1. 2008 ACS SA Chairman's Christmas Cocktail Party - Wednesday 10th December
2. Christmas Curry SIG - Friday 12th December
3. Meet the folks at the ACS PC Recycling Group - Tuesday 16th December
4. Computer Professional Education Program  - Accelerate your career
5. Apply Now for New Digital Media Grants!
6. ACS Membership Lifecycle Board Election - Nominations Sought
7. Seeking Input for Policy Proposal
8. ACS welcomes full adoption of Gershon recommendations and calls for responsible reinvestment
9. ACS comments on NBN tender lodgement that focus must now shift to value added services
10. Green IT Attitude Survey
11. Survey on the Growth of SMEs in the ICT Sector
12. Express Training Connections - 16% discount for Red Hat Courses

Join the ACS SA Chairman, Professor Reg Coutts, SA BEC Members and ACS SA Staff at the beautiful Adelaide Zoo for an social evening of informal networking and some Christmas cheer!

Date: Wednesday 10th December 2008
Time: 5:30pm (sharp) for 5:45 escort to the Rotunda
Venue: The Rotunda, Adelaide Zoo  - Enter at Service gates on Plane Tree Drive

Why? Xmas breakup. Get to know what's going on.

What do we do? We accept donated computers and equipment which we refurbish, reinstall software (windows and ubuntu linux) and offer to the community (low income individuals and groups) at low cost. Since we started we have placed more than 2000 computers in homes, schools and community organisations.

Date: Tuesday 16th December 2008
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: 642 South Road, Glandore

4. Computer Professional Education Program - Accelerate your career

The Society is calling for nominations for the position of Membership Lifecycle Board Director for a one year term commencing 01 January 2009, as no nominations were received in response to an earlier (28 October 2008) call for nominations. The incumbent Membership Lifecycle Board Director, Stephen Kowal, who is also the ACS Vice President (Membership Boards) has indicated he will not be nominating. Membership Lifecycle Board provides advice to the ACS National Board, through Vice President (Membership Boards) to develop strategies related to membership growth and membership retention.

Directors are elected by Congress and this will be done by e-vote – voting is secret preferential. Congress can elect any financial member as Director though there are restrictions placed on Companion, Affiliate & Student members but it is expected that only members of the Professional Division (Fellow, Senior Member and Member) will meet the selection criteria.

Applicants:

1. must be financial members of the Australian Computer Society;
2. must be active and recognized practitioners of a discipline relevant to the responsibilities of the position being applied for;
3. must be prepared to devote considerable time to the role in an honorary capacity;
4. should have a demonstrated track record in communicating technical and social issues to a general ICT and public audience;
5. should be familiar with the workings of committees; and
6. should have leadership experience. 

Board Directors are members of the ACS advisory body, Congress. A nomination form is available here. 

Nominations close at midnight on Tuesday 09 December 2009. Please note that applicants may be asked questions by members of Congress ahead of the e-vote and these questions and answers are to be relayed through the ACS National Office.

The current list of ACS policy and submission documents can be found at: www.acs.org.au/policies/  and in 2009, we shall cover policy areas of skills, training and employment, business use of ICT, digital economy and corporate social responsibility.  Your input will help to strengthen our role as a trustworthy public commentator and advisory body on relevant ICT issues.  If you have any suggestions please forward them to the SA Branch, preferably by Tuesday 16 December, 2008.

The ACS welcomed the Federal Government's full adoption of Sir Peter Gershon's recommendations on the Australian use of ICT within the public sector, but cautioned against an ICT cost cutting trend and encouraged responsible reinvestment of funds back into the industry. ACS President, Kumar Parakala, commended the Government on the speed and directness of its response, which he said will help alleviate uncertainty within the ICT sector and also discussed concerns about further cost cutting concerns amongst the private sector.  Details at: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=notice&temID=noticedetails&notID=917

The ACS called for the Federal Government to support the development of value added broadband services, to foster economic growth and the growing digital economy, as tenders for the construction of the National Broadband Network (NBN) were lodged last week. ACS Chairman, Kumar Parakala, said whilst much has been said about competition amongst the carriers involved in the tender process, true competition will come from enabling affordable delivery, increasing the diversity of services and providers over the broadband network, and being able to offer those services to both the domestic and the international market. Details at: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=notice&temID=noticedetails&notID=918

10.  Green IT Attitude Survey

You are invited to participate in a research project being conducted by RMIT University, School of Business Information Technology. The aim of this research is to develop an understanding of the extent to which IT professionals are aware of and interested about Green Information Technology. 

To provide your input, simply click http://www.rmit.edu.au/bus/bit/green-it-attitude. The Survey takes 5-7 minutes to complete. Findings and results will be made available to ACS members.

11. Survey on the Growth of SMEs in the ICT Sector

You are invited to participate in a Swinburne University Survey into the antecedents of growth in SMEs in the ICT sector.  By participating in the project, you can familiarize yourself with areas that might be important to focus on when managing a small or medium sized ICT business. Results will be published through the website of the ACS  to enable participants to have access to some feedback. 

Through this research, participants can gain insight into the opinions of representatives of SMEs in the ICT sector, on important questions such as: Does planning enhance future firm growth? What configuration of resources supports firm growth? Are there any shortcuts possible on the long and difficult path of a growing firm? 

This questionnaire will take around 30 minutes to complete. Only details of a general nature are asked so it is not possible to identify you or your organisation thus ensuring confidentiality, anonymity and privacy for yourself and yourorganisation. Click http://opinio.online.swin.edu.au/s?s=4882 to proceed. 

For more information, please contact: Áron Perényi T: 03 9214 5893; M: 0405729055; E: aperenyi@swin.edu.au

12.  Express Training Connections - 16% discount for Red Hat Courses

“THE NEW, ABSOLUTELY NEEDED, RED HAT COURSE, 1ST TIME IN AUSTRALIA” 

Are you an IT professional looking to gain knowledge in the Linux environment? ETC offer a wide variety of training with a 16% discount for ACS members. All courses are Red Hat accredited using qualified Red Hat instructors. This is an opportunity to increase your Red Hat skills or consolidate your knowledge and gain industry certifications as a Red Hat Certified Technician or Red Hat Certified Engineer.

The new schedules for 2009 are on the Etc web site: http://www.etc-australia.com

Your invited to a Red Hat information session at the Hilton Hotel on Tuesday 9th December see:

http://www.acs.org.au/sa/otherinfo/hilton_091208.doc for further information and bookings.