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This discussion paper outlines the tangible economic, environmental and social benefits associated with the provision of high capacity broadband infrastructure. It also provides the context in which the current debate about network speeds has developed. Whilst it is recognized that there are certain contentious difficulties associated with the arrival of this new infrastructure it was a conscious decision by the author to allow others to elaborate upon this aspect of the debate. The word imperative implies a sense of urgency. It is the author's view that the magnitude of the challenge in 2009 to recover from the current global economic meltdown and to create a carbon neutral future clearly establishes that sense of urgency.

For the purposes of this paper, high capacity broadband is defined as the level of communications capacity to a single dwelling or commercial unit that is capable of delivering contemporary entertainment and communications services to the occupants. In the near future this will mean several IPTV channels and multiple simultaneous high definition video phone calls. For technology that will arrive in the next few years 50 -100 Mbps will constitute high capacity broadband. Serious bandwidth in telecommunications has only been a matter of real and growing significance for the last ten years.

Technological breakthroughs in recent decades have changed fundamentally the scope and nature of services provided by telecommunications carriers. In the late 1990's normal household access speeds to the Internet in Australia were in the range of 128-256 Kbps. By 2007 the majority of Australian's were enjoying connection speeds above 1.5 Mbps. Globally, many communities are already enjoying connections speeds of 20-30 Mbps and developing infrastructure for speeds of up to 100Mbps. Connection speeds seem to be doubling every 15-18 months.

Designing and building the 'hard' telecommunications infrastructure is the foundation upon which a contemporary connected community can be established. Providing 'soft' infrastructure is however the most important step in delivering a resilient future, global competitiveness, sustainability, strong community capacity and a real return on investment in telecommunications hardware. Global and local competitiveness will ultimately depend upon the genius and creativity applied to harnessing the power of high capacity broadband.

About the Author

Hon Dr Mal Bryce is an Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at Curtin University of Technology in Perth Western Australia. He is a former Deputy Premier of WA, Australia's first Minister for Technology, former member of the Prime Ministers Science and Engineering Council, former Chairman of the WA ICT Industry Development Forum, former Chairman of TIAC and former Chair and board member of six Science based companies. He was the architect of Australia's first Online Community in Ipswich in Queensland (1993-94). He is also currently the Chair of iVEC in Western Australia.

In President Barack Obama's inauguration speech, there is a call for action, for people who are risk-takers and doers to push forward and work to improve the world and the current economic situation.  Obama understands the value of science, technology and ICT - the Internet and Web 2.0 tools were key in his election campaign.  

In the announcement of his presidential campaign he said:

"Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America."

[Presidential Announcement Speech in Springfield, IL 02/10/07]

There is no doubt that ICT is required for innovation, and can be an equaliser for access to education, health and legal services, and to government.  For Western Australia there is no risk in investing in the ICT industry - but there is danger in missing opportunities that can come from a strong, valued and supported ICT industry. We can improve education, we can provide better information and services to regional Western Australia, we can fuel innovation across all industries in WA, and we can provide interesting, challenging jobs to inspire coming generations.

The Inquiry into the Western Australian Government's role in developing and promoting the local ICT industry included 34 recommendations from a non-partisan committee, clearly stating what is required to move the industry, and our State, forward. As we wait for action on the Inquiry recommendations, perhaps a look at Obama's policies and statements will help to give confidence that the panel got it right and that it is time to move forward.

Valerie Maxville

From the Obama inauguration speech:

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom."

"For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Inauguration/story?id=6689022&page=1

The key points of Obama's comprehensive technology and innovation plan are to:

• Ensure the full and free exchange of information among Americans through an open Internet and diverse media outlets.
• Create a transparent and connected democracy.
• Encourage the deployment of a modern communications infrastructure.
• Employ technology and innovation to solve our nation's most pressing problems, including reducing the costs of health care, encouraging the development of new clean energy sources, and improving public safety.
• Improve Americas competitiveness.

The complete election policy is available at http://www.barackobama.com/issues/technology/ .

For more on the WA Inquiry, read the related blog at : WA Election - Issues for the ICT Industry

How many people read the fine print before they enter a competition? Many competitions have a clause similar to:

"Each entrant agrees that the Promoter may use the entry and any personal details provided to the Promoter for any promotional, marketing and publicity purposes of the Promoter in any media without notice and without any fee paid to the entrant."

"... the entrant agrees that the Promoters are reserving the right to sell, distribute, rent, licence, disclose or reveal, share or pass the information onto any third parties."

"... you consent for an indefinite period of time for the Promoter to contact you by telephone ..."

That is, you have given your full name, address, phone number and email contact, and in some cases your date of birth, to a promoter who can do anything they want with it. For websites we put up a privacy policy to ensure that visitors know what we will do with their information. In a world where identity theft is common and many people are struggling to maintain privacy, these competitions may just be adding you to a mailing list... or it could be something more sinister.

Is the low chance of winning an iPod Touch or family holiday in Fiji worth the risk of handing over your personal details? Or is it too late to maintain privacy and should we all not care? Should entry be restricted to adults to protect children? Are you getting telemarketing calls because someone in your household entered a competition?

We are working to protect the privacy of people visiting websites, but the same issues exist offline. It's an education issue, but perhaps there also need to be restrictions on who can enter the competitions and what can be done with their personal details.

Valerie Maxville

SPIRIT is an integrated Information, Communication and Technology (ICT procurement and governance framework that enables Western Australian government agencies to purchase ICT services from a market of pre-qualified suppliers. See the SPIRIT website

The framework is an open tendering process consisting of 2 stages.

1) Suppliers seek qualification for one or more services.

2) Supplier details are then made available on the SPIRIT Marketplace so government buyers can initiate future contact.

The SPIRIT Framework is under review and the Department of Treasury and Finance has requested input from the ICT industry as below. You can respond by email to Geoff Harben of the AIIA, or add your comments in the ICTWA Forum.

Dear Industry Colleague,

Please see attached PowerPoint Presentation which outline DTF's recommendations for the replacement of SPIRIT.

DTF has asked AIIA to collate industry comment and provide it to them by 21st November.

It is very important for the local ICT industry that we provide Government with informed opinions when asked. If we don't they will simply stop asking, so your comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Please send your comments by the 14th November to: geoff.harben(NOSPAM)au.ey.com

All responses to DTF will be anonymous.

Regards
Geoff Harben
AIIA WA State Branch
Government Policy and Relations Committee

In May 2008 the WA Mission to Israel took representatives from business, research and government to one of the most innovative countries in the world. The Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) organised a whirlwind of varied and informative meetings, providing a snapshot of where Israel excels and clues as to why it excels.

A clear factor in the innovative success of Israel is the government's support for industry. Not only do they understand that any investment in industry is returned four-fold, they also see their place as supporting risk-taking ventures. In the grant schemes that are available, funds are only paid back when the project generates a profit. Failures are accepted as part of the learning process. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to keep trying, to keep innovating.

We visited a number of universities, each with very strong commercialization branches. In each case, it was clear that the researchers were respected for their ability to solve problems, but were not expected to find their own way through the bureaucratic minefield of patents, IP and startups. While the university still supported publication and pure research, the Technology Transfer Organizations (TTO) were available to researchers when needed. By having clear processes, fair and transparent division of IP and royalties, and a team to take over the commercialization of potential products; it is possible for the researchers to take on advisory roles and continue to be creative in their area of expertise. At the Weizmann Institute, the symbol for their TTO is the Tree of Basic Science. The TTO patiently waits for the tree to bear the fruit of research; then they take it to market. This useful analogy shows how commercialization needs to be ready to catch the fruit, but not damage the tree in the process.

In many cases, we were told the geo-political environment of Israel is a driver of the innovation they exhibit. Clearly we cannot move Western Australia, nor do we want to emulate their political environment. What we can do is work with government to improve support to industry for the benefit of the whole community. We can look at collaborative projects and exchange of researchers to capitalize on the synergies in our areas of research. We also need to build the foundation of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs who can create new and interesting industries in WA.

Another common comment was the place of military service in the innovative culture of Israel. Perhaps because lives depend on continual technological improvement. Through many meetings and discussions, however, I began to see that a more subtle result of military service were the extensive social networks it generated. Everyone we met seemed to know someone from our previous meetings, or suggested someone else we could talk to. We often talk about how small WA is, perhaps as a negative observation. I think we need to look at this "smallness" as a positive. We already have strong informal networks in WA - we need to utilize them for collaboration, share them to intensify the links and see how they can be used to the benefit of the industry and the community.

ICTICC is grateful for the support of the AICC and the Department of Industry and Resources for us to represent the WA ICT industry on the WA Mission to Israel.

For information on future Missions to Israel, see the AICC website.

Valerie Maxville

Simpson views ICT as a potential shining light in the WA economy - worthy of a Minister for ICT, which the Liberal Party would appoint to give true focus to the ICT for government, industry, education and community in Western Australia (applause from audience). Currently there are numerous departments and Ministers with authority over aspects of ICT in Western Australia.

Buswell presented on the state of the economy in Western Australia - a boom unlike anything since the gold rush in the 1890's. Although there is a boom/bust cycle - he considers this to a shift in activity which will not "bust", but needs to be managed to spread the wealth and broaden our economy.

Key factors in managing the economy were listed: resources, population growth, globalisation, food and energy. Considering these, Buswell put forward the four pillars for Western Australia going forward:

• Maximise food production - utilising technology and GM
• Energy - development and optimisation
• Sustainable cities in the North-West
• Innovation and human capital - downstream processing in a broad sense

He indicated that we needed to work on our infinite resources, not just those that draw-down on reserves. We can leverage off the resources industry to build our other industries and capabilities.

Focussing on human capital, Buswell highlighted four areas:

• Housing affordability - "Karratha is symptomatic of everything that's wrong in WA"
• Supporting our educational institutions - setting up WA as the international choice for education
• Creating a business-friendly environment - tax, legislation, industry development, support for technology and innovation. Learning from Queensland and Israel about what impact government can have.
• Importance of Human Capital to innovation and the economy - Changing our paradigm

Statewide Broadband Network and the NBN - previous lack of progress was blamed on the Federal Government - but eight months of wall to wall Labour has not made progress. We can do the Alberta-SuperNet in Western Australia.

Support for local companies - programs will be in place to keep companies in WA and to make it a competitive destination. This will include changes to taxes, charges and regulatory framework. To have a body for investment into companies as is seen in Israel. Industry experts - not politicians - making the decisions.

Office of Shared Services (OSS) - A full review of the OSS would be held (applause from audience) - Buswell said he had been following the OSS and considered it an utter disaster.

Reflection: We need an ICT policy in Western Australia. The Senate Inquiry was a step in the right direction and had the support of the local ICT Industry. The Department of Industry and Resources prepared the ICT Industry Initiatives 2008-2011 document to implement the Recommendations of the Inquiry Report. Not one item in the document was given funding by the Government. Without a strong ICT Industry, the WA economy with be hobbled - it is time for the WA Government to enable the enabler.

Valerie Maxville
Chair, ICTICC

The WA ICT industry is key to efficiency and innovation in all other industries in Western Australia. It is also the greatest equaliser for access to information and government services for those in regional areas of Western Australia.

As the election draws near, we look to the political parties to put forward their strategies and policies on how they plan to build this crucial industry. A starting point would be the recommendations of the Inquiry into the Western Australian Government's role in developing and promoting the local ICT industry. We also need our government to demand Western Australia is well serviced in the development of the national broadband infrastructure.

From the Inquiry:

There may be new issues in addition to those raised in the Inquiry. Please comment on areas of priority you see as important to the future of Western Australia.

Valerie Maxville

Chair, ICTICC

Mal Bryce *

Thinking beyond the boom, there is a much underestimated and poorly understood economic imperative for Western Australia's future. This is the need for serious high speed Internet networks which can only be delivered by Fibre Optic Technology to the home and all business premises. Current connection speeds being offered to households, businesses and government agencies in Australia are tantamount to Fraudband. On telecommunication systems that were designed for voice traffic: i.e. the telephone, copper cables and ADSL technology have and still do govern to a large extent what can be done on the Internet and how long it will take.

Everyone who played a pioneering role in the development of the Internet Industry in Australia 15 years ago realised that bandwidth would be the ultimate limiting reality. Shrewd heads in many parts of the world woke up to this reality and decided to act. While Australia has spent a decade arguing about who should own our national carrier, many of our trading partners and international competitors have implemented plans for serious broadband. In our immediate region, countries such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea have stolen a significant march on us. A contract decision is imminent in Singapore to basically hard wire the island which will deliver a minimum of 100Mbps (megabits per second) to every home.

Western Australia needs a similarly farsighted commitment to build Fibre to the Home and the workplace (FTTH). This contrasts with fibre to the node (FTTN), which has dominated debate in Australia. FTTN relies on wireless transmission to cover the last mile between the fibre network and individual homes and businesses, hence the limit of 24-30 Mbps. A national program for FTTH is probably four times the cost of FTTN in terms of capital dollars but would supply unlimited speeds.

Having attended the Intelligent Community Summit in New York in May, I believe it is vital that Australians realise how sadly our communities are slipping behind in international terms in respect of our access to high speed networks. Rupert Murdoch has described this situation as a 'national disgrace' and James Packer suggested it was simply embarrassing.

We need contemporary public policies at the national, state and municipal level if we are to allow all Western Australians to share in today's telecommunications revolution and for our state to fully utilise the power of one of the key economic engines of the twenty first century. Long term sustainable economic growth, quality jobs, superior health and education services, the viability of regional, rural and remote communities and our basic international competitiveness depend upon dramatic improvements in speed, quality and the build-out of true high speed Internet networks.

This is not simply the responsibility of the Federal Government.

Worldwide, numerous cities and hundreds of communities are being hard wired, as a result of initiatives involving a combination of national governments, provincial and state governments, municipalities and telecommunication companies. There is a race on and neither Perth nor the state of Western Australia is in the starter's hands. Fibre Optic Technology to the home will fundamentally change our economy and is the infrastructure that can deliver us an exciting and creative future beyond rocks and real estate.

A great deal of research has been done and reports are numerous which demonstrate the transforming impact of seriously high speed bandwidth on eCommerce, eResearch, eGovernment, eLearning, Tele-health and Tele-medicine and Telecommuting. eResearch is now only just emerging at our main universities and the CSIRO.
Such vast amounts of data need to be processed (e.g. for nanotechnology and bioinformatics) and transported that gigabits of bandwidth are a starting point.

With Telehealth and telemedicine, bandwidth hungry applications involving high quality moving images simply don't happen without serious bandwidth. The top end of eCommerce involving large amounts of complex data and high quality moving images also must have serious bandwidth. Worldwide interest is now focussing on the nexus between next generation bandwidth and sustainable business activity, especially carbon emissions management.

The Rudd Government's current National Broadband Network program for fibre to the node guaranteeing speeds of 24 Mbps is but a down payment on our future.

As long ago as 2003 the eminent Professor Reed Hundt (former chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission) defined a seriously hard wired community as one which provided speeds of 10-100Megabits at home, 1-10 Gigabits at work and wireless all around. According to ABS data for the December quarter 2007 there were 7.1million connections to the Internet in Australia; including households, businesses and government agencies. Of those, 2 million were still using dial up access and a further 1.6 million have access at speeds of up to 0.5Mbps. Slightly more than a million have access at speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps. One million have access at speeds up to 8Mbps and 1.3 million only, enjoy speeds in excess of 8Mbps. Entering the Gigabit age can only be achieved via ubiquitous fibre optic coverage.

Based on submissions to the federal government's Broadband Advisory Group inquiry in 2005, the estimated cost of hard wiring 97 per cent of all Australian homes was $21-$25 billion. That is an investment of approximately $1000 per person in Australia. Because of our unique geography, the figure for Western Australia could be in the vicinity of $3-$3.5 billion. Estimates such as this require careful investigation and justification. It is important to appreciate that such a program could take anywhere from 5 to 7 years to complete. No single agency of government or telecommunications carrier could be expected to fund such an initiative.

For the timid and faint-hearted among us, it is important to point out that the roll-out of very high speed telecommunications physical infrastructure is only the first half of the long term challenge facing us. The critical bit to follow is the content development, skills development and training programs that are essential to enable Western Australians to harness the power of this technology. This aspect of the challenge is all too often disregarded as soft infrastructure of secondary importance.

Hon Dr Mal Bryce is a Senior Fellow of the Australian Centre for Innovation (University of Sydney) and Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at Curtin University

July 27th 2008

The Deputy Vice Chancellor said it was humbling to introduce the Cisco Networking Academy for the Vision Impaired (CAVI) project at a recent breakfast at Curtin University. In a partnership between Curtin University, the Association for the Blind and Cisco Systems, CAVI is a world-first academy for visually impaired students to undertake Cisco CNAP courses. The project has been driven by Iain Murray, from Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Dr Helen Armstrong, from the School of Information Systems, who have really shown Curtin’s innovative approach to research that impacts on the world.

Dr Margaret Crowley, CEO for the Association for the Blind of WA, had this to say: “With this partnership we aim to enhance the employment opportunities for people who are blind or vision impaired through leading industry training and information technology skills.

“As Western Australia prospers and unemployment reaches record lows, people who are blind or vision impaired, of working age, still experience 68% unemployment.

“Through projects such as the Cisco Networking Academy, within the Association’s Industry Skills Centre, we look forward to redressing the high rate of unemployment and underemployment experienced by people who are blind or vision impaired.”

In a time where the ICT industry needs skilled workers, we need to remember the enabling capacity of technology at an individual level. By providing accessible and flexible workplaces we can tap into people’s abilities to create new and challenging opportunities.

More information:

In a move designed to catch the interest of high school students, the School of Information Systems at Curtin Business School is inviting Year 12 students to experience university study and give themselves a head start towards a degree.

In 2008 the School of Infromation Systems will offer 30 high school students the chance to come to the campus three hours a week to take Business Information Systems 100. This first year core unit will run for 12 weeks and includes project work based on a field trip to Bunnings’ State Distribution Centre. Other field trips will include a visit to the state hub for advanced computing, iVEC. On completion of the unit, students will have made progress towards a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a choice of majors or double majors in Information Systems, Information Technology and Electronic Commerce. They also offer many double major and double degree combinations with other Schools in Curtin Business School and Divisions in Curtin.

Students enrolled in the program will also be eligible for Sponsorships or Traineeships (4 placements) in their 2nd Year of the Information Systems course. The School is forging links with industry to sponsor and train students, aiming to encourage students to choose Information Systems as their program of study.

The School believes support from the ICT industry is needed for school students to choose ICT careers and work towards resolving the employment shortfall in our industry. By providing sponsorship/traineeships, parents and students will realise that there are jobs and that the industry is serious about supporting and nurturing these students from Year 12 , through University and into the workforce.

To find out more about enrolling, sponsoring or supporting this program, you can contact:

Karen Clarke
Administration Manager
School of Information Systems
Phone 9266 4489

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