Australian Computer Society

ACS President's 1997 New Years Message to Members

New Year's Resolutions for 1997

• Industry development: It is not enough for Australia to have a well trained body of IT professionals, we also need an industry for them to work in. In early January the ACS will make a submission to the Information Industries Taskforce, as one of a number of measures to boost Australian IT industry. As I explained at the national press club, the Federal Government's current approach to the IT industry is fragmented. In 1997 the ACS should work on a co-ordinated strategy for development of the Australian IT industry.
• On-line working: While we have made some progress in the ACS with on-line publishing and on-line working (and are ahead of our overseas counterparts), progress has not been fast enough. During 1997 the ACS should aim to make the full range of its services available on-line to members and experiment with new services exploiting the new possibilities.

How well did my year's resolutions for the ACS in 1996 do?

• Lead the profession and help the community: In 1996 I mentioned how the Society had taken the lead on public policy for the "Information Superhighway" in Australia, with submissions to Government. During 1996 the debate over if or what the InfoBahn would be changed to a discussion of how and how much to use the Internet. The Government and the community have had to confront many difficult issues to do with regulation and the ACS's Community Affairs Board has tackled many other issues.
  
• Practical help for IT practitioners: In 1996 the ACS continued a strong program of meetings, publications, conferences and seminars of daily practical value. I was delighted to be able to participate by conducting seminars ( Perth, Hobart and Canberra at IFIP96), chairing the NSW Branch Conference, and talking at several AGMs.
  
• Promote the ACS: My priority for 1996 was to direct our efforts outwards: "to promote the benefits of the ACS to employers, IT practitioners and the general community". You will have read of the ACS's activities in the press, on radio and direct on the Internet. To help with this I have appeared at conferences, on radio and in the press. Some of the more unusual locations were from a hot air balloon over Canberra, from the Tally Room on election night and an address to the National Press Club in Canberra.
• Continue the reforms of the ACS structure and operations: At the first video conference meeting of the ACS Council, held in December 1996, we confirmed the Towards 2000 proposals for ACS. These include moderate changes to membership to increase the professionalism of the ACS. These come into force for mew applicants to the society in 1997.
  
• Use on-line services in ACS operation: Last year I wrote "ACS won't eliminate paper in 1996, but there is potential to better integrate networking into the basic operations of the organisation". In November I attended a meeting of national IT presidents in the UK about to co-ordinate our on-line efforts. The ACS's work compared well to that from our sister organisations in Europe, the USA and Japan. While in the UK I also attended an n-line meeting of the ACS Remote SIG, which must have set some sort of record.
  

Creating Communities

Last year I wrote:

We need to remind ourselves that technology is not an end in itself. Peter Drucker wrote that the product of non-profit organisations is "changed human beings". He suggested the challenge was to give community and common purpose and to build the organisation around information and communication, instead of around hierarchy.

We have the opportunity to discover how to give community and common purpose in ACS activities and the obligation to apply that knowledge for the benefit of the whole community.

Tom Worthington MACS
President
4 January 1997

G.P.O. Box 446, Canberra A.C.T. 2601, Australia
Telephone: (06) 247 4830, Fax: (06) 249 6419, E-mail: tom.worthington@tomw.net.au
http://www.tomw.net.au/

References

• Drucker, Peter F., "Managing the Non-Profit organization: practices and principles", Harper Collins, New York, 1990, ISBN 0-0601-6507-3; Pages: xiv, xv and 115

• ACS President's 1996 New Years Day Message to Members
• Other talks by the ACS President
• ACS Home Page
• Tom Worthington's Home Page
• Sydney to Nimbin - Big Things