MEDIA RELEASE

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Australia’s Leading IT Decision-Makers Line Up to Keynote at SEARCC’98

Thursday 9 April 1998 - Noted decision-makers from both the public and private sectors of IT in Australia and the SE Asian Region will present Keynote Addresses at SEARCC'98 in July.

The annual conference of the South East Asia Regional Computer Federation, SEARCC’98 is being hosted by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) in Darwin from 8-10 July, and is backed by an unprecedented level of united support from Government, industry and the profession.

Keynote speakers include:

· John Olsen, Premier of South Australia;

· Senator Richard Alston, Federal Minister for Communications;

· Daryl Williams, Federal Attorney-General;

· Warren Truss, Federal Minister for Customs and Consumer Affairs;

· Alan Baxter, Chairman of the Australian Information Industry Association;

· Michael Poehner, President and CEO of DMR Group;

· Alan Stockdale, VIC Treasurer and Minister for Multimedia;

· Kim Yeadon, NSW Minister for Information Technology;

· Peter Adamson, NT Minister for Communications and Advanced Technology;

· Stephen Yeo, Chief Executive of Singapore's National Computer Board;

· Iwao Toda, President of the Information Processing Society of Japan

· Frank Blount, CEO of Telstra;

· Terry Cutler, Deputy Chair of the Advisory Board to NOIE; and

· Dr Michael Dixon, IBM's General Manager, Government and Education.

"The ACS has succeeded in assembling a diverse array of speakers whose expertise spans a broad spectrum of IT disciplines and applications," said ACS President, Prins Ralston, who also chairs the SEARCC’98 Organising Committee.

"Not only will conference delegates benefit from hearing their plans in the subject areas of The On-Line Economy and Trading in Asia; Defence and Business; and Virtual Education and Training, but they can interact with them in panel sessions and during breaks.

"SEARCC’98 presents a rare opportunity for Australian IT professionals to network and discuss issues with some of the leading decision-makers in the industry.

"In addition, the involvement of recognised experts from throughout SE Asia offers the chance to learn from the experiences of our peers and colleagues in places like Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong," he said.

During the conference, Senator Alston will Chair a Regional E-commerce session which is expected to provide an important follow-up to the Australian Government’s Domestic E-commerce Summit being held in Canberra later this month.

An impressive line-up of Invited Speakers complements the SEARCC’98 Keynote list, with prominent business experts and world-class academics sharing centre stage, including:

· Professor Paula Swatman, Director of RMIT’s Interactive Information Institute and a founding director of CollECTeR (Collaborative Electronic Commerce Technology and Research);

· Professor Blake Ives, Chair of Information Systems at the E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration and Director of the Centre for Virtual Organisation and Commerce;

· Anne Dickson, National Director, Information Systems, Australian Stock Exchange;

· Frank Merrick, Assistant Commission of Taxation;

· Masohiro Horiuchi, Professor of Management Information Systems, Graduate School of International Business, Aoyagama Gakuin University in Japan;

· Dr Makhdzir Mardan, Head of the CyberCreative Laboratory and Manager of the Multimedia unit, University Business Centre, Universiti Putra Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur; and

· David Jonas, founder and Managing Director of Electronic Trading Concepts P/L, among others.

SEARCC’98 is being co-hosted by the AIIA, with significant support from the Australian and Northern Territory Governments.

The three-day conference will be complemented by an exhibition featuring over 100 displays, a worldwide Internet competition, secondary school programming competition and business matching sessions to build links between companies in Australia and Asia.

For more information about SEARCC’98, visit the SEARCC'98 Web site or call (08) 8941 3285.

This media release is available on the ACS Web site at www.acs.org.au/news/seaspeak.htm

ENDS

Media Enquiries:

Prins Ralston, ACS President, Tel: (0411) 755 069, Email: p_ralston@ntu.edu.au

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