CeBIT Australia Blog

Women who get IT, and why your business needs them

Posted on May 17, 2013 by CeBITAus

The announcement yesterday that former Proctor & Gamble online marketer – and CeBIT Australia 2012 speaker – Maile Carnegie will head up Google Australia is a great shot in the arm for women in ICT.

It is also a sign that Big Data is the future for online sales and digital marketing – but that’s another story, and one we’ll be discussing at length at CeBIT Australia’s Big Data conference on May 30, 2013.

The Google announcement ignited social media chatter around the gender diversity issue in ICT – and that’s a good thing. We congratulate Ms Carnegie, and would love to see many more women reaching for and achieving these top roles.

At CeBIT Australia 2013, we believe that the ICT industry must start to think along the same lines as Warren Buffet, whose recent Fortune Magazine essay questioned why business was not doing more to harness the brainpower of women. Businesses which aren’t thinking long and hard about gender diversity are effectively 50% of the talent pool.

“We are very fortunate in this country to have such powerful, talented women in our industry – women like Pip Marlowe at Microsoft, Inese Kingsmill at Telstra, and now Maile Carnegie at Google. It’s great to see,” says Jackie Taranto, managing director of Hannover Fairs Australia.

“Surely it is obvious? The more women in the industry, the better. And hopefully more young women coming up through University will look to the tech sector for a career,” she says.

The gender diversity issue will be widely discussed at CeBIT Australia 2013’s StartUp Conference on May 29, where a session on “Why we need more women Entrepreneurs” will be moderated by Melissa Widner, general partner, SeaPoint Ventures, and the Founder of Heads Over Heels. Panellists will also include: Senator Kate Lundy, Minister Assisting for Industry & Innovation; Whitney Komor, founder of The Best Day; and Katrin Suess, co-founder of Vimily. Details here

Peter Acheson, CEO of Peoplebank, was interviewed by Jennifer Foreshew in The Australian on May 8 and called for quotas to be introduced in ICT to bring more women into key roles.

He told The Australian: “According to the Australian Computer Society, between February 2011 and February 2012 the number of women in ICT occupations dropped from 131,059 (24.1 per cent of the total ICT workforce) to 91,400 (19.7 per cent).

“The industry needs to do a lot to rebuild the IT brand. It is not seen as a fashionable thing to do and within the female cohort in schools they all get that message,” Mr Acheson told The Australian. Read the full report here

A recent article on smh.com.au by Sandy Plunkett, who is also appearing at CeBIT Australia 2013’s StartUp conference on May 29 with Dr Jana Matthews of ANZ Innovyz Start, discussed the fact that it is generally men who “raise the issue of female scarcity in the sector as if they have scoured Australia from coast to coast and are exhausted by their pioneering”. Read the full report here.

Ms Plunkett’s article canvassed some excellent ideas, and concluded that she wanted to see more conferences and industry forums debate the issue.

Well, CeBIT Australia 2013 aims to fill that gap!

Tagged business, CeBIT Australia, diversity, internet, online, Startups, women | Leave a reply

Q & A with CeBIT Australia 2013 exhibitor: Sidney Minassian

Posted on May 15, 2013 by CeBITAus

What is your role?

I am the founder and CEO of Contexti, a big Data analytics managed services, support and training company.

What do you think are the main issues people are facing with Big Data?

First, most people misunderstand the term: “big data”. Too many businesses focus on the amount of data instead of what value they can create with it.

It’s also an issue that most executives regard Big Data as an issue for IT rather than as an opportunity for a business to take the lead.

And it’s a mistake to go out and buy Big Data products without putting in place a well-managed strategy and execution program that considers people, process and outcomes.

What are you working on at the moment that will help business adapt to the challenges of big data?

We’ve got a few interesting projects going on:

1. Build a Hadoop/HBase solution to analyse billions of transactions for a Financial Services company enabling it to identify new product and service opportunities.

2. Provide a managed service for a leading advertising agency, with predictive modelling to improve campaign ROI.

3. Single Customer view and personalisation of service solution for a major retailer.

How do you rate Australia’s strengths in this area?

We have great talent, skills and experience in Australia, probably ahead of many countries in the Asia Pacific region. This presents a great opportunity to export our expertise, products and services into the region.

What can businesses expect from Big Data?

There is great upside for companies which embrace a data-driven culture and embed data-driven decision making into their business-as-usual processes. I am also a firm believer that Big Data analytics presents many businesses with opportunities for products and services. That is why we founded Contexti.

At CeBIT Australia 2013, you will find Sidney Minassian chairing the Business Intelligence and Analytics sessions in the Business Trends Theatre on May 28 and May 30, 2013, or at Stand H01, Hall 4.

Further information here.

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Announcing the CeBIT.AU Business Award 2013 Finalists

Posted on May 15, 2013 by CeBITAus

We are delighted to announce this year’s finalists in the CeBIT.AU Business Awards, which recognise outstanding achievement in the information and communications technology industry. The Awards carry the full authority of the CeBIT brand, one of the world’s most recognised non-vendor technology brands.

Winners of each of the four categories qualify for the main award of the year which is the CeBIT ICT Excellence Award.

All winners will be able to use the Awards branding on their websites and marketing material for a full year following CeBIT Australia 2013.

Join us for the winners’ presentations at the CeBIT ICT Celebration Dinner at CeBIT Australia on Wednesday 29 May 2013, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

For more information, visit:
http://www.cebit.com.au/visit/ict-dinner

CeBIT.AU Business Award for Innovation 2013 – finalists
• AAPT
• Liquipel, LLC
• NICTA and Saluda Medical
• MYOB
• Q3 technologies
• Rapid 3D

CeBIT.AU Business Award for Service Distinction 2013 – finalists
• AAPT
• ANGLER Technologies
• iiNet
• GovReports
• NICTA and Tip Top Bakeries ANZ
• Q3 technologies

CeBIT.AU Business Award for Outstanding Project 2013 – finalists
• ANGLER Technologies
• MyNetFone
• Network Neighborhood
• Sitecore

CeBIT.AU Business Award for Top Business Solution 2013 – finalists
• AirWatch
• Bryte Systems
• Good Technology
• iFlow Australia
• KORE Wireless
• NICTA & 1-Stop: Container Control
• Splunk
• Xero Australia

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Interview with Steve Monaghan, Chief Innovation Officer, DBS Bank (Singapore)

Posted on May 1, 2013 by stefan

This week, Steve Monaghan, Chief Innovation Officer from DBS Bank in Singapore is sharing his time and experience with us on Financial Technology. He will present at the Financial Tech @ CeBIT Conference 2013 on 29 May at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Steve Monaghan, in this interview, explains the challenges of a complex financial Technology and the trends he sees influencing this industry.

He is presenting on International Keynote: Looking From the Outside In – Driving Innovation From A Customer Perspective.

1. Please briefly describe your role and responsibility at your organisation.

As Chief Innovation Officer for the Group I am accountable for building an innovation culture at DBS and driving ‘step change’ innovation initiatives across our various business groups and geographies.

2. What are you presenting at CeBIT Australia?

A core focus in innovation at DBS centers on changing customer experience in an impactful and meaningful way. I’ll be sharing some of our insights, learning’s and failures under the banner of “Looking From the Outside In – Driving Innovation From A Customer Perspective” at CeBIT.

3. What do you think are the main issues that people are facing in financial technology?

There are a broad range of issues in financial technology, from legacy to security. But from a customer perspective, simplicity is one of the key challenges. As an industry invested in complexity, how can we make banking contextual and easily actionable? There are enormous opportunities with emerging technologies to remove complexity in banking and provide customers with new interaction models.

4. Can you describe a current project you’re working on and how the solution/product is helping business to adapt to the challenges of financial technology?

Banking channels and instruments have grown over time requiring customers to learn disparate processes and shoulder the complexity of poor design. We have a number of convergent initiatives around simplifying and enriching customer interaction and engagement.

5. What do you see as the strengths for the Singapore and Australian industry; and how do these strengths compare globally?

Singapore and Australia both have strong banks and resilient markets in a well regulated environment. Globally these strengths give us a competitive advantage of a strong foundation from which to base our continued growth.

6. What trends do you see as influencing your industry?

Digital Darwinism is a key trend I see has having a high degree of influence in the financial industry. Banks are essentially secure information businesses with traditional distribution economics. As you’ve seen in other industries, as the digitization of business and channels accelerate, there are those whom will adapt well and those whom may no longer survive. The transition from traditional bank economics to information technology economics is both a key opportunity and at threat to traditional banking. Another key trend is the exponential growth of information available to customers to influence decision making. While information has become a commodity, insight remains invaluable.

7. What do you believe the future holds for financial technology?

The future is ours to create. Markets like Korea have already seen bank branch traffic reduce by 87%, presenting new challenges in reaching and selling to customers. While a new challenge for banking, there are many other industries whom have gone through similar transformations. One thing is certain, the future of financial technology is bright and growing brighter.

See Steve Monaghan, Chief Innovation Officer, DBS Bank (Singapore), at the Financial Tech Conference @ CeBIT Australia 2013 in Sydney on 28 – 30 May 2013.

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CeBIT – all the fun of the technology fair – AFR

Posted on April 24, 2013 by mel

When Jackie Taranto casts her eye across Darling Harbour Convention Centre’s halls for the CeBIT Australia trade fair, she could be excused for patting herself on the back.

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CeBIT 2013 looms as does end of era – istart.com.au

Posted on April 24, 2013 by mel

CeBIT – the largest enterprise focused technology event on Australia’s technology calendar – kicks off at the end of next month. More than 30,000 visitors are expected for the end of an era event.

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Interview with Tim Dillon, Director Asia, Current Analysis

Posted on April 23, 2013 by stefan

This week, one of the top speakers of CeBIT 2013 Enterprise Mobility conference, Tim Dillon was happy to share his thoughts on mobility in the business environment. He will present at the Enterprise Mobility @ CeBIT Conference 2013 on 30 May at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Tim Dillon, in this interview, focus on the Australian’s strengths in enterprise mobility and the main trends influencing this industry.

He is presenting on Mobile Enterprise Hype or Reality?.

1. Please briefly describe your role and responsibility at Current Analysis.

I’m a Director of the organisation working with IT&T clients to help address and understand issues around mobility in the business environment.

2. Why are you presenting at CeBIT Australia?

I was lucky enough to be asked! I’m presenting because I genuinely enjoy the opportunity to hear and discuss ideas and new thoughts around technology.

3. What do you think are the main issues that people are facing in enterprise mobility?

How to really ensure productivity and business value.

4. Can you describe a current project you’re working on and how the solution/product is helping business to adapt to the challenges of enterprise mobility?

As an analyst I don’t directly work on projects however I’m working with clients that are creating solutions in exciting areas around M2M, NFC, mobile platforms, analytics and future workspaces.

5. What do you see as the strengths for the Australian industry and how do these strengths compare globally?

Despite it occasionally feeling otherwise, we genuinely have a strong mobile network infrastructure that supports iniatives in mobile for business and consumer. We also have some incredibly skilled mobile applications and platform developers that are industry leading and world class.

6. What trends do you see as influencing enterprise mobility?

That’s a long list of trends – innovation and performance lifts in devices, device form factors that include tablets, smartphones, phablets, consumerisation of IT, greater expectations from companies that mobility can address their business needs, the rising tide of device security moving higher into basic MDM.

7. What do you believe the future holds for enterprise mobility?

I transition in the mindset away from ‘what device is it?’ to ‘which parts of my business operations can I mobilise and how?’

See Tim Dillon, Director AsiaC, Current Analysis, at the Enterprise Mobility Conference @ CeBIT Australia 2013 in Sydney on 28 – 30 May 2013.

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CeBIT – all the fun of the technology fair – AFR

Posted on April 23, 2013 by mel

When Jackie Taranto casts her eye across Darling Harbour Convention Centre’s halls for the CeBIT Australia trade fair, she could be excused for patting herself on the back.

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CeBIT 2013 looms as does end of era – istart.com.au

Posted on April 23, 2013 by mel

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Interview with Stephen Cryan, Former Executive Security Consultant, Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Posted on April 19, 2013 by stefan

Our daily life now depends on a safe and resilient cyberspace. Stephen Cryan, former Executive Security Consultant of the Commomwealth Bank of Australia share with us his thoughts on the future trends of cyber security and the challenges he faced working in the banking industry.
He will present at the Cyber Security @ CeBIT Conference 2013 on 28 May at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

He is presenting on Building and Security Buy-In for your Cyber Security Strategy.

1. Please briefly describe your role and responsibility at your organisation.

My role was to provide relationship management, security consulting and strategic advice/planning to defined business unit or units supported by CBA Enterprise Services by establishing and maintaining an effective relationship with the business unit CIOs and their leadership teams. One of the primary responsibilities as the aligned security executive is to ensure that there is easy and adequate engagement of the security organisation at appropriate points throughout both development and operational lifecycles.

2. What are you presenting at CeBIT Australia?

I will be presenting a brief look at how I have managed to successfully implement security controls and strategies with the support of the business units.

3. What do you think are the main issues that people are facing in cyber security?

There are many issues facing the modern cyber security professional and from experience the main challenge I have faced is ensuring the business and the security/risk professional are on the same page.

4. Can you describe a current project you’re working on and how the solution/product is helping business to adapt to the challenges of cyber security?

‘Kaching’ is the obvious example that leaps to mind from when I was working at CommBank. We very carefully considered the risks and controls between current banking process and the mobile banking processes with the end result we could re-use a significant number of the existing risk and security controls to ensure the solution was within the group’s risk appetite.

5. What do you see as the strengths for the Australian industry and how do these strengths compare globally?

I believe the strength of the Australian security industry compared to our global counterparts is the collaboration between security professionals. I was once told by a wise man that he doesn’t believe that security should be treated as intellectual property as damage to one bank will have a knock on effect to other.

6. What trends do you see as influencing cyber security?

The media is the greatest influencer of cyber security, an article in a major paper can have a majorly positive or negative effect on a security initiative.

7. What do you believe the future holds for cyber security?

My crystal ball tells me that we will still be outgunned and outnumber as defenders in the future and solutions like user aware firewalls will assist with containing breaches as well as enforcing chinese walls effectively. Obviously, the mobile area will be the new battlefield and I expect to see great controls in Google Play and the App Store to weed out malicious applications.

8. Anything else you would like to add.

I believe things will get worse before they get better but don’t despair, understand your business, support them and eventually something event will support your recommendations. Before which hill you decide to die on……

See Stephen Cryan, Former Executive Security Consultant, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, at the Cyber Security Conference @ CeBIT Australia 2013 in Sydney on 28 – 30 May 2013.

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Interview with Dr Steve Hodgkinson, Research Director IT APAC, Ovum

Posted on April 17, 2013 by stefan

This week, we had the chance to interview another top speaker: Dr Steve Hodgkinson, Research Director IT APAC from Ovum. He will present at the Cloud @ CeBIT Conference 2013 on 29 May at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

In this interview Dr Steve Hodgkinson share his thoughts on the main issues people are facing in Cloud and the strengths for the Australian industry.

He is presenting on The Organisational Impact of Cloud Services Adoption.

1. Please briefly describe your role and responsibility at Ovum.

I am the IT Research Director for Ovum in the Asia/Pacific region, responsible for the research and advisory services that Ovum delivers to its many subscribers in this region. I work with many CIOs and senior executives on ICT strategy, procurement and organisational strategy conundrums.

2. What are you presenting at CeBIT Australia?

I will be discussing the organisational impacts of cloud services adoption based on research and case studies of early adopters. The focus will be on providing insights into how cloud services actually feel in practice in terms of the benefit/risk tradeoffs and the effect on the role of the IT department.

3. What do you think are the main issues that people are facing in Cloud?

The first issue is that we need to stop referring to “cloud”! It sounds too fluffy and untrustworthy. The reality is that the market leading cloud services are trustworthy, robust and secure shared services. The main issues are all about understanding the new benefit/risk tradeoffs and how to fairly evaluate cloud services vs. alternative sourcing options such as in-house, shared services and outsourcing/managed services.

4. Can you describe a current project you’re working on and how the solution/product is helping business to adapt to the challenges of Cloud?

I believe that there is too much ‘hype and nonsense’ in this marketspace, so my main focus is firstly on providing thought leadership around how to understand the opportunities for cloud services to transform the way ICT capabilities are sourced and delivered, and secondly on documenting and sharing case studies and stories about the experiences of early adopters.

5. What do you see as the strengths for the Australian industry and how do these strengths compare globally?

Australia is a ‘trustworthy’ nation in terms of the quality and integrity of our legal, regulatory and technical environments, and we have a skilled ICT local ICT industry, so we are well placed to become an exporter of trusted cloud services to the world. To do this, however, we need to accelerate the speed with which we embrace both the consumption and production of cloud services so that we are learning as fast as possible how to safely consume and deliver cloud services to support mission critical business processes in both the private and public sectors.

6. What trends do you see as influencing your industry?

Rising competitive pressures to innovate combined with constraints on funding and access to people and skills means that all businesses are faced with rising imperatives to ‘do more with less’. This means that we have to continually re-evaluate the value added by our activities and focus our efforts on the activities that really count and that we can do well. Cloud services provide a way to tap into global economies of scale and iteratively evolving services to source relatively commodity-like ICT capabilities better, faster and at lower cost. We can then focus our effort on driving innovative business outcomes (looking up and out!) rather than on managing technology (looking down and in!).

7. What do you believe the future holds for Cloud?

I believe that it is inevitable that cloud services will become a significant element of the ICT sourcing mix for all organisations. The market leading cloud services are simply shared infrastructure and application services that actually work! Once this simple fact becomes more widely understood we will see rising adoption of a wide range of cloud services provided by robust and trusted ecosystems of local and global providers.

8. Anything else you would like to add.

I use the phrase “cloudy is as cloudy does” to summarise the key benefit of the cloud services model. For the first time in the history of the ICT industry it is possible to fully evaluate the functionality and performance of an ICT solution before making a purchase decision. Amazing! This is a stark contrast to the traditional “pay up front and hope that it works in the future” approach. Cloud services are distinguished by the fact that they already exist, at scale, and are engineered to support many different organisations efficiently and securely. They significantly reduce the implementation risk and long timeframes that too often plague ICT projects. This has intuitive appeal to business executives because they are interested in business outcomes, not technology headaches.

See Dr Steve Hodgkinson, Research Director IT APAC, Ovum, at the Cloud Conference @ CeBIT Australia 2013 in Sydney on 28 – 30 May 2013.

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Interview with Patrick Vialle, National Demand & Supply Planning Manager, Parmalat

Posted on April 10, 2013 by stefan

We are pleased to have our second interview with Patrick Vialle, National Demand & Supply Planning Manager from Parmalat, who will be presenting at the Supply Chain & Logistics @ CeBIT Conference 2013 on 28 May at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

In this interview Patrick Vialle highlights the challenges in Supply Chain & Logistics and shares his thoughts on how the CSIRO Mega Trends will influence this industry.

He is presenting on Parmalat’s Journey to Excellence in Demand Planning.

1. Please briefly describe your role and responsibility at Parmalat.

I’m the National Demand and Supply Planning Manager for Parmalat. As such, I lead a team of 16 people, dedicated to ensure supply of finished goods to our customers. Our activities cover Strategic Demand and Supply, tactical activities, project coordination. The team has the lead on the S&OP process for Parmalat.

2. What do you think are the main issues that people are facing in supply chain and logistics?

Demand volatility. In FMCG, people would also face retailer pressure at all level, to optimize costs without damaging the overall service levels.

3. Can you describe a current project you’re working on and how the solution/product is helping business to adapt to the challenges of supply chain and logistics?

We are currently undergoing series of adjustments on the demand planning process. We need to simplify the IT system in a more coherent manner. The result will bring more flexibility in facing the volatility of the demand for a faster response.

4. What do you see as the strengths for the Australian industry and how do these strengths compare globally?

In comparison to the Italian and French industries where I previously worked, one of the Australian industry’s strengths is definitely coming from the employees. The Australian employees have in general a better employee engagement, creativity and a positive attitude. They embrace changes as they know the industry needs modernity in terms of working techniques.

5. What trends do you see as influencing supply chain and logistics?

The CSIRO Mega Trends* will definitely influence supply chain and logistics. The “More for Less” highlights the earth’s limited supplies of natural water and food resources which is challenging us to find a more sustainable alternative.

“Silk Highway” brings attention to the change of the economic balance of the world with a shift from west to east and north to south. Delocalisation of companies in emerging countries is sometimes vital for the business.

The “Forever Young” simply shows that Australia has an ageing population. Therefore, we need to reflect on this demand with a supply of lightened products and more health orientated.

The “Virtually Here” trend underlines the importance of immersing ourselves into the virtual world to a much greater extent than before. We need to be more integrated with our suppliers, have the upstream and downstream more unified to optimise our communication. Social media such as Facebook and YouTube provides us details on our targeted consumers for better market research.

“Great Expectation” brings attention on the rising demand for experience over products therefore the products presentation and the company’s performance are important aspects to take into consideration.

The last trend that is not mentioned into the CSIRO Mega Trends is “Risk Management”. How can we anticipate the supply risks that we can potentially face? Finding the solution before the problem arises is essential in our industry.

6. What do you believe the future holds for supply chain and logistics?

A better optimisation of the supply chain for a better optimisation of the costs. Our industry’s future lies on more integration between the procurement and the supply chain.

See Patrick Vialle, National Demand & Supply Planning Manager, Parmalat, at the Supply Chain & Logistics Conference @ CeBIT Australia 2013 in Sydney on 28 – 30 May 2013.

*For more information on the CSIRO’s megatrends please Click Here

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CYBER CRIMINALS COULD BE SITTING AT A DESK NEAR YOU

Posted on April 8, 2013 by mel

Sydney, 03 April 2013 – Australian companies are being attacked:

The man sitting in his car in your car park could be a sophisticated cyber terrorist using his network to infiltrate your company.
The girl with her phone on the bar next to her could be about to inadvertently leak confidential company data
The guy showing off his new app to friends in the office kitchen could have unknowingly downloaded a malware embedded program onto his work device
The woman behind you in line at the grocery store could be part of a hacking syndicate that is accessing your money, customer information, emails and business data

Australian businesses of all sizes are increasingly being caught unawares by cyber crime activity, with many companies not confident that cyber security is sufficiently understood and appreciated by staff, management and Boards.

The most recent example of a sophisticated cyber attack had global ramifications, with hosting service, Cyberbunker, attacking spam filter service SpamHaus. The incident, sparked on March 18 when SpamHaus added Cyberbunker domains to its spam filter list, triggered a cyber war between the two companies which saw a syndicated attack on the internet by a host of hackers, resulting in slowed internet speeds around the world.

This global example emphasises that cyber security and cyber crime are the foremost challenges facing organisations of all sizes around Australia.

The cost of cyber crime globally escalated to $110 billion in 2012*, with a fifth of Australian organisations^ admitting they were targeted in a cyber attack last year. A cyber-security expert says this is just the tip of the iceberg and warns that businesses around Australia are at risk.

“If you haven’t got your act together in securing your company’s information, you’re a dinosaur and dinosaurs will die,” said Hank Opdam IT Security Manager for Echo Entertainment (The Star and Jupiters Casino).

Mr Opdam, keynote speaker at the CeBIT 2013 Cyber Security conference on 28 May 2013, is cautioning Australian companies to review their cyber security arrangements sooner rather than later.

“It’s quite simple that with change comes opportunity. However, this works on both sides of the fence – those trying to protect an organisation’s information and those trying to infiltrate. With cyber crime growing at such a rapid rate, it is important that while security comes at a cost, without adequate measures, a cyber incident could finish businesses completely,” he said.

“It is essential that IT managers around the country educate not only themselves, but also the company decision-makers to ensure full understanding of the risks and possibilities associated with cyber crime,” he added.

Jackie Taranto, Managing Director of CeBIT Australia, agreed it is vital to ensure that the people, processes and technology are in place to effectively secure business data and information.

“Businesses around Australia need to realise that the threat of cyber crime is already very real and active in our country. It really is a case of adapting and implementing security measures to guarantee that the business’ intellectual property is protected and secured,” said Ms Taranto.

From securing mobility and cloud to managing Big Data, the Cyber Security conference at CeBIT Australia, 2013 will host panel discussions on IT security and its place in an organisation and look at real examples of companies implementing extensive cyber security programs to protect their business and customer information.

One such example is Australia’s Information and Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence, NICTA, which develops technologies that generate economic, social and environmental benefits for Australia. The department has recently won a 4.5-year, US$18 million project with the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a new breed of software to protect critical systems in unmanned vehicles from cyber attack.

The conference will draw together leaders from all areas of business and government to identify cyber threat issues and their counter measures. With a host of leading keynote speakers, the conference will transcend through to the conference floor and allow businesses of any size to access information on how to properly secure and protect their business.

* 2012 Norton Cybercrime Report.

^ 2012 Cyber Crime and Security Survey Report (commissioned by CERT Australia and conducted by the University of Canberra)

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Interview with David Gee, Chief Information Officer, CUA

Posted on March 21, 2013 by mel

Over the next couple of weeks we will be releasing an interview with one of our top speakers from each conference to give you some insights into what you can expect from the three day CeBIT Australia 2013 Global Conferences program.

Our very first interview of the series is with David Gee, Chief Information Officer of Credit Union Australia (CUA) who will be presenting at Financial Tech @ CeBIT Australia 2013 on 29 May at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.
He is presenting on Reaping the Benefits of a Fundamental Infrastructure Overhaul.

1. Please briefly describe your role and responsibility at your organisation.

I am CIO at CUA and have been at the organisation for almost two years. One of the primary responsibilities of my role is to support the transformation of CUA into a genuine challenger to the major banks through upgrading our IT capabilities. Fundamental to this is ensuring we have the requisite agility, flexibility and scalability to achieve this.

2. What are you presenting at CeBIT Australia?

My presentation is a looking backwards at the last year and what worked well during the IT Transformation that we have successfully completed. In essence, while technology is what we are read in the headlines; this is all about ‘people’ and getting our teams to ‘lift’ and make change happen effectively.

3. What do you think are the main issues that people are facing in financial technology?

‘Change’ – this is occurring all around us and there are new players entering this market that provide both threats and opportunity. To embrace this change and understand how you will play, is the key issue that we all face in Financial Services right now.

4. Can you describe a current project you’re working on and how the solution / product is helping business to adapt to the challenges of financial technology?

We are making significant investment in our IT infrastructures, including the relocation of our data centre and the uplifting our data storage capabilities and systems to ensure their integrity and security into the future. These are all fundamentals that we expect to operate to support our members (customers). There has also been significant work on our Digital and Branch of the Future and in both of these cases it is all about making the Customer Experience as ‘simple’ and ‘rich’ in terms of functionality.

5. What do you see as the strengths for the Australian industry and how do you see these strengths compare globally?

The Australian financial services industry has shown great resilience over what has been a very challenging fiscal period and as a result our financial institutions are recognised as being among the most financially secure in the world. From an IT perspective, we have to remain vigilant and ensure that we match this financial security with cyber security. We expect more and more of our member (customers) to embrace digital channels and our goal is to ensure that we meet these needs.

6. What do you believe the future holds for financial services technology?

‘More change’; we are on the cusp of significant and accelerated change. A great example is the early work on real time payments that is going on in conjunction with the RBA. We are living in a ‘real time’ world and our systems will need to adapt to this reality.

See David Gee, Chief Information Officer, CUA, at the Financial Tech Conference @ CeBIT Australia 2013 in Sydney on 28 – 30 May 2013.

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Key developments in digital productivity

Posted on March 14, 2013 by mel

BuddeComm

With the roll out of the NBN now well and truly underway people are starting to look at what this new infrastructure means for them. This is helped by the experiences organisations have already had regarding the impact of the internet, plus the fact that the current financial and economic climate is forcing cost-cutting and improved productivity.

It is great to see that the debate has shifted to what is needed to transform society and the economy in order to obtain the benefits of digital productivity. The NBN is no longer the story. Instead it has created other, new stories in the many different components of our society and our economy.

With slow-growing and stagnating developed economies and increased competition from the highly productive developing economies there is no other way for the developed economies to maintain their current economic and social lifestyle but to become more productive; and there is no better way to do this than by utilising smart digital technologies.

Within that context perhaps the single most important element will be the smart use of big data. As BuddeComm has been saying for many years, this is also why we need the NBN – not to get faster access to the internet, but to build the right digital infrastructure – infrastructure that has the capacity, reliability, security, etc to allow the country to increase the amount of data needed to create digital productivity, to create a smart country – not just more data but also the capability to connect that data to achieve smart outcomes. The growth in M2M will be phenomenal.

Organisations are starting to understand this, and this is certainly stimulating the shift in the debate. It reflects the increased understanding of people in general regarding the benefits of the digital economy. We therefore applaud the initiative of Australia’s national R&D organisation, CSIRO, in investing $40 million annually into a Digital Productivity and Services National Research Flagship, which is aimed at adding $4 billion per annum to the national economy by 2025.

While that is an impressive amount BuddeComm believes that the real benefits are more far-reaching as the initiative will play a key role in the overall transformation of the economy, a transformation that is desperately needed to maintain the lifestyle we have created for ourselves since WWII. Most people have shifted their personal views of their own future – from earning more money to securing their current lifestyle. Unfortunately most economists base progress on productivity gains, not on lifestyle issues.

One example alone should make everybody sit up and listen. Currently 20% of the national budget (all levels of government combined) is spent on healthcare, and this is set to double over the next 40 years. This, of course, will not happen, as it is totally unsustainable – it would, for example, mean that the total State budgets would have to be spent on healthcare alone.

While it will not happen the alternative, in a linear scenario, will have to be a very dramatic decrease in the level of services and the affordability of medical services. For many years BuddeComm has earmarked healthcare as the key sector that will profit from the gains we can make in digital productivity. The financial gains in healthcare alone could, over a period of 10 years, pay for the total cost of the NBN.

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Media Release – 2013 MYOB Business Monitor

Posted on March 7, 2013 by mel

2013 MYOB Business Monitor: SME revenues & economic sentiment improve

Top priorities; interest rates & cash flow less concerning; manufacturing feels currency squeeze

New research by Australia’s largest accounting software provider, MYOB, reveals the economic confidence and overall business outlook of small to medium business operators (SMEs) is finally on the rise. Read more…

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CeBIT Hannover 2013 – Opening Ceremony – Video

Posted on March 6, 2013 by mel

CeBIT 2013 was officially opened on 4 March by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Watch the full video.

CeBIT Hannover 2013 Opened by Chancellor Merkel – Media Release

Posted on March 6, 2013 by mel

Hannover, Germany, 05 March, 2013 – The world’s largest information technology and business trade fair, CeBIT 2013, was opened yesterday in Germany at an official ceremony by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. As the leading global showcase for the digital industry, the CeBIT event runs for five days from 05-09 March, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors from more than 110 countries.

The CeBIT event remains the single largest and most important business technology event in the world, according to Hannover Fairs Australia Managing Director Jackie Taranto. Hannover Fairs Australia is the organiser of the CeBIT Australia business technology showcase held each May at Darling Harbour in Sydney.

“CeBIT is the one place where the world’s leaders, major technology companies and the foremost ICT experts are gathered in one place, sharing knowledge and experience to increase growth and development in the ICT industry, encompassing the CeBIT global theme of the ‘shareconomy’,” Ms Taranto said.

‘Shareconomy’ is the concept behind shared use of data, knowledge, resources and infrastructure. Services and intangible products are now increasingly being shared by means of state-of-the-art technologies. This trend is being driven by the many and varied solutions emerging from the ICT industry.

Delivering a keynote address at the CeBIT opening, the Chief Executive of aerospace giant EADS (the Group – comprising Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter) Dr Thomas Enders said the tools of this ‘shareconomy’ presented opportunities for all industry sectors and called for cross-industry collaboration to close the innovation gap.

“We need to increase the speed of innovation, without compromising on safety. The motto of CeBIT 2013 is ‘shareconomy’, which is something we can bring to life by sitting round a table and working together to close the gap,” said Dr Enders.

CeBIT 2013 features exhibitors lending fresh momentum to the Shareconomy trend with exciting services and applications that are provided via innovative cloud, social business and collaboration platforms. Exhibitors include the world’s leading technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, IBM, SAP, Salesforce and Samsung among many other.

In her opening speech, Chancellor Merkel echoed Dr Enders concerns and placed a heavy emphasis on tech start-ups, stating that to create growth the industry needs to have an answer as to where the growth is going to come from.

“We have to ensure that we develop a start-up culture. The IT industry is without doubt one of the possibilities and one of my dreams … is to create the same founding conditions for all small IT companies everywhere in Europe,” Chancellor Merkel said.

With more start-up’s in Australia than ever before, the CeBIT Australia event will also include an emphasis on this space in 2013, while continuing to provide a platform for Australian business communities to embrace and understand the fast-changing world of digital technology from around the world.

Ms Taranto said CeBIT Australia 2013 will provide industry as whole, from SME to enterprise, regardless of audience or market, a holistic and in-depth understanding of emerging trends and technology developments allowing the progression and enhancement of business models.

CeBIT Australia will arrive from 28-30 May, 2013 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour.

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Adapt or Die – CeBIT Australia 2013 will Inspire, Educate and Excite – Media Release

Posted on March 6, 2013 by mel

Sydney, February 21, 2013 – The largest business technology event in the Asia Pacific, CeBIT Australia, is gearing up for its biggest year yet as it celebrates twelve years in Sydney from 28^th – 30^th May 2013.

The Australian arm of the world’s largest trade fair, CeBIT Australia 2013 will focus on helping the Australian business community embrace and understand the fast-changing world of digital technology from around the world.

The organiser of CeBIT Australia, Hannover Fairs Australia Managing Director Jackie Taranto, said the line-up of conferences and show floor themes had been carefully defined through active engagement with industry and government. They aim to deliver insights into new business technology and innovations essential for organisations to remain competitive in a challenging economic environment and fast-changing business landscape.

“More than ever, businesses are recognising the importance of incorporating new technologies into their business and CeBIT Australia uniquely gathers solution providers under one roof to provide knowledge transfer and the answers businesses need to stay ahead,” Ms Taranto said.

“With technology advancing and changing at such a rapid pace, it really is a case of adapt or die, now or never. Businesses need to be agile and constantly addressing the needs of their customers. CeBIT Australia 2013 will help them stay competitive.”

An entirely business-focused event, CeBIT Australia 2013 will provide industry as whole, from SME to enterprise, regardless of audience or market, a holistic and in-depth understanding of emerging trends and technology developments allowing the progression and enhancement of business models.

Throughout the three-day event, seven overarching business trends will be highlighted in the show’s themes. Shaping not only the conference program, but also on the exhibition show floor and theatres, experts will be on-hand to offer businesses deep knowledge and expertise.

The industry-driven themes addressed at CeBIT Australia 2013 aim to help businesses understand how to better manage, integrate and benefit from the huge amounts of information being created by business. They include Business Intelligence (BI) and Big Data, Cloud, Financial Technology, Enterprise Mobility, Cyber Security and Supply Chain and Logistics all contribute to the management of this data.

“We want to help educate every business and help them up-skill their knowledge so they understand the process of securing this plethora of data, analysing it and then utilising it in the most effective way,” Ms Taranto said.

On target to host 500-plus exhibitors and more than 30,000 visitors, CeBIT Australia will offer attendees the chance to explore current technology solutions and integrate industry knowledge into their business models. By providing the best possible strategic support to attendees, CeBIT Australia 2013 will help both developers and suppliers of digital solutions, as well as users.

CeBIT Australia 2012 was a record year for Hannover Fairs Australia, welcoming 32,573 visitors and 519 exhibitors, with a foreign delegation of more than 70 companies from partner country India. The 2013 partner country will be confirmed in the coming months.

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CeBIT Hannover 2013 – An Overview – Media Release

Posted on March 6, 2013 by mel

CeBIT is the world’s leading high-tech fair and an important ideas incubator and catalyst for change for the digital industries, public authorities and ICT professionals. It traverses all the latest trends and market developments, new products and solutions. This year, more than 4,000 companies from 70 nations will come to Hannover to showcase their latest innovations. Following is an overview of the key themes, events and display areas in 2013:

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