Welcome
to the ACS SA weekly e-newsletter for the week ending Friday 21st November 2008.
- UniSA/ ACS Roundtable - Monday 24th November
- SA Computer Human Interface (CHI) Meeting - Tuesday 25th November
- SA Branch AGM and November Branch Forum - Wednesday 26th November
- 2008 ACS SA Chairman's Christmas Cocktail
Party - Wednesday 10th December
- Meet the folks at the ACS PC Recycling Group - Tuesday 16th December
- Computer Professional Education Program Update
- Topic of the Week - ACS Establishes
E-security Task Force
- Visa
Subclass 457 Intergrity Review
- Professional Year Program at UniSA
- Survey on the Growth of SMEs in the ICT Sector
- Green IT Attitude
Survey
- 16% discount for Red Hat Courses at Etc… Express Training Connections
1. UniSA/ ACS Roundtable - Monday 24th November Topic: 'Six Sigma and IT ? Strange Bedfellows?' Six Sigma is one of today’s pre-eminent business improvement methodologies, with
a long development history and an enviable track record across many diverse
industries in the manufacturing and service sectors. However, IT and software
development remain comparatively untouched by the methodology Speaker: Dr Neil Davidson
Date: Monday 24th November 2008
Time: 5:30pm for 6:00 until 7:15pm
Venue: Level 2 Westpac House 91 King William St, Adelaide (Enter from either King
William St or Currie 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=10119057856468
2. SA Computer Human Interface (CHI) Meeting - Tuesday 25th NovemberTopic: 'Tracking Patients:
redesigning patient tracking in a busy pre-anaesthetics department' Speaker: Alan Boldock, Senior Analyst
Programmer, Royal Adelaide Hospital Date: Tuesday 25th November 2008
Time: 5:30 for a 5:45ish start
Venue: New location same building: Centrelink Useability Centre, Level 1
South side, 191 Pulteney St, Adelaide (corner Pulteney and Flinders Sts)
PCP Hours: 2 - Please update your PCP hours manually by logging into 'My ACS'
Bookings: RSVP to karen.hughes@saabsystems.com.au Further information: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=event&area=9005&temID=eventdetails&eveID=10119000453989
3. SA Branch AGM and November Branch Forum - Wednesday 26th November
This, the last of the Branch forums for 2008, will incorporate the SA Branch Annual General Meeting.
Branch Forum Topic: SharePoint
"SharePoint is a hot topic in business right now! CIOs, CEOs and managing
directors are all talking it up, but what exactly is it? What and where is this
so called power? During this presentation Daniel will discuss and give an
introductory overview of what SharePoint is , what it can do and what are the
benefits of implementing such a eco-system." Speaker: Daniel Brown
Date: Wednesday, 26th November 2008
Time: 5:30pm for a 6:00pm start.
Venue: Cliftons, Level 1, 80 King William Street, Adelaide
For further information and to advise of your attendance, please book here
4. 2008 ACS SA Chairman's Christmas Cocktail
Party - Wednesday 10th December 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 for 5:45 escort to the Rotunda
Venue: The Rotunda, Adelaide Zoo - Enter at Service gates on Plane Tree Drive Bookingsclose on Friday 5th December and are essential! Please see: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=event&area=9005&temID=eventdetails&eveID=10119427503641
Are you interested in a guided tor of the zoo? One
hour prior to the Cocktail Party we have the opportunity to be shown
around the various exhibits at the zoo for $2. That's a $20 saving off
regular zoo visits!
Please contact Tapan Dave for further information and to reserve your place.
5. Meet the folks at the ACS PC Recycling Group - Tuesday 16th December
What's on? A free BBQ
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 Bookings and further information: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=event&area=9005&temID=eventdetails&eveID=10121765199211
6. Computer
Professional Education Program
Did you know ACS
provides students studying in CPEP a personal mentor? Find out how you can
benefit from our postgraduate education program by visiting www.acs.org.au/cpeprogram Beat the price rise and enrol before 31 December 2008. - visit www.acs.org.au/cpeprogram to enrol
and for more information. Subject fees rise from $675 to $750 per subject for
ACS Members from 1 January 2009. Be quick - secure your place now!
7. Topic of the Week - ACS Establishes
E-security Task Force
The
ACS has formed a new E-security Task Force, comprising Australia’s
leading experts in e-security and ISP filtering. ACS Chairman, Kumar Parakala said the ACS has established the Task
Force to take a leadership role, provide expert technical advice, and review
e-security and ISP filtering proposals for the ACS to develop policy positions.
These issues are of critical importance to the safety and security of Australian
ICT infrastructure, on-line business models and internet users. “The ACS is
pleased to see the Government is taking action on e-security issues,
particularly with the recent review of e-security frameworks and policy in
Australia and last weeks call for
tenders on the pilot ISP internet content filtering scheme. Industry involvement
is pivotal in providing actionable and realistic solutions in the e-security
arena, ensuring we build and maintain business and consumer confidence,” said Mr
Parakala. The Task Force will be lead by Vijay Varadharajan, Professor and
Microsoft Chair in Innovation in Computing at Macquarie University and Director of Information and
Networked System Security Research. Professor Varadharajan said: “We are aware
of ISP level filtering testing conducted by the Australian Communications and
Media Authority (ACMA), and the recent calls for tenders in the live pilot
testing of ISP content filtering. We acknowledge that there have been strong
industry views on these proposals. At this stage the Task Force will develop
sound technical advice on the feasibility and governance of the various ISP
filtering options being investigated.” Details at http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=notice&temID=noticedetails¬ID=913
8. Visa
Subclass 457 Intergrity Review
The Minister for
Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, released the
Report of the Visa Subclass
457 Integrity Review. The ACS is encouraged by the report which aligns with many
of our own views and recommendations from the 457 Visa
Review. Although the Review received over 800 submissions, there are, in fact,
five mentions of the ACS are in the Report including quotes from the ACS
submission. The ACS believes that 457 visas are an important source of labour
and skills for the Australian ICT sector and should be available for use
wherever particular skill shortages are impeding productivity and development
and the appropriate skills sets cannot be readily sourced from the Australian
labour market within a reasonable time frame. The ACS also believes that there
should be more level of skills verification for 457 visa applicants, in the same
way that permanent visa applicants are assessed, to ensure that people coming
into the country do have skills that are considered in short
supply.
9. Professional Year Program at UniSA
Announcing
the UniSA Computer and information Science PYP Program
The Professional
Year Program in Computer and Information Science at UniSA opens an additional
pathway to employment within Australia
for graduates seeking permanent residence.
The program
combines formal study with a workplace internship that develops your career and
employment skills through appropriate practice based training. It provides a link from education to
permanent employment in Australia.
The program is
aimed at those who have graduated from undergraduate or postgraduate degrees
from any Australian
University within the
last 6 months and are holders of 485 Skilled Graduate Visas, or those who hold
a bridging visa.
Why
Choose to Study the Professional Year Program at UniSA?
UniSA offers a
perfect blend of skills, experience and application in order to ensure that
your PYP will be of the highest quality and give you the best outcome.
Not only will you
be given support by one of Australia’s
largest ICT Schools in the School
of Computer and
Information Science, but by choosing to complete the Professional Year Program
at UniSA, you will be backed by industry through its highly successful Industry
Alliance Program (IAP).
Learn
More about Your PYP Program
Come and meet the PYP team for drinks and some light
finger food…
Thursday 27th November 2008 12:30 – 1:30pm
at UniSA City West Campus. Location will be advised when you RSVP.
RSVP to Sue Small (sue.small@unisa.edu.au) or 8302 084
A brochure and application form is available from: www.cis.unisa.edu.au/ProfDevelopment/PYP.htm
10. 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
11. 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.
12. 16% discount for Red Hat Courses at Etc… Express Training Connections
“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. For more information on the individual courses please see: http://www.acs.org.au/sa/otherinfo/ETC%20red_hat_courses.pdf
Please book, ask for details or schedules by emailing Sue at
sue@etc-australia.com to assist with
registration details here in Adelaide
and to ensure you receive the specific courses’ special promotion gift. Phone: (08)
8232 4502.
The new schedules for 2009 are on our web site: http://www.etc-australia.com
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