1. AJUG August Meeting - Mobile 3D Graphics API (M3G) 
2. Southern Fleurieu Linux Users Group (SFLUG) Meetings
3. UniSA/ ACS August Roundtable Monday 25th August 
4. Education Across the Nation - Wednesday 27th August
5. Computer Professional Education Program Enrolments Now Open!
6. PCP HOURS - Practicing Computer Professional status
7. Invitation to participate in the 2008 Mock Interview Evening - Flinders University
8. Invitation - Free Seminar - Graduate Expectations, Perceptions and Views
9. Red Hat Courses – Now in is the time to get started!
10. ATNAC 2008 - Adelaide SA - Call For Papers -  Deadline extended!
11. Topic of the Week - Dire ICT Skills Forecast

Topic: The Mobile 3D Graphics API (M3G) is a mandatory part of the new standard mobile java platform, MSA, so is now common place on most new phones...

Topic: "Information Security – A Gartner Perspective" Aligning information security practices and technologies in support of organisational priorities creates a puzzle that is constantly shifting and mutating. Analysing the puzzle and crafting new approaches that produce a better return is a personal passion and fascination.

4. Education Across the Nation - Wednesday 27th August

Topic:  Security - The Information Security Threat Environment AusCERT is the national Computer Emergency Response Team for Australia and a leading CERT in the Asia/Pacific region.  If, like me, you are not really sure what a 'CERT' is -  then  this is a not to be missed event!

Enrol for Study Period 1, 2009  to get in early and secure your place! Charges will not be made until December 2008.

Looking for practical, work-based postgraduate education?  Then the CPE Program will be just what you want.  It’s postgraduate IT professional education for motivated IT practitioners.  With mentored and collaborative learning, the CPE Program challenges your thinking and gives you a framework and the skills to address issues within your organisation. 

The CPE Program consists of four subjects:  Three core -   Business, Legal and Ethical Issues; New Technology Alignment; Business, Strategy and IT and you choose one elective - Project Management; IT Service Management or Adaptive Business Intelligence.

Study Period 1 runs from 18 January to 19 April 2009.  Fees are $675 per subject (or $2700 for the full program) for ACS Members.  Time commitment is 8-10 hours per week.  So if you are after a challenging, relevant and current postgraduate education program which is delivered totally online, enrol in the Computer Professional Education Program now!

For more information visit: www.acs.org.au/cpeprogram 

or Freecall 1800 671 003

To achieve Practicing Computer Professional status (PCP post-nominals) a member must undertake a minimum of thirty (30) hours structured professional development in any twelve month period.

The Statement requires details of each activity, including the objectives and outcomes of each activity, dates and times, location, the provider details (if any) and the number of hours claimed.

The maximum number of hours that can be claimed for any one activity is twenty-five (25) hours.

Each activity can be entered as it occurs or all information can be added at one time. A member's professional development history is kept as an addendum to the member's record and (in a future release of the web interface) can be printed by the member as and when required. Following each and every update the member's PCP status is re-evaluated.

Flinders University are seeking 30 interviewers to assist in this event. As an Interviewer they would like you to conduct two one-to-one (20-minute) interviews and provide brief feedback to interviewees. There will be a range of interview questions for you to draw from, and students will participate in a session on Interview Techniques prior to the mock interviews.

This event will provide 60 students with the opportunity to gain valuable interview practice that will assist their transition from university to their chosen career. As part of the event, light refreshments will be provided for Interviewers.

Event details:

Event: Mock Interview Evening
Date:  Thursday 4th September
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Venue: Sage Restaurant and Red Vines Cafe, Third Floor, Union Building

Previous events have yielded excellent feedback from students including;

“The interviewers were fantastic; they really knew what they were talking about and were able to assess the interview from a point of view relevant to my career."

“Thank you for the opportunity – a great evening to develop these skills and to network with the interviewers.”

We are keen to build upon this success and look forward to your participation. To register as an Interviewer, please email Mark Gregory. Once registered, you will be provided with more detailed information.

• employment expectations, including:
• the expected salary,
• the value of various benefits being offered by employers,
• what aspects of ‘corporate culture’ are important,
• methods of seeking work,
• expectations of working life

Special Discounts for ACS Members

10. ATNAC 2008 - Adelaide SA - Call For Papers -  Deadline extended!
Australasian Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference 2008

If you have not submitted a paper to ATNAC 2008 yet, you now have another opportunity to do so.

Over the recent weeks, there have been many requests  to better align the ATNAC 2008 submission deadlines with the demands placed by the academic and business year timelines. As a result, the paper submission deadline has been extended to Monday 18th August. 

You will find the Call for Papers and the necessary details at http://www.plevin.com.au/atnac2008/.

ATNAC conferences have traditionally been the best meeting place for the Australasian telecommunication networks and applications researchers and practitioners. It is ATNAC where industry practitioners meet researchers from academia, and where the latest in the technology and telecommunications business developments across Australasia and worldwide are discussed. 

Now’s the time for 2020 vision: Skills gap to rise to 25,000 in 2020 without immediate policy changes

New figures released today forecast that ICT skills shortages will grow by 29% by the year 2010 to just over 14,000 jobs unless we make changes to policy on ICT employment and skills. The gap in ICT unemployment is also predicted to reach an estimated 25,000 jobs by 2020. The Quantifying Current and Forecast ICT Employment Report, is the first report released by the Centre for Innovative Industry Economic Research Incorporated, which the ACS has supported and funded as part of the two year ICT Skills Forecasting Project. The project aims to provide data on ICT Skills, and to quantify and qualify the supply and demand needs of ICT skills and employment in Australia.

The report suggests the current approach of addressing the skills shortfall with temporary migrant Visas is insufficient and will not close the gap on future demands for skilled ICT workers. Since 2004, there has been consistent and strong growth in ICT employment with over 280,000 technical and professional ICT workers now employed across all Australian industries, making a vital contribution to Australian.

Details at http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=notice&temID=noticedetails&notID=890

[Executive Summary of the Report can be downloaded at http://www.acs.org.au/attachments/ICTSkillsForecastingReportExecSummaryAug08.pdf and Members can can downloaded Full Report via https://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=show&conID=200808111559222168 after login.]