IFIP 96 Brings the World IT Community to Australia
Friday 6th September 1996 - Canberra - The 14th World Computer Congress, hosted by the Australian Computer Society (ACS), wraps up in Canberra today after five days of presentations, workshops and tutorials at the National Convention Centre.
"IFIP 96 has been a tremendous success," said ACS President, Tom Worthington.
"Not only has it provided a unique forum for the sharing and discussion of ideas from all around the globe about applications of new and emerging technologies, but the 600 delegates and presenters have had the opportunity to develop relationships with other people working in similar or related fields."
The biennial Congress of the International Federation for Information Processing, IFIP 96 comprised three concurrent World Conferences on the topics of: Advanced IT Tools; Mobile Computing; and TeleTeaching 96 - Practising What We Preach; as well as a fourth IT and Business Practice Stream, which focused on practical applications of technology in business and government.
The Congress also featured Canberra's largest IT exhibition with 47 companies demonstrating their latest technology offerings.
IFIP 96 Highlights
* Dr Wolfgang Wahlster of the University of Saarbrucken highlighted the newest developments in the Verbmobile Speech Translation project. He suggested that by the year 2000, cars will be available which can answer questions and respond to voice commands, while another spin-off from the project would enable automatic translation of conversations over the Internet. The Verbmobile project is supported by IBM, Phillips, Siemens and Mercedes Benz.
* NEC executive vice-president, Hajime Sasaki, revealed new breakthroughs in the design of large flat-panel television screens and laptop displays which will be thinner, lighter and brighter, to be available within the next few years.
* Germany's Dr Ralph Strauss discussed how small and medium-sized towns could become 'wired cities', which would maximise their ability to take advantage of increasing demands for online products and services.
* Educators from various countries overseas visited schools in Canberra and presented students with toys from their native countries. The 'Buddies' were gifts from overseas students who have been corresponding with the Australian children via the Internet during the months before the Congress.
* Sydney-based Bill Nielson and his band, Kid Sister, brought a refreshing touch to the conference proceedings with a live Internet concert on Wednesday morning, inviting participants around the world to request songs and contribute lyrics to the performance.
* Teleteaching 96 delegates spent Thursday morning building a virtual exhibition which linked to dozens of education sites around the world.
* Telstra's Bob James predicted corporate use of the Internet would increase dramatically over the next few years with many companies investing vast resources in providing direct information access to customers rather than restricting Internet access to a select few within the organisation.
* Federal Minister for Industry, Science and Tourism, John Moore, used the IFIP 96 Opening Ceremony on Monday to announce the formation of a new Taskforce to develop a national information strategy.
ACS Web Site Provides Daily Updates and Photographs
Staff at IFIP 96 have been producing a daily newspaper called Daily Express which is available on the Web at http://www.acs.org.au/president/1996/ifip96/dlyexp.htm Media can also take advantage of the IFIP 96 Photo Library located at the same Web address.
IFIP 98
The 15th World Computer Congress will take place in 1998 in Vienna and Budapest, the first time it has been jointly organised by two computer societies in Central Europe.
Entitled 'The Global Information Society on the way to the Next Millennium', IFIP 98 will comprise seven conferences, covering topics like Security in Information Systems, Helping People with Special Needs, Basic Research in IT and Teleteaching 98.
This media release is available on the Web at: http://www.acs.org.au/news/ifipwrap.htm
ENDS
Media Enquiries:
Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9630 2108 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au
![[Start of
Document]](../images/arrow2.gif)
![[News Index]](../images/newsstrip.gif)