Welcome
to the ACS SA weekly e-newsletter for the week ending Friday 16th May 2008.
- 2008 International Young ICT
Professionals Conference - Less than 2 Weeks to Go!
- Uni SA/ ACS May Roundtable - Monday 26th May
- Education Across the Nation (EdXN) - Wednesday 28th May
- IT Project Management Special Interest Group - Monday 2nd June
- Computer Professional Education (CPE) Program
- ABC Women in Engineering Scholarships 2008
- ACS Calls for Email Privacy
Legislation Changes to reflect Contemporary Communication Modes
- ACS Statement on 2008-09 Budget - Focus on
ICT Strategy Still Absent
- AIIA Focus Series Event - Expressions of Interest Sought
- Red Hat Courses – Now in Adelaide!
1. 2008 International Young ICT
Professionals Conference - Less than 2 Weeks to Go!
The
2008 International Young ICT Professionals Conference is just around
the corner. Attend the conference and meet and hear from high
caliber speakers, such as Jonar Nader
(Futurist), Norbert Haehnel (Microsoft), Alan Noble (Google) and
more.
This
conference is the only annual event in Australia exclusively developed for young
ICT professionals, recent graduates and students. By attending, you will gain
valuable insights into the current state of the ICT industry, essential business
skills, build relationship with industry leaders and develop critical skills for
a successful ICT career. At the
conference, you will have the opportunity to apply for the ACS Computer
Professional Education Program scholarship, valued at $2700
each, for two conference delegates. To find out more about the
Computer Professional Education Program visit www.acs.org.au/cpep. Every ACS member who attends the two days
of the conference and is MACS Provisional or MACS is eligible to apply to win
one of two scholarships. Click here to download the application form. The first class line-up of
speakers includes:
Jonar Nader, Futurist, Chairman of Logictivity Rob
Thomsett, Worldwide Project Management Guru Norbert Haehnel, Director of the
Developer and Platform Group, Microsoft Australia/NZ Alan Noble, Engineering
Director, Google Australia and New Zealand
Confrence Brochure is available at: http://www.acs.org.au/youngit/2008conference/brochure.pdf
The conference is
heavily subsidised by the ACS to help young ICT
professionals to kick start their career and to develop future leaders.
Adelaide residents have the added bonus of not having to pay for accommodation so don't miss out, register
today!
2. Uni SA/ ACS May Roundtable - Monday 26th May Speaker: Biography: Philip N. Argy B Com LL B FACS HLM
Topic: In this informative presentation Philip Argy explains basic principles of
evidence and why an understanding of these fundamentals is essential for any IT
person involved in keeping electronic records.
Date: Monday 26th May 2008
Time: 5:45pm start
Venue: Microsoft Auditorium Level 2 Westpac House 91 King William St, Adelaide
PCP Hours: 2 - Please book through the link below to assist us with catering and
to ensure your PCP Hours are updated.
Bookings and further information: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=event&area=9005&temID=eventdetails&eveID=10103967134136
3. Education Across the Nation (EdXN) - Wednesday 28th May
Topic: 'The Art of
Networking' - Create the working life you really want!
Do you want to climb the ladder of success? For most of us, there is no
avoiding the social side of work and business, and the old saying "it's not
what you know, but who" is as true now as ever! Speaker: Ron Gibson
Date: Wednesday 28th May 2008
Time: 5:45pm start
Venue: Level 3, 150 Grenfell Street, ADELAIDE SA (next door to Griffins Head Hotel)
PCP Hours: 2 - Please book through the link below to assist us with catering and
to ensure your PCP Hours are updated.
Bookings and further information: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=event&area=9005&temID=eventdetails&eveID=10102951490276
4. IT Project Management Special Interest Group - Monday 2nd June Topic: PRINCE2:2009 Project™
- a preview of the proposed changes. To keep up to date the PRINCE2™ manual is regularly
reviewed for fitness and updated in controlled releases. The next planned
release is in Q1 of 2009. This presentation will provide a preview of the
proposed changes to this method. Speaker: Matt Williams
Date: Monday 2nd June 2008
Time: 5:15 for a 5:45 start
Venue: Excom Education 191 Pulteney St (on the corner of Flinders St)
PCP Hours: 2 - Please book through the link below to assist us with catering and
to ensure your PCP Hours are updated.
Bookings and further information: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=event&area=9005&temID=eventdetails&eveID=10092576996016
5. Computer Professional Education (CPE) Program
New
elective – Adaptive Business Intelligence
The Computer Professional
Education Program is reviewed each study period to ensure the course content
remains current and relevant. As part of
the program’s continual renewal, a new elective has been developed on Adaptive
Business Intelligence. The subject is
based on a new book written by Zbigniew Michalewicz et al. The approach teaches
students how to combine prediction and optimisation techniques to assist
decision makers in complex, rapidly changing environments. It uses elements of data mining, predictive
modeling, forecasting, optimisaton and adaptability to address the fundamental
questions “what is likely to happen in the future” and “what’s the best decision
right now”. Students will complete the
subject with a sound understanding of the principles of Artificial Intelligence
(AI), and how and when to apply AI techniques to real business problems. Further details on the CPE Program and the new
elective subject Adaptive Business Intelligence can be found at www.acs.org.au/cpeprogram Enrolments are
now being taken for study period 2 which runs from 20 July to 18 October. Time
commitment is 8-10 hours per week. Cost is only $675 per subject for ACS
Members. Enrol now - charges will not be made until early July.
Enrolments for Study Period 2 (July - October) are now
being taken. For more information and to enrol, visit
www.acs.org.au/cpeprogram or freecall 1800 671
003.
Our latest enews is available at http://www.acs.org.au/cpeprogram/enewsletter/enewsletter.htm
6. ABC Women in Engineering Scholarships 2008
The
ABC Women in Engineering Scholarships were established in 1992 to
promote the education, training and practice of engineering among women
in the fields of broadcasting and technology.
Up to eight
scholarships are offered annually to Australian women in either their
1st, 2nd or 3rd year of an Electrical Engineering Degree, Diploma
or similar, to encourage them to pursue a career in the broadcast
industry. The scholarship includes an award of $1500 plus a period of
work experience in technology areas of the ABC.
Applications close Friday 30th May 2008
For further information please see: http://www.acs.org.au/sa/documents/abc_wie_2008.pdf
7. ACS Calls for Email Privacy
Legislation Changes to reflect Contemporary Communication Modes
The ACS called on the Federal
Government to consider adopting an auditing system for random employee email
checks, as well as alert and logbook systems in its revision of the nation’s
email privacy laws, to reflect contemporary modes of communication and our
networked society.
The ACS makes the following recommendations to the
Privacy Legislation email review:
- Development of authorisation process and
policy - an authorisation process and policy needs to be developed to identify
who can authorise the accessing of employee emails;
- Log book system – organisations maintain a
clear logging system of when email records are accessed by a person other than a
participant in the email communication (for example the IT department as a “non
participant”) and for what purpose;
- Alert system – a permission and/or alert
system for employees if their emails are accessed by a non-participant as part
of routine corporate business;
- Code of Conduct – ICT practitioners must be
bound by a code of conduct which makes it a disciplinary offence for them to use
or divulge any information obtained through exercise of any statutory or
corporate interception power. (Note: ACS members are already bound by the ACS
Code of Ethics which prevents any such disclosure). The Code of Conduct should
also include the following provisions:
- ICT practitioners must be provided with clear
instructions and authority to access emails;
- Once accessed by ICT practitioners, emails cannot be
amended, modified, etc
- Random auditing - organisations could be
subject to random audits in order to determine they are not in breach of privacy
laws;
- Email and web use policy: That all
organisations adopt and publish a clear email and web use policy to their
staff.
Details at http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=notice&temID=noticedetails¬ID=848
8. ACS Statement on 2008-09 Budget - Focus on
ICT Strategy Still Absent
The ACS (Australian Computer Society) today
welcomed the high level investment in Australia’s critical communications
infrastructure, education and innovation initiatives outlined in the 2008-09
budget and called on the Government to increase efforts to develop an
overarching national ICT strategy that will enable greater focus on the sector
as a generator of significant economic prosperity for Australia.
ACS
National President, Kumar Parakala said: “There are some significant wins for
the technology sector within the budget and the ACS is a strong supporter of the
Government’s investment in broadband. However, the Government, as part of its
current investment strategy, also needs to recognise the ICT sector as a major
area of future growth, and a powerful industry that is a powerful economic
sector in its own right. The challenge for the ICT sector right now is more
about focus than funding.
“The ACS is pleased with the allocation of
substantial budget to infrastructure, health systems and research and higher
education. We are confident this will have a flow on effect for the ICT
industry, which critically supports the areas the Government has identified as a
priority.
“The ACS renews its call for an agreed national ICT strategy.
Technology was previously identified by the Rudd Government as the toolbox of
the economy and as driving innovation and productivity. Beyond funding, there
needs to be a way of centralising the focus on the sector, and creating
accountability for spending and outcomes. The export focus goes some way to
meeting previous calls by the ACS to promote the Technology Australia brand,
however without a national ICT strategy, this opportunity may be
lost.
“Australia must develop specific policies to leverage this massive
infrastructure investment in broadband. This means focusing on the Digital
Economy and what’s beyond the pipe - particularly in e-commerce, e-health and
education areas. To do this, we need a deliberate and focused strategy to give
the Digital Economy priority, as many of our neighbours have done with enormous
economic success,” said Mr Parakala.
9. AIIA Focus Series Event - Expressions of Interest Sought
We
are seeking expressions of interest from ACS Members who would like to
attend the following event at a specially discounted price.
AIIA
South Australia is hosting this Focus Series event at which
the keynote speaker will be The Hon. Kevin Foley MP, Deputy Premier,
Treasurer, Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister for Federal/State
Relations.
The
State Government is an important part of Adelaide’s ICT sector, driving an
annual spend of more than half a billion dollars. In their foreword to
Driving Growth for South Australia, Ministers Foley and Caica are
proactive in proposing
that,
‘in a
world where information and knowledge are taking on an increasing economic value
in their own right, South Australia must continue to evolve as an information
economy’.
Date: Thursday, 22 May 2008
Time: 6:30pm - 9:30pm,
Venue: Terrace Ballroom, Stamford Plaza, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Cost:
AIIA members and government: $125.00
Non-members: $165.00
More information can be found at: http://www.aiia.com.au/event_details.aspx?ID=e0156851-fb1b-dd11-af3c-001b78cbf152
ACS Members will be able to attend at the AIIA Member Price.
Please contact Mandy Watson to register your expression of interest.
10. Red Hat Courses – Now in Adelaide!
16%
discount off retail prices, awarded to ACS Members
Venue: Express
Training Connections Pty. Ltd , Level 5, 38 Gawler Place, Adelaide
5000
Full
schedule on web site www.etc-australia.com
An
opportunity to get your Red Hat skills up and running or consolidate your
knowledge with the Red Hat Linux Essentials (RH-033)
Special
Promotion Week commencing 26th May 2008 – 5 days ACS price $2730 plus GST.
Promo – Include Red Hat gift.
Please
book through the email address below to assist with registration details and to
ensure you receive the special promotion gift. sue@etc-australia.com or phone 8232
4502
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