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Articles by Byron Connolly
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Researchers gain electrical control of quantum bits
Researchers at the University of New South Wales are touting another breakthrough in quantum computing. They have encoded quantum information in silicon using simple electrical impulses.rn
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Government to replace old Centrelink welfare system
The Federal Government is taking action to replace a 30-year-old welfare payment system that delivers around $100 billion in payments to 7.3 million people each year.rn
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Overcoming the cloud integration challenge
Why successfully integrating SaaS apps and data with your existing on-premise software and systems is crucial to cloud maturity.
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CommBank app will soon be available on smartwatches
The CommBank app will soon be available on smart watches, with an Android version currently in pilot and an Apple Watch version on the way, the bank said on Thursday.rn
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Malware crooks using dated techniques to attack networks
Malware authors are using dated measures that are still good enough to penetrate enterprise networks. In fact, 99.3 per cent of malware in 2014 took advantage of ‘command and control’ infrastructure used by at least one other malware author.rn
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Companies still struggling to meet tech job demand
Australian companies are still having trouble meeting demand for technology skills, which has resulted in a significant uplift in the need to source talent from overseas, according to a new report.rn
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Edith Cowan University to move entire data centre to cloud
Perth’s Edith Cowan University (ECU) will become the first university in Australia to move all of its data centre infrastructure to the cloud following a new agreement with Atos.
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Department of Health awards $242M contract to Datacom
The Federal Department of Health has awarded a $242 million contract for the supply of ICT infrastructure and support services to Datacom. IBM had held this contract for the past 16 years.rn
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NBN Co to expand rollout by 550,000
NBN Co will begin rolling out the National Broadband Network to an additional 550,000 homes and businesses from September 2016, the company said in its latest quarterly update.rn
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IT chiefs now firmly entrenched in senior management
Successful CIOs are no longer senior executives who have spent their career in IT and technology chiefs are now firmly entrenched in senior management ranks.rn
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CBA to shake up payments with ‘Albert’ launch
Commonwealth Bank has launched its wireless Android-powered ‘Albert’ console onto the Australian market, and expects to ship ‘tens of thousands’ of units to merchants across the country.rn
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Beyond Bank dumps Lotus Notes in cloud move
Customer-owned financial institution, Beyond Bank, is dumping Lotus Notes and an ageing, legacy CRM app as its moves to the cloud.
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Second CBA IT exec charged in corruption scandal
A second IT executive, a former employee of the Commonwealth Bank, has been charged by NSW Police for allegedly receiving corrupt payments.rn
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Greens condemn passing of data retention law
The Australian Greens have condemned the passing of data retention laws through federal parliament on Thursday afternoon.rn
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NSW government vows to invest $300M in e-health
The Baird government has vowed to pump $300 million over the next four years into e-health projects if it is re-elected on Saturday.rn
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Digital economy now worth 5.1% of GDP
Australia’s digital economy is now worth $79 billion or 5.1 per cent of GDP, making it larger than traditional industry sectors such as agriculture, retail and transport, according to a new Deloitte report.
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BWS to target its customers’ musical tastes with Pandora in-store streaming
Liquor retailer, BWS, is rolling out Internet radio services across its Australian stores, which play songs based on the musical tastes of customers living in particular postcodes.
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Greens seek amendments to data retention bill
The Australian Greens on Tuesday announced proposed amendments to the data retention regime to address major privacy and security protections that it claims are being stripped away by the Abbott/Shorten surveillance unity ticket.rn
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50% of companies to invest in DevOps
More than half of Australian enterprises are expected to make multiple investments over the next year to implement a DevOps strategy, according to new research.rn
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WA to appoint its first CIO
Western Australia is set to appoint its first government CIO as part of a $25 million reform program to cut costs and deliver better services to the community.rn
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NSW Parliament’s tech chief shares details of $14M in IT projects
The Parliament of NSW is establishing its core SharePoint services in the cloud and will digitise the state’s oldest records in two of several IT projects worth almost $14 million.
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Telco chiefs want clarity on data retention costs
Chief executives of major telecommunications companies in Australia have called on the federal government to provide some clarity around the financial contribution it will make towards implementing the data retention regime.rn
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An extreme CTO
Ash Crick has many strings to his bow. He’s been an IBM consultant, video producer, professional skydiver, and musician. These days, he’s the chief technology officer (CTO) at Malaysia’s iflix.
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NSW, QLD suburbs in trial to speed up NBN rollout
Four suburbs across Queensland and NSW have been chosen to take part in a trial designed to speed up the rollout of the NBN. The suburbs are Emu Plains in NSW; and Redcliffe, Slacks Creek, and Merrimac in QLD.rn
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Vodafone boosts 4G capability
Vodafone has completed the deployment of 850MHz to 1800MHz carrier aggregation across its 4G metropolitan network, which the telco said will provide faster and more reliable mobile data services to customers.rn
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IBM opens new Sydney cloud
IBM has opened a new SoftLayer cloud centre in Sydney, as part of a $1.2 billion investment to build 15 new data centres around the world. This follows the launch of a similar centre in Melbourne in August last year.rn
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Australia could become Asian cyber security base, says CBA’s security chief
Australia could become a beachhead of cyber security capabilities into Asia due to our stable ICT and economic environment and comparatively high level of trust compared to our neighbours in the region.rn
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Obsolete, unreliable IT stressing out workers
Unreliable or obsolete technology is one of the biggest workplace stressors for Australians, according to new research.rn
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Government tenders for maintenance of remote satellite Wi-Fi phones
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has tendered for a supplier to maintain and monitor 301 Wi-Fi telephones and 245 community payphones that deliver services to indigenous people in 300 remote communities across Australia.
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Intergenerational Report fails to address digital skills
The Federal government’s Intergenerational Report failed to address the critical issue of digital skills, which are now the foundation for a successful economy, the Australian Computer Society (ACS) said on Friday.rn
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Myer IT chief Richard Umbers promoted to CEO
Myer’s chief information and supply chain officer, Richard Umbers, has been promoted to CEO and managing director, following Bernie Brookes' retirement, the retail group announced on Monday.rn
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Gosford City Council abandons dark fibre plans
Gosford City Council has abandoned plans to provide high speed broadband services – using a dark fibre network strung along electrical power poles – to businesses and individuals across the city.rn
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Box Hill Hospital completes core IT rollout
Box Hill Hospital has completed its core ICT infrastructure rollout, where it is improving interaction between clinicians and their patients at Eastern Health’s newly redeveloped facility.rn
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Business IoT connections expected to hit 5.4 billion by 2020
There will be 5.4 billion Internet of Things (IoT) connections across businesses worldwide by 2020, up from 1.2 billion today, new research claims.rn
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Overworked IT pros have no time for a social life
Senior IT workers are neglecting to make plans to secure their financial future and maintain healthy social lives, according to a new research paper.rn
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Top CIO priorities for 2015
We are almost two months into 2015 and CIOs are well into their initiatives for this year after their summer breaks. We speak to three IT leaders to find out what their key objectives and initiatives are for 2015.rn
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Parking gets smarter in Freemantle
The City of Freemantle has deployed smartphone technology that will prevent motorists from overpaying for parking at almost 5,000 bays across the city’s CDB.rn
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New Zealand health boards to move to IBM cloud
Up to 20 district health boards across New Zealand will roll out cloud infrastructure, which is expected to slash IT infrastructure costs across the group by $23.9 million over the next 10 years.rn
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One-fifth of organisations store more than 1 petabyte of data
Data growth across Australian businesses is showing no signs of slowing with almost one-fifth of organisations responding to a survey indicating they are managing more than 1 petabyte of information.rn
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Australian Federal Police and CommBank ink Internet safety agreement
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Commonwealth Bank volunteers nationwide are stepping up the fight against online bullying and child exploitation by educating parents, teachers and community members about cyber safety for kids.rn
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How hospitals are using big data analytics to research paediatric cancer
Researchers in the United States are turning to big data analytics to gain a much better understanding of paediatric brain cancer and other diseases with a similar genetic process.rn
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Erez Yarkoni new Telstra CIO
Telstra has appointed Erez Yarkoni as its new CIO. The telco’s former executive director of cloud replaces Patrick Eltridge quit his post last October after four years with the company.rn
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Westpac’s tech chief Dave Curran now reporting to CEO
Westpac Group’s CIO, Dave Curran, is now reporting to CEO, Brian Hartzer, under a reshuffle of executive reporting lines announced on Monday.rn
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CIO head-to-head: Data governance versus ownership
We ask three CIOs to share their views on whether IT remains the natural owner of data, or if the lines of responsibility are blurring in their companies.
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BI power shifting from IT to the business
Traditional business intelligence and analytic models are being disturbed as the balance of power shifts from IT to the business, according to Gartner.rnrn
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Being a CIO focused on customer experience
While many CIOs are grappling with the need to move beyond IT operations and contribute more to improving customer service, it’s a concept that VMware’s global CIO, Tony Scott, understands very well.rn
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Improved market confidence, large projects to drive IT job growth
Returning market confidence and large digital and security projects are expected to drive IT hiring this year, according to recruitment firm Robert Walters.
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NSW govt commences talks with Infosys, Unisys for shared services
The NSW government has established a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Infosys and Unisys to progress detailed discussions for both companies to provide shared ICT services to agencies.rn
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