Group items tagged

"The online environment is an integral part of modern economic and social activities, and a vast resource of education, information, communication and entertainment. Further, the evolution of new technologies is diversifying the ways in which Australians connect with each other and the world. As part of the Government's comprehensive commitment to cyber-safety, the Australian Parliament established this Committee in March 2010. This report focuses on how young people can be empowered and connect to the Internet, and use new technologies with confidence, knowing that they can use them safely, ethically and with full awareness of risks and benefits. The facilitation of safer online environments requires government, industry and the broader community to work together to realise the benefits of the online environment while also protecting Australians from dangers and enabling them to use existing and emerging tools to mitigate risks.  

"Despite repeated alerts, thousands of Australians may still lose their internet service come early next week unless they do a quick check of their computers for malware that could have taken over their machines more than a year ago."

"The Atlas of Living Australia is a national initiative focused on making Australia's biodiversity information more accessible and useable online. It is a partnership between CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, the Australian natural history collections community and the Australian Government."

"The Senate has forced the Australian Electoral Commission to disclose the source code of the software that counts Senate preference votes after the organisation refused to release it in response to a freedom-of-information request. "

The Australian Government will build its own $43 billion National Broadband Network, in a move that returns Australia's telecommunications economy to an era of part-public, part-private ownership.

The Federal Government has released a smartphone application to provide quick and easy access to information about emergencies and disasters across the country. The DisasterWatch app can be downloaded for free and contains the latest public information via a direct feed from emergency response teams in each state and territory.

"Students at Westall Secondary College will soon be using revolutionary Apple iPads as part of an Australian-first trial of the technology at seven Victorian Government schools. The Member for Clayton Hong Lim MP said Westall Secondary College was among the first in the state to participate in the trial."

Just thought that you would like to know that we are part of this iPad trial :-)

"What does privacy mean in an age of ongoing privacy breaches? With new privacy law coming online in Australia on March 12, our Privacy in Practice series explores the practical challenges facing Australian business and consumers in a world rethinking privacy."

"A federal government discussion paper has proposed the creation of a children's e-safety commissioner to help protect children from cyber-bullying on social media. However not everyone agrees on the proposal, which opponents say is a slippery slope to government censorship, writes Damien Carrick."

"This website is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The Safe Schools Toolkit explores the detailed characteristics of the National Safe Schools Framework, providing case studies and an online audit tool to pinpoint the areas of priority."

"Bebras is an international student challenge whose goal is to promote computational thinking for teachers and students (ages 8-17 / school years 3-12). Bebras is aligned with and supports information and communication technology curricula across Australia. Bebras Australia is run by NICTA under the Digital Careers program, funded by the Australian Government. It's a great way to get students interested and participating in information and communication technology (ICT) which could lead to an interest in pursuing a career in the exciting ICT industry!"

THE NSW Department of Education and Training has dished out the first contracts for the $386 million computers-in-schools program, with the spoils going to Lenovo, Microsoft and Adobe. The computers will be given to over 200,000 government secondary school students in years 9 - 12 and 25,000 teachers across NSW.

A very thought provoking and insightful interview about the efforts of governments to gain control over technology and how they justify it.

"The Federal Government has announced the first sites on mainland Australia where the National Broadband Network (NBN) will be rolled out."