demand for intranet skills spike
Digital Economy
- Last Friday’s Digital Economy Forum in Sydney kicked off with a big question from Prime Minister Julia Gillard: “What is your vision for Australia’s digital future?” Google Australia managing director Nick Leeder, one of 50 digital experts at the forum, didn’t skip a beat in responding – he wants Australia to be a “Silicon Beach”, with digital innovation like the US’s Silicon Valley.
- The fast-growing digital economy will underpin prosperity in Australia and open up new markets, particularly in Asia, over the next four years, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.
- Australia Post's Digital MailBox, for the delivery and storage of bills and other documents, is set to be launched later this month, the government-owned company has announced.
- Regulation over the internet is one of the most contested battlefields of late, and today in Canberra all the tribes have gathered, writes Andy Park.
- The Internet has contributed $50 billion to the Australian economy in 2010 and its indirect effects are worth an extra $80 billion a year, stressing the importance of a digital future, according to Australian prime minister, Julia Gillard.
Skills and Training
- The National Broadband Network could exacerbate the offshoring of ICT and other services-oriented jobs, according to a revised National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR) analysis.
- NEC Australia has been awarded a multi-million dollar network support and maintenance contract by the New South Wales (NSW) Police Force, paving the way for major investments in ICT infrastructure, training and employment opportunities that will support the multi-year project.
Cyber Security
- Teenage girls are more frequently left to fend for themselves in cyberspace, new security research has revealed. Parents were more likely to want to know what their teenage boys are getting up to on Facebook than girls in the same age, security software maker Bitdefender has found.
- Cyber terrorism and espionage have been highlighted as growing threats to Australian organisations and government departments, according to a new annual report by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
- Chinese telecom company Huawei poses a security threat to the United States and should be barred from US contracts and acquisitions, a yearlong US congressional investigation has concluded.
Telecommunications
- Mactel has suffered a major outage to its cloud servers that has taken 65 business customers offline for up to 48 hours.
- Australians' intensifying addiction to phones as an internet source has been underlined by statistics showing the amount of data downloaded skyrocketed by a third in just six months.
Government announcements
- Construction begins on 12.5million rural medical training facility in Armidale The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today officially started construction on a new medical training facility at the University of New England.
- Northern NSW: Only 50 days to go before Analog TV is switched off The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy today announced that there are only fifty days remaining before analog television is switched off in Northern NSW.
- New Englands SMART Farm embracing the possibilities of the NBN Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, and the Federal Member for New England, Tony Windsor MP, today visited a SMART Farm in Armidale, which is embracing the opportunities and possibilities provided by the National Broadband Network.
- Only six months left before Tasmania switches to Digital TV The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today announced that it is only six months before people in Tasmania switchover to digital television.
- Malcolm Turnbull squibs another chance to release a broadband policy The Minister today said that Malcolm Turnbull should stop short-changing the Australian people and immediately release the Coalition’s broadband policy.
- Visit by the UK Government Chief Scientific Advisor A visit by Professor Sir John Beddington, the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, has reinforced the importance of global collaboration and ensuring education systems across the world are set up to deliver a pipeline of scientists for the future.
Opposition announcements
- AWU bombshell: Carbon tax bad for manufacturing AWU head Paul Howes has abandoned the interests of manufacturing workers to support Julia Gillard, following revelations today that the AWUwrote to members admitting it did not want the carbon tax.