Daily Express

Tuesday 3rd September 1996

Welcome to Day Two of IFIP 96

Governor General Opens 14th World Computer Congress

Govenor General Sir William Deane opening IFIP 96. Australian Governor General, Sir William Deane yesterday officially opened the 14th World Computer Congress at the National Convention Centre.

In declaring the Congress open, Governor General Sir William Deane said the fact that IFIP 96 is pondering the wider issues surrounding new technology, such as the social implications, is an indication of the maturity of purpose with which the industry is approaching the subject matter.

Federal Minister for Industry Science and Tourism, John Moore, also addressed the Congress, taking the opportunity to announce details of a new Australian Information Industries Taskforce.

To be chaired by Professor Ashley Goldsworthy, the Taskforce will seek to develop a national information strategy. Mr Moore said the Taskfoce will help to ensure the availability of an effective national infrastructure, with plans to deliver broadband access to the majority of businesses and homes by the year 2000.

Today's Highlights

The highlights for Day Two of IFIP 96 are as follows:

9 am - Keynote Speaker, Dr Wolfgang Wahlster.
9 am - Government Directions for IT.
11 am - How IT is changing Public Management.
4 pm - Internet Panel.
4 pm - Intranets, Data Warehousing and the Internet.
Don't forget to browse the Exhibition!

Today's Changes

Advanced IT Tools 2 pm - Health Care and Technology. Geoff Busby moves to first presenter.
Teleteaching 6:30 pm - Virtual Landcare Video Conference is on tonight - apologies for the program error.
ANU Visit - Virtual University - CANCELLED

The Superhighway for Business & Government

Robert James, strategic guru in information technology for Telstra kicked of the Business Practice stream of IFIP 96, at the National Convention Centre yesterday.

Speaking about the rise of Internet useage and it's implications on the market, he said that

"more Internet than telephony traffic is likely to occur by the end of 1998."

Consumers are increasingly becoming self-service orientated in the Internet market place, as more choices in secure transactions are increasingly available.

Firms are seeing this trend as reinforcing their direction towards more involvement in Intranet systems of operation.

Mr Len Augustine, Director of Oracle's Electronic and Interactive Multimedia services saw cost as one of the main benefits of using Intranet, saying that it "...is pushing the self service paradigm which is possibly driving the Internet."

Who Are We?

The Fab Four

Over the course of the conference you will undoubtedly discover us. We are Shannon Archer, Roopa Payda, Nyarrin Scanlan, and Leanne Dickinson, four intrepid public relations students from the University of Canberra. We are producing the Daily Express and showing Lois and Clark how it's really done! We will be wandering the halls of the conference centre harassing delegates and keeping you up to date with all the happenings of IFIP96.

So please don't hesitate to ask us for conference info...because we won't hesitate to ask you for our stories!

If you have any interesting quotes or relevant information for us please leave a note for us at the reception desk or see us in the Green Room.

Check Out IFIP 96 Now Open

Pictured setting up the IBM stand yesterday morning were (l-r) Kiron Rakkar, Mark Draper and Stuart Alexander of IBM.

The IFIP 96 Exhibition opened last night. Featuring 40 Exhibitors at 73 booths, this is Canberra's largest ever IT Exhibition.

Reality Check For Senior Management

Senior managers from businesses and the industry gathered to voice their opinions that concern the IT sector. The speakers were Geoff Seymour and Hugh Drummond who brought up issues that were in the forefront for senior managers internationally.

Geoff shared his experiences from the Australian Taxation Office, with modernisation as being the project that has changed dramatically the outlook of IT and business. Geoff discussed how establishing the ATO as a service orientated organisation was of most importance, which included streamlining the objectives thus making the customer a focus, towards a more futuristic approach.

Hugh Drummond, from Simison Bowles and Associates, reviewed IT issues for senior managers and faced differing opinions from the international delegates yet, he overcame these with uniting forces and urging IT professionals to build generic systems that are flexible and adaptable to change, closing with IT should be integrated with business.

Keynote Speaker - Hajime Sasaki

Hajime Sasaki, highlighted the advancements in electronic display technologies and claimed they were progressing at a remarkable rate.

"PDP's are 1/10th the thickness of a CRT and less than 1/5 of the weight." he said. TFTLCD's can now support about 260 000 colours and are more portable than ever.

He said that future applications will continue to expand into the 21st century, and displays will become more energy efficient and faster.