MEDIA RELEASE

Australian IT&T Professionals Gain Greater Recognition within World IT Body

Thursday 16 September 1999 - Australia has boosted its profile within the world's pre-eminent IT body, the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), through the efforts of the Australian Computer Society (ACS).

A meeting of the IFIP Council in Kuala Lumpur last week prevailed upon ACS President Prins Ralston to accept the appointment of Chair of its Publications Committee, and elected Professor Ashley Goldsworthy as an Honorary Member.

Established in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO, IFIP is a global federation of professional IT&T societies from 44 different countries, including the ACS as the official representative society for Australia. IFIP places a high priority on research activities, seeking to push back the international boundaries of knowledge in IT&T from a scientific, industrial and societal perspective.

Australia has always played an active role within IFIP. Professor Goldsworthy is a former IFIP President, the Federation's global conference, IFIP'96, was staged in Canberra in 1996, and two Australians currently server as Technical Committee Chairs.

As Chair of IFIP's Publications Board, Mr Ralston will be responsible for the distribution of information from the organisation's extensive research activities for the benefit of the world community.

"When you consider that all the leading countries in the IT&T arena play an active role within IFIP, the amount of knowledge being accumulated is considerable. IFIP runs over 30 international conferences every year as well as operating numerous boards and technical committees which are constantly adding to our store of knowledge," he said.

"One of my biggest tasks will be to migrate IFIP's vast knowledgebase from a predominantly paper-based library onto a digital repository.

"Since certain IFIP members like the British Computer Society, the US-based Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE Computer Society already have significant digital libraries, we'll be able to draw on their expertise in this area to assist in the development of a global information resource," said Mr Ralston, who is also the President of the South East Asian Computer Confederation (SEARCC), Managing Director of consulting firm BMC Business Management Consulting, and a Consultant Solicitor and Barrister with national law firm Clayton Utz.

Professor Goldsworthy's election as an Honorary Member of IFIP came in recognition of his extensive contributions over many years to the IT&T profession both within Australia and internationally.

A former President both of IFIP and of the ACS, Professor Goldsworthy has also been Dean of the Business Faculty of Bond University and Chief Executive Officer of the ACS. He has been a key figure on Australia's political landscape, serving for several years as President of the Liberal Party, and also chaired the Information Industries Taskforce which in 1997 delivered the Goldsworthy Report, providing a detailed blueprint for Federal Government IT policy development.

Dozens of Australians participate in various IFIP activities and conferences around the world, most notably Judy Hammond of the University of Technology, Sydney, who chairs the Technical Committee on Human-Computer Interaction, and Dr Bernie Glasson, of Curtin University of Technology, who Chairs the Technical Committee on Information Systems.

This media release is available on the ACS Web site at http://www.acs.org.au/news/ifippro.html

ENDS

The Australian Computer Society is the recognised association for information technology (IT) professionals, attracting a large and active membership from all levels of the IT industry and providing a wide range of services to its members. It is the public voice of the IT profession, the guardian of professional ethics and standards in the IT industry, with a commitment to the wider community to ensure the beneficial use of IT. See the ACS Home Page for more information.

Media Enquiries:

Prins Ralston, ACS President, Tel: (08) 8947 4330 or (0411) 755 069, Email: prins@bmconsult.com.au

Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9980 8060 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au