Australia Takes Stronger Role Within SEARCC
Sunday 16 March 1997 - - The Australian Computer Society has been charged with establishing a web infrastructure for the South East Asian Region Computer Confederation (SEARCC).
At the SEARCC executive meeting in Nepal, Kathmandu, in February, the Confederation asked ACS Vice President, Prins Ralston, to set up a web infrastructure which provides access information for each member society as well as individual members. Further consulting/business directories, as set up by the ACS for Australia, will also be established for each SEARCC member country, creating an invaluable resources for those wishing to exchange knowledge and to do business throughout the region.
The timing of Australia’s new role is also significant, with the ACS playing host to other SEARCC nations at the SEARCC’98 Conference and Exhibition, to be held in Darwin next July.
The Confederation consists of many of the countries in the APEC and ASEAN groupings and includes Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Thailand, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines and South Korea. Canada is currently an associate member while China is an observer.
SEARCC represents over 300,000 IT professionals in a region seen as one of the world’s highest growth areas. With other SEARCC member countries playing a major role in the development and supply of IT hardware and more recently software, Mr Ralston said it was a significant coup for Australia to be named as host for the web infrastructure.
"The SEARCC Web site’s location in Australia will give us the opportunity to introduce these influential professionals to IT offerings, business opportunities and the cultural aspects of Australia.
"This initiative is directly in line with one of the ACS’ stated aims in its recent submission to the Information Industry Taskforce, that Australia should become a content and resource provider to this growth region and the world," he said.
Planning on Track for SEARCC’98 in Darwin
Mr Ralston also pointed to the successful bid to host the extremely prestigious SEARCC’98 conference and IT exhibition in Darwin from 8-10 July 1998 as another positive outcome from a long and dedicated effort by the ACS to engage the various countries from SEARCC.
Mr Ralston is chairing the organising committee for SEARCC'98 while Professor Alan Underwood, a Fellow and former President of the ACS, not only chairs the SEARCC’98 program committee but is also Assistant Secretary General of SEARCC.
"Australia has won the right to host the SEARCC conference and trade exhibition in a time when, more than ever before, developments in IT and the various Asian economies will coincide in the lead up to July 1998," said Dr Underwood.
"The business opportunities will be unique and with another chance to bring this particular event not available for another 14 years, both the SEARCC Web presence, and the SEARCC’98 Conference and IT exhibition need to be supported and exploited to the fullest by Australian industry and government."
SEARCC’98 to Match Business Partners
SEARCC’98 has taken as its theme, "IT Reaching Out". In addition to three streams covering the subject areas of Virtual Education & Training, On-line Economy & Trading in Asia, and Futures in Aerospace & Defence, the Conference will feature several ‘business matching sessions’. These sessions, to be run by the Northern Territory Department of Asian Relations, Trade and Industry, are designed to put together foreign delegates with Australian interested it pursuing similar business opportunities.
"These business matching sessions have proven highly successful at past SEARCC Conferences in terms of providing a forum for business people to explore the possibilities of joint ventures throughout Asia," said Mr Ralston.
"The Northern Territory Minister for Asian Relations and Industry will host a Partnership Dinner in Darwin later this month to which we’ll invite a wide range of IT-related companies from Australia and throughout Asia to explain the benefits of being involved with SEARCC’98 and particularly with the business matching exercise."
Australian Governments Lend Support
SEARCC Conferences traditionally feature a high level of government involvement and SEARCC’98 will be no different. The Northern Territory Government has already committed considerable resources and energy to the event, while several other State Governments are considering how they can best assist .
The opening address of any SEARCC is usually presented by the host Head of State and Prime Minister John Howard is being invited to continue this tradition. In the past, this opportunity has been used by the host nation to deliver a platform speech in terms of IT directions for that country. For example, at the SEARCC conference in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Prime Minister, Mr Mahatir, unveiled his Government’s 20/20 IT Vision.
In order to maximise the appeal and relevance of the content at SEARCC’98, the organising committee has invited several very high profile speakers to attend, including Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Larry Ellison of Oracle, Charles Wang from Computer Associates and US Vice President Al Gore, among others.
For information about SEARCC’98, see the Web page at http://www.acs.org.au/nt/html/acs-home.htm, email acsnt@acslink.aone.net.au or call the ACS National Office on 1800 626 029.
This media release is available on the Web at: http://www.acs.org.au/news/searcweb.htm
ENDS
Media Enquiries:
Prins Ralston, ACS Vice President, Tel: (0889) 466 264 or (0418) 898 456, Email: p_ralston@darwin.ntu.edu.au
Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9630 2108 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au
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