CW: Money talks in employee rewards

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

A market scarcity in skilled IT workers and increasing costs of living have been said to be leading factors in a shift in how Australian employees prefer to be rewarded for good work.

More than two thirds of the 1,881 IT employees recently surveyed by recruitment agency Hays Information Technology showed preference for being rewarded in cash, while 15 percent valued internal recognition and 16 percent preferred non-financial bonuses such as weekends away and gym memberships.

The survey findings represent a marked change from those of a similar survey conducted by Hays in April 2006, in which nearly half of the survey respondents were said to prefer internal recognition, with only 9 percent valuing non-financial bonuses, and a mere 42 percent of employees preferring cash rewards.

According to Hays' regional director Peter Noblet, the way in which employees are rewarded for hard work or successful results has a significant role in employee engagement - which, in turn, has repercussions in employee retention.

"Financial rewards such as bonuses or an earlier salary review have become increasingly important to employees over the past 12 months," he said. "Consequently, an effective reward strategy needs to incorporate cash components."

"Business activity has increased and people are generally busier in their jobs," Noblet explained. "Coupled with the knowledge that we are in a candidate-short market and given higher grocery, petrol and mortgage costs, employees' emphasis has moved to cash payments rather than non-cash benefits."

However, electronics vendor Altium Limited's Chief People Officer, Kerri-Ann Wilson, is careful not to overlook the importance of non-financial benefits in acknowledging employee contribution.

"Often companies neglect the value that talented people place on aspects -- things like challenging work, career development and the opportunity to make a difference," she said. "In our experience, the non-financial benefits and internal recognition are just as important as the financial rewards."

On top of their salary packages, share options and profit-sharing, Altium employees enjoy the benefits of free meals, gym memberships, mobile phone plans and free car parking; conveniences that Wilson expects to make the lives of Altium employees a little easier.

And the benefit scheme seems to be paying off for Simon Moulton, a 32-year-old system support worker who has been employed at Altium for five months.

"Being given just monetary rewards would be less personal than the benefits we get at Altium," he said. "The value of having free meals each day, a computer rebate and the range of services provided - if these were taken away and you were given a salary increase instead; the real value of these rewards would be lost."

Joel Tow, an Altium software engineer and recent university graduate, agrees, citing the "little benefits that come along" as a drawing card in his six-month-old relationship with the company.

"Following a specific project I worked on recently, I was also given a non-financial reward for my work which was really appreciated and totally unexpected," he said.

"If it came to the question 'would I work somewhere for more money', that's great in the short term," he said, "but the other benefits provided at Altium provide for a more sustainable environment for my long term growth."

Hays' Noblet notes that employee preferences are likely to differ across different demographics, mentioning as an example paid maternity leave, which might be very significant for one group of employees, but not so useful for another.

To maintain relevance with their employees Noblet suggests businesses employ a bit of flexibility in their benefit schemes, such as offering a range of benefit options that may be determined through continual discussions with employees.

"There should be a fair and equal system of processes for rewards and they need to suit the audience they are intended for as there is variation in what suits Generations X, Y and Baby Boomers," he said. "[A successful benefit scheme is] really just about talking to people in their business and finding out what they look for."

One organisation that currently offers a range of bonus options is IT consulting, integration and outsourcing firm, CSC. According to Christiane Moloney, the company's Vice President of Human Resources, outstanding employees are given a choice between being rewarded in cash or in items which may range from company-sponsored holidays, to dinners for two, to Palm Pilots.

Coupled with fair pay arrangements, the provision of new challenges, training, and strong management, the right reward offerings could be the finishing touch to an employment package that attracts and retains talent, Moloney said.

"At CSC, we have found that strong leadership qualities and a collaborative work culture play an important role in retaining motivated employees," she said. "People who are satisfied in their jobs are likely to think twice before leaving an organisation."

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ARN: NetBox Blue Braggs global sales expansion

As a journalist at Australian Reseller News:

Following a record quarter, Queensland-based NetBox Blue has appointed its first worldwide sales director to support growth of its local and international channel.

The networking vendor has recruited Steven Bragg, an industry veteran with 19 years sales experience in large corporations, government, manufacturing, and the finance sectors, for the role. He has worked with several IT brands, including IBM and LSI Logic Corporation.

"Steven is joining the team now to really drive the local and international sales for the company," NetBox Blue chairman, John Fison, said. "Our investment in the sales team over the last year has really established the local channel and Steve will look to develop this further and grow it."

Since its inception in 1999, NetBox Blue has recruited business partners across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the US. The vendor has an expanding local channel of about 50 partners. It is forecasting a two-fold sales increase this financial year.

Bragg said he planned to enhance the vendor's offerings while remaining committed to NetBox Blue's channel-only sales model.

"One of my immediate focuses is developing our channel model to support the demands of a technology vendor growing at our pace," he said. "Our challenge is to ensure we have right partners in place to deliver and support these solutions across our chosen vertical markets."

To better support business partners, NetBox Blue is adding several new sales and pre-sales staff in Sydney and Melbourne. It is also developing a formal certification program designed to equip channel partners' personnel with several levels of technical and pre-sales qualifications. The program is expected to be launch by quarter end.

NetBox Blue currently maintains a single-tier channel model. Bragg said a new platinum partner tier was now in the works for launch in the second half of this year. This would offer further support via joint marketing initiatives, development funds and priority lead referrals.

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GGG: Plantronics Audio 500 USB Digital Multimedia Headset

As a reviewer at Good Gear Guide:

"Tried and tested" would be the nice way of describing Plantronics' Audio 500 USB Digital Multimedia Headset design. Otherwise, it's just plain unimaginative.

The Audio 500 has a headband style design. Audio is delivered through two adjustable swivel-mounted ear cushions and a boom-mounted microphone that tucks neatly up and away when not in use. Less neat is the 3 metre long headphone USB cable, which features a remote that houses volume control and mute buttons, but there's really not much to do about cabling unless you're willing to spend more money on a wireless headset.

The headset is lightweight and comfortable, and despite its flimsy appearance, sound quality is impressive. Voice, music and sound effects are delivered in clear stereo, and the microphone is well positioned to pick up the user's voice without any popping and only minimal background noise. The volume control works well, and the microphone mutes cleanly.

Setting up the Audio 500 is a simple plug-and-play process. The headset connects via USB, and Windows XP automatically recognised the hardware and installed all its necessary drivers in seconds.

In subsequent trials, however, the device still took a few seconds to initiate each time - even though the drivers were already installed. Swapping audio outputs from the sound card to the headset and vice versa while running a program sometimes required Windows to be manually prompted via the Sounds and Audio Devices dialogue box ini the Control Panel. Even so, the drivers didn't seem to allow output devices to be swapped while sounds were still being played.

All in all, the Audio 500 is a decent, sturdy headset that is simple enough to install and operate, and its retail price of $79 is reasonable. The device is especially well suited to VOIP calls due to the inline mute button, and is also a comfortable, inexpensive solution for gaming, and other multimedia applications.

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ARN: Market for international mobile services vendor expands

As a journalist at Australian Reseller News:

Mobile data services vendor, Aicent, has announced its 100th carrier partnership. It is now servicing more than one billion mobile subscribers with its data roaming and messaging exchanges.

The California-based vendor provides all of its GPRS roaming, 3G roaming, as well as international SMS and MMS services, through carriers in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Aicent currently reaches the Australian market through a partnership with Telstra. However, according to its president and CEO, Lynn Liu, the company is in discussion with other operators locally to service a growing market.

Liu quoted figures from Informa Telecoms & Media, indicating that revenues generated from international roaming will rise from $US75.58 billion at the end of 2004 to $US211.81 billion by the end of 2010.

By comparison, data roaming exchange was still a relatively small segment of the global roaming business, she said, but it was increasing at more than 100 per cent per year based on Aicent's traffic statistics.

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PCW: Internode expands VoIP offerings

As a journalist at PC World Australia:

South Australian broadband carrier Internode has launched the second generation of its VoIP service. The new service combines Internode's existing outbound-only calling capabilities with additional inbound features.

The ISP is expected to deliver the high-quality broadband voice services to residential and business customers throughout Australia.

Built on the BroadWorks application platform by VoIP software provider BroadSoft, Internode's new NodePhone2 will include features such as voicemail, speed dial, called ID, online billing and account management, and facilities for making outbound and inbound calls to and from other VoIP users, as well as users on the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network.

The service targets home users and Small-to-Medium Businesses, and is available directly from Internode either as an individual service, or as part of flexible service packages that combine voice and broadband services.

"While NodePhone2 will continue to appeal to residential customers, it will deliver most value to SME business that can reduce telecommunication costs significantly without sacrificing quality," said Internode's Managing Director, Simon Hackett.

"NodePhone is a service that provides extra value for Internode customers; some customers pay for the cost of their broadband plan through the phone call savings delivered by NodePhone," he said.

Alongside its original outbound-only calling service, NodePhone1, which came with a fee of $10 per month, Internode is now offering two NodePhone2 plans priced at $20 per month and $30 per month for Value and Premium users respectively.

The plans differ in features, although all three plans offer free calls to other NodePhone users, $0.18 flat rate calls to national landlines and $0.30 per minute calls to Australian mobile phones.

"It's about giving them [customers] a range of affordable, high-quality communication services running on Internode's first tier national network," Hackett said.

Future developments in the NodePhone service range are expected to be underpinned by the BroadWorks platform, Hackett said.

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CW: Australian businesses struggle to get social

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

Often touted as the inevitable next generation of the Internet, Web 2.0 technologies are fast gaining pervasion beyond the stereotypical MySpace teen. The question now is not if, but when, new social computing trends become an absolute realisation in the workplace, and the worry for businesses is: can we keep up?

With applications in marketing, customer support and problem solving, opportunities for Web 2.0 technologies are abundant in the business world, according to Sheryle Moon, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA).

"There's no doubt that everyone is very engaged with the sites that allow interaction with people," she said. "If you put a business spin on that, then there's an opportunity to develop communities that support business. I think there's a huge opportunity for organizations to develop communities of practice that can work on some of the bigger issues."

But a lack of training, as well as recruitment issues in attracting young, fresh blood into the industry, may currently be keeping social computing at bay, Moon said, explaining that the adoption of new technologies often requires a change in mindset as well as new technical skills.

"The ICT industry is an aging industry, so there's a bunch of people who have grown up in an industry which operated under completely different business models," she said. "And so of course they need to be retrained and brought up to date, and we need to continue to be able to attract young people who will bring those new ideas and the familiarity with different models for interacting and influencing other people."

"It's much wider than just the technology. We almost need degrees or courses in marketing in that online environment, because you're looking at completely different ways in connecting with people, and influencing them, than most marketing people in most marketing organizations are used to," she said.

Moon's observations are in agreement with those of Susan Barnes, a professor of communication at the U.S.-based Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) who was recently awarded a two-year $US149,786 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop an undergraduate online course in the new discipline of social media.

"The introduction of social media software programs is a major change in the way that people communicate on the Internet. It is both a social and technological change that deserves academic attention," Barnes said.

RIT's new social media course debuts early next year to a trial group of 90 students, and will double as a case study of technology and social networking that is expected to further Barnes' research into the potentials of social computing in learning.

"A focus of our course will be to introduce students to career possibilities," Barnes said. "Social networking combines IT with communication, so we need students from both Liberal Arts and computer backgrounds ... the types of skills that are needed in industry."

Training programs in social computing are less prevalent in the Australian market, leading to fears that the country may be left behind. While current AIIA figures estimate there being less than nine percent of Australian small to medium enterprises that trade on the Internet, Moon estimated this figure to be around the 50 percent mark in more mature markets, such as the U.S.

"We are way behind in being able to trade," she said. "While I think that ICT companies are very good at developing the technology, we're looking at the application of that technology in a totally foreign environment that most ICT companies are still coming to grasps with."

One Australian company that is currently heavily involved in the Web 2.0 space is Hyro, an ASX-listed online services provider with offices in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand.

Recognising the growing relevance of social networking sites and systems in the market, Hyro has expanded its portfolio from developing traditional Web sites, to designing MySpace pages and even building virtual [[ArtId:120083918|Second Life]] presences.

"Social networking sites are becoming quite an important channel to market for a range of our customers," said Richard Lord, the company's Chief Operating Officer. "For Hyro, this is translating to a number of clients asking us to include social networking sites as a part of our overall digital services programs for them."

While Lord acknowledged that most businesses still have an incomplete understanding of Web 2.0 services, and that there are currently no "real stand-out training providers" for such technologies, Hyro has set up an internal Web 2.0 network where its staff collaborate on developing their shared understanding of Web 2.0 principles.

"Different specialist teams use tools like mail groups, forums, blogs and wikis to share their knowledge and to promote new innovations they create or discover, with their peers," Lord explained. "With the Hyro team touching 500 people in three countries, there is a lot of knowledge, experience and capability to innovate within the team."

Meanwhile, AIIA's Moon mentioned Web 2.0 and social marketing classes currently being developed by a consortium of Victorian University Libraries. Other organisations, such as education.au, are hosting conferences to discuss Web 2.0 opportunities as well.

"We [AIIA] probably won't push specific courses but we are starting the dialogue," she said. "I've got my own blog, I've got my own MySpace page, I'm up on Wikipedia, we're putting AIIA up on Second Life; we are looking at how we as the association lead our members to think about the opportunities that exist in this brave new world."

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CW: CeBIT's Taranto douses anti-Government flames

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

CeBIT Australia organizer, Jackie Taranto, has poured cold water on reports of a falling out between the trade show and the Australian Government, following NSW Premier Morris Iemma's refusal to open this year's show.

According to a report published in the Australian Financial Review this morning, Taranto had criticized what was said to be a governmental lack of leadership in building a thriving ICT industry.

But while this morning's report portrayed the souring of a five-year relationship between CeBIT and the Australian Government, insulting the government had never been her intention, Taranto told IDG in an interview this afternoon.

"What I stated wasn't totally out there; it wasn't meant in that way," she said. "They've [the NSW government] always supported and funded CeBIT Australia very strongly as an ICT event."

"We have a good relationship with the Australian Government," she said. "New South Wales [state government] has supported CeBIT from the beginning, and that's always been the strength on how we've grown the event here."

The NSW Department of State and Regional Development has remained a major sponsor of CeBIT Australia since its inception in 2002, through a partnership that involves both financial and promotional support.

The recently re-elected Iemma has declined to attend CeBIT Australia's May 1 opening in favour of a meeting with his new cabinet. His refusal will result in the first time since its launch in 2002 that CeBIT Australia is not ceremonially opened by the Premier of NSW.

Unfortunately for CeBIT organizers, this trade-show-first will coincide with another new development: the involvement of Christian Wulff, a prominent German politician with a 50 percent stake in the CeBIT's parent company, Deutsche Messe.

"It's a pretty big thing [for Deutsche Messe] to have invested in bringing CeBIT to Australia," Taranto said. "Controlling 50 percent of the interests of our organization is pretty significant, and he's [Wulff has] never been here, so it's a big thing for him to come, and he's bringing pretty serious investors here this year."

In efforts to develop relationships between Germany and Australia, Wulff has scheduled meetings with Prime Minister John Howard; Special Minister of State Gary Nairn; QLD Acting Premier Anna Bligh; and QLD Minister for Public Works, Housing and ICT, Robert Schwarten.

While confident that Wulff will meet with representatives of the NSW state government during his visit, Taranto said that CeBIT Australia is still in negotiations with Morris Iemma's office to arrange a meeting with the Premier himself.

With half of its shares controlled by the German City of Hannover, and the other half controlled by Wulff's home state of Lower Saxony, Deutsche Messe is owned entirely by the German government, whose support of the trade show in Germany understandably surpasses that of the government in Australia.

"CeBIT in Hannover is the largest ICT show. In Germany, you always have the chancellor opening it, and it's a pretty significant thing because of what the industry is valued at," explained Taranto, quoting global ICT industry turnover figures of $AUD33,000 billion per year.

Taranto recalled this year's Hannover show, where the German Chancellor was said to have pushed ICT as the country's number one industry, pledging up to 15 billion Euros in governmental support into areas such as research and development and cluster development within the next two years.

"When you go to these countries and you have the leaders of these countries really outlining the importance of this [ICT], it's pretty significant," Taranto said. "We'd like to see that [ICT] outlined as a forefront here [in Australia] as well."

"Australia is really advanced in innovation, and I think that we can do so much more, it's just that when you look at the areas that are happening offshore, internationally, we really need to get a push behind that," she said.

Industry bodies too have a part to play in advancing Australian ICT, Taranto said, emphasising the need for a peak body that could represent the industry to the government.

While organisations such as the AIIA and the ACS were said to be doing "really great jobs", Taranto said there is a need for further collaboration between the organisations to present one voice to work with the federal government.

"In Germany, for instance, there is BitCom, so the industry bodies amalgamated into one strong voice, and they have significant say in what happens," she said. "I think the AIIA and the ACS and others are working together towards that; we're not there yet, but it's definitely coming that way, so I think that's a very positive thing."

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CW: Phishing scam targets Australian taxpayers

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a warning against a phishing e-mail currently in circulation that claims to be from the tax office.

The e-mail fraudulently uses the ATO logo and comes with the words 'Australian Taxation Office - Please Read' in the subject line.

Claiming to offer a refund from the ATO, the message asks users to click on a link that redirects to a fraudulent Web site. (see screenshot)

According to IT management software vendor CA, the phisher has made no attempt to obfuscate the Web site's true URL. Three variants of the phishing Web site have been reported so far, with one using a URL registered in the Netherlands, and others using a French URL.

The phishing site is not known to contain any malicious software but purports to be from the ATO, and asks users for credit card and personal details. (see screenshot)

"Once a user has clicked on a link inside the spammed email, it might not be immediately obvious to the user that they have landed on a password stealing site," said Chris Thoma, Security Solution Strategist at CA Pacific.

While CA has not yet published any figures to do with the span of the attack, Thomas does not believe that it has occurred on a large scale.

The ATO's Second Commissioner, Greg Farr, said the department has notified relevant authorities who are investigating the matter.

"People should be wary of unsolicited emails claiming to be from the Tax Office," he said.

"The Tax Office will never send out e-mails to taxpayers asking them to provide personal information including credit card details."

CA's Thomas said: "Users should always check where links provided in an email actually lead to. In this case, do not click on any links that are in emails that seem to be sent from the ATO."

Recipients of the phishing e-mail are advised to delete it immediately. People who have entered their credit card information on the website are advised to contact their credit card provider as soon as possible and report a possible compromise.

More information is available from CA's security advisory.

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ARN: H3C buy-out could open up new target segments for 3Com

As a journalist at Australian Reseller News:

Networking vendor, 3Com, has flagged broader market penetration as one of the big changes brought about by its $US882 million buyout of Huawei Technologies' share in joint venture, Huawei-3Com (H3C).

As part of the new agreement, 3Com will drop the Huawei brand. However, the vendor has opted to maintain the abbreviation, H3C, in a bid to maintain brand recognition in the Chinese and Japanese enterprise networking markets.

With its manufacturing facilities and about 3000 research and development engineers in China, H3C was expected to provide opportunities to add low-cost products into 3Com's existing offering, vice-president and general manager of 3Com Asia-Pacific, Peter Chai, said.

H3C will also help broaden its enterprise sales strategy. Locally, 3Com is focused on the education and government sectors, which constitute about 40 per cent of its business.

"We intend to put a lot more resources into Australia, and look at new verticals," Chai said. He highlighted manufacturing as a possible target.

As a result of the acquisition, 3Com and H3C's sales and marketing teams have merged. A local country manager has also been appointed to manage the combined team.

The additional resources would enable the company to pursue more direct-touch sales, Chai said, especially with large enterprises which tended to be particular about which integrators they work with.

Meanwhile, 3Com and H3C will continue to look to the channel for most of its sales. Chai said it would work closely with existing partners through regular integrated branding initiatives such as partner and customer seminars.

"We will still be very much a channel company," he said. "Gold and silver resellers will be our main channel to market ... we've focused a lot of our marketing resources into partners who are deemed to be committed and can provide sales and technical support for our products."

The buyout is the third and final chapter of 3Com's partnership with the Chinese telecommunications equipment provider. The joint venture was launched in November 2003. In January last year, 3Com took a 51 per cent majority share of H3C under a $US28 million deal.

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CW: Job market frenzy said to have reached 100-year peak

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

The Australian IT employment market has been claimed to be at its strongest ever, and is expected to strengthen further over the next 12 months, according to recruitment industry expert, Chris Le Coic.

With the resources boom, an increase in local and foreign investment, as well as the appearance of constant innovations and improvements in the Australian market, job vacancies are far outnumbering the number of qualified IT workers, said Le Coic, CEO of online employment portal, CareersSites.

Le Coic's speculations are derived from a study of national recruiter surveys conducted over the past few months, in which almost one in two employers in the IT industry revealed plans to increase permanent staff levels during the next quarter, while more than half of professional service firms said they would be increasing staff in the next six weeks.

"The job market is frenetic because everyone is so desperate to find good candidates across a whole range of disciplines," he said. "ICT has seen a resurgence over the past couple of years, and this will continue with the merging of communications and media channels."

"There shouldn't be too many unemployed ICT professionals over the next year or so," he said. "With so many jobs out there and so few skilled workers available, recruiters are being required to broaden the experience and analytical qualities they are looking for in candidates."

Recruitment has moved from being an employer's market to becoming far more candidate-centric, Le Coic said, adding that recruiters can no longer afford to be as "dismissive of candidates" as in the past, and need to consider more innovative ways of recruiting people.

Additionally, the competition for skilled candidates is forcing recruiters to make job offers in increasingly short periods of time, he observed, noting that recruiters now have to be more efficient in spotting and placing the right candidates in the right jobs.

"Companies used to take up to three weeks to come back with an offer of a second interview... It is closer to two or three days now, and increasingly, on the spot," he said. "I was with a recruiter this morning at 10.30 am who said they had seen someone at 8.30am and they had already placed them with a client!"

While shortened interview processes are likely to benefit job hunters, employers may be disadvantaged if the candidates turn out to be unsuitable. Le Coic recommends better organised and structured interviews to ensure a good match between employers and potential recruits.

"It's just a matter of expediting the process, which is not a bad thing in today's competitive environment," he said.

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PCW: P2P file transfers get speed boost

As a journalist at PC World Australia:

New peer-to-peer (P2P) technology has been designed to speed file transfers through the sharing of non-identical files. The system promises to make online file sharing up to five times faster, and could potentially add to the efficiency of software updates and data transfers to and from portable storage devices.

Traditional P2P file-sharing services work by identifying identical files in a P2P network, and simultaneously downloading different chunks of the desired file from multiple sources. The speed with which a file can be obtained is generally determined by the number of sources available, which relates to the popularity of the file.

While popular files can typically be obtained reasonably quickly, rarer files with few identical sources may take quite some time to download. By configuring P2P networks to identify data chunks that are similar, - but not necessarily identical - to the desired file, the newly-designed technology, called Similarity-Enhanced Transfer (SET), is expected to greatly increase the number of potential sources for downloads, hence boosting transfer speeds.

No one knows the degree of similarity between data files stored in computers around the world, but analysis suggest the types of files most commonly shared are likely to contain a number of similar elements, researchers say. Many music files, for instance, may differ only in the artist-and-title headers, but are otherwise 99 percent similar.

"In some sense, the promise of P2P has been greater than the reality," said David G. Andersen, an assistant professor of computer science at the Carnegie Mellon University. "This [SET] is a technique that I would like people to steal ... it would make P2P transfers faster and more efficient."

Depending on the number of sources readily available, researchers expect SET to speed transfers by anything from 5 to 500 percent. Under recent testing, SET was found to improve the P2P transfer time of an MP3 music file by 71 percent. When the system was configured to download data from files that were 47 percent similar, a larger 55MB movie trailer was downloaded with a speed increase of about 30 percent.

In cases where files were so popular that available sources are already fast enough to use up all the receiver's bandwith, however, advantages may not be so great. During the download process, SET constantly spends time and bandwidth searching for other files, which researchers found could add about 0.5 percent to the download time.

As SET is based on identifying 'fingerprints' based on cryptographic hash functions that are fundamental to online transactions, Anderson said the technique is not likely to increase the risk of corrupted downloads.

"The chances of different data producing the same fingerprint are basically infinitesimal," he said. "These [cryptographic hash] functions underlie important parts of secure online commerce and data encryption."

P2P file sharing is notorious for its use in software, movie and music piracy; however, Andersen stresses that it is also widely used in other applications, such as the distribution of free and open source software.

"As the [P2P] technology matures, I think we'll see it being used for more and more legal uses," he said. "For instance, we're pretty sure based on other people's previous studies that SET will be useful for distributing software such as GNU/Linux; there's often substantial similarity between different releases of the operating system."

Although the researchers hope to implement SET in a service for sharing software or academic papers, Andersen said they have no intention of applying it themselves to movie- or music-sharing services. Current research is focussed instead on extending SET techniques to efficiently locate similar content that is already present on a user's hard drive, to speed data transfers.

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LW: Goodbye etch, hello lenny

As a journalist at LinuxWorld Australia:

The long-anticipated Debian 4.0 may only just have made its debut this week, but it's never too soon for the developer community to be making plans for its successor.

Codenamed 'etch', Debian 4.0 was officially released on 8 April, 2007. Although the release comes four months later than its early December 2006 target, developers are calling the project a success.

According to Debian Project Leader Anthony Towns, etch surpassed two milestones. Firstly, the software's 21-month release cycle turned out to be about a year shorter than that of its predecessor, sarge (Debian 3.1), and a month shorter than that of Debian 3.0, codenamed woody.

Additionally, Towns said, there has been somewhat of a tradition of only releasing one new version of Debian for every second Debian Project Leader. With sarge having been released under the leadership of Towns' immediate predecessor, Branden Robinson, the timely release of etch was a near-unexpected achievement.

"In spite of all the reasons I had to think that getting etch out on time was possible, I've always had this superstition that it wouldn't happen until we'd elected a new DPL [Debian Project Leader]," he said. "I'm still technically DPL until the 17th, so I'm counting that as a win."

Post-release parties have been planned in several locations worldwide, including Argentina, Canada, France, U.S. and U.K. An Australian party will be held on Saturday in Melbourne - but celebrations are likely to be short-lived as developers embark on the next Debian release, codenamed 'lenny'.

"There are a bunch of release parties planned around the place," Towns said. "Of course, the other way people address it is by moving right on to working on the next release, lenny."

As is usual with new Debian releases, lenny will be built on an exact replica of its predecessor, etch. Already, updates have been made to just under 2000 packages, which constitutes about 10 percent of the distribution. However, with the next release estimated to be more than a year away, Towns speculates that lenny's most interesting features are likely to not have even been thought of yet.

"I do know the stable update team are aiming to provide better ongoing support for sarge than we've attempted in the past, to make it easier for people to avoid the disruption of upgrades if it's not necessary," he said. "And I know that the upstream developers of all the software included in Debian haven't stopped building great new stuff just because Debian's been distracted with a release."

Queensland-based Towns steps down from the role of Debian Project Leader next week. He will be succeeded by French developer Sam Hocevar.

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PCW: Lithium Ion batteries to yield longer recharge times

As a journalist at PC World Australia:

The commonly-used Lithium Ion (Li-ion) battery of today is undergoing a facelift that researchers expect will deliver more usage between charges, and shorter charge/discharge times, to mobile consumers within the next five years.

Based on a process called 'nanostructuring', the new batteries will be built in very small sizes - measurable in nanometres - to shorten the distance between electrodes on either end of a Li-ion battery.

Conventional batteries produce electrical charge when Li-ions travel from an anode at one end of the battery, to a cathode at the other end. The power that is delivered by the battery, as well as the speed with which the battery is charged, is determined by the speed with which the ions can travel within the material.

By nanostructuring the electrode particles, researchers are reducing the ions' travel by a factor of a thousand.

"A nano-structured battery operates exactly the same as a conventional battery," explained researcher Marnix Wagemaker, an applied scientist at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, "only the electrode materials (anode and cathode) are built up from nano-sized particles, whereas in conventional batteries the particle sizes are in the order of micrometers."

Besides speeding up the charge/discharge time, nanostructuring also enables battery materials to store higher amounts of Li-ions, which leads to an increase in energy density, allowing batteries to lasts longer between charges, the researchers say.

Wagemaker expects nanostructured batteries to find initial uses in applications with high power requirements, such as in batteries for hybrid or electric vehicles, noting that the extended battery life of nanostructured batteries will also be useful wherever Li-ion batteries are currently used.

"The consumer will profit from a higher energy density - your mobile phone will last longer - and higher power density, [which means] shorter charge/discharge times," he said.

Currently, researchers are working towards improving the stability of nanostructured materials to overcome problems with the lifespan of nanostructured batteries.

"As always, advantages are accompanied by disadvantages," Wagemaker said. "You can charge it [nanostructured batteries] not as many times as current batteries, but I strongly believe these issues will be solved."

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PCW: Ultramobile PCs to lead in 21st century science education

As a journalist at PC World Australia:

An educational project in the U.K. is looking to combine mobile and desktop technology with classroom and real-world settings to boost young people's understanding of the world.

Conducted by researchers in the fields of education, educational technology, psychology and computer science, the project aims to help students aged between 11 and 14 learn through the use of handheld computer technology both in the classroom and at home.

The ultimate aim, researchers say, is to encourage students to take a more scientific approach to their daily lives.

"We now have the opportunity to guide children in doing 21st century science beyond the classroom," said project co-leader Mike Sharples, Director of the Learning Sciences Research Institute in the University of Nottingham's School of Education.

"They will be able to explore issues that matter to them, such as how to understand their bodies and keep fit, by carrying out explorations in their homes and discovery centres," he said. "Their mobile computers will coordinate the activities and help them to debate with their peers and experts."

Students will be educated on three themes - Myself, My Community, and My Environment - using an approach the researchers call 'scripted inquiry learning'. The themes were selected because they involve complex open-ended issues and are related to curriculum areas and students' daily lives, Sharples said.

As part of the scripted inquiry approach, students will be presented with topic-related multimedia material that aims to guide an investigation and explore differences in students' conceptions.

"The main role of the technology will be to structure their inquiry-led activities inside and outside the classroom, through personal devices that guide their investigations," Sharples said.

"It [the technology] has a key role in social education in helping children to understand their initial differences in conception around major issues of social concern and how they can reach consensus based on scientific approaches of collecting and examining evidence," he said.

The project, a collaboration between the University of Nottingham and the Open University, was recently awarded a research grant of £1,187,891 (AUD$2.8m) from the U.K'.s Economic and Social Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Researchers will be developing a suite of software for students and teachers, which will run on desktop machines as well as on wireless handheld devices that researchers plan to provide for each child in the trial. Ultimately, the target device will be an ultra-mobile PC, Sharples said.

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LW: LinuxChix announces new international coordinator

As a journalist at LinuxWorld Australia:

International open source group, LinuxChix, has this week announced the election of a new international coordinator to head the women-oriented community.

Effective this week, 26-year-old Mary Gardiner will replace outgoing coordinator Jenn Vesperman in the leading role. Gardiner's new duties include: making decisions about the overall direction and purpose of LinuxChix; mentoring future leaders in the community; liaising with the public; and facilitating the group's operations.

A full-time PhD student at Macquarie University in Sydney, Gardiner has previously held several organisational roles in the community, such as coordinating the LinuxChix miniconference at this year's linux.conf.au, and setting up the new Australian chapter, AussieChix, which was announced last month.

While she hopes to continue to be an active member of AussieChix, Gardiner is likely to reduce her local involvement in view of her new responsibilities, she said. Gardiner also announced her intention to reassess, and possibly redistribute, duties currently assigned to the international coordinator position.

"During my tenure I may look at how they [international coordinator duties] can be distributed to more than one person," she said.

"I'll be continuing my involvement in the Australian chapter, particularly Sydney events, but I'm going to hand over all routine volunteer tasks in the international community to other volunteers," Gardiner said. "If linux.conf.au accepts another LinuxChix miniconference I will ask someone else to lead that effort too."

Gardiner was selected from a group of three women, including Irishwoman Noirin Plunkett and Canadian Terri Oda. She is the second Australian woman to have led the community following the five-year tenure of Melbourne-based Vesperman.

The election concludes a process begun almost a month ago, when Vesperman stepped down from the position due to personal health issues.

"I was splitting my time and energy in too many directions, and while no one else can take my place in my family, there were three people competent and willing to take my place in Linuxchix," Vesperman said.

"Mary had clearly defined goals for Linuxchix which I liked," Vesperman said. "However, it was a very close decision and I'm sure Terri and Noirin will lead Linuxchix or some other group some time, and will do so well."

Gardiner said she intends to serve a two-year term until 31 March 2009, during which she aims to increase LinuxChix's and its regional chapters' visibility and involvement in the Free Software community, and to look into a more formal governance structure for the community.

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IMAGE: Open source e-mail lands on commodity mobiles

Created for Computerworld Australia's Mobility and Wireless section:

CW: Ricoh launches support centre for its Java-based platform

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

Electronic office equipment manufacturer, Ricoh, has launched a new support centre in Australia that aims to extend the functionality of its software-enabled printers and copiers.

Launched today, the Business Solutions Group is expected to work closely with customers and applications developers to develop customized software solutions that meet specific business requirements.

At the heart of Ricoh's support offerings is its embedded software architecture (ESA), on which the company's in-house developers, its clients, and third parties such as integrators can build highly customized applications to facilitate office workflow and information management processes.

As ESA is an open-source platform based on Sun Microsystems' Java language, developers are also able to retain the rights to any applications they develop.

"Being non-proprietary and written in Java, it [ESA] was especially designed to attract the world's top software developers and in this way, provide Ricoh with direct access to the largest continually expanding library of intelligent information and imaging solutions," said Les Richardson, Ricoh Australia's General Manager of Systems Support.

Commenting on what he called a Web 2.0 trend towards collaboration, Richardson said the information economy was increasingly dependent upon open architecture, scalability and integration."

"Ricoh developed ESA for the office in mind," he said. "In this way, Ricoh and its customers have the opportunity to create added value together," Richardson said.

Richardson named integrated cost recovery systems and centralized on-demand printing capabilities as two recent examples of ESA-enabled applications that have already been built and deployed in Australia by Ricoh, in collaboration with its customers.

Currently, the Business Solutions Group consists of 19 staff, including one analyst, five senior technical consultants, one developer liaison, one product manager, and 11 systems engineers.

The group is also supported by the Ricoh Developer program that was established in 2005 and is now an alliance of more than 1100 third-party developers worldwide who integrate their own information management solutions with Ricoh's hardware.

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CW: Diamonds are quantum cryptography's best friend

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

New diamond-based quantum cryptography technology, designed to protect against Internet hacking, could become a marketable reality as soon as 2008, researchers say.

The technology, which has been in development since 2005, was last month awarded first prize in the security division of the 2007 Secrets of Australian ICT Competition. The award recognises innovation in science that will have an impact on information communication technology across the areas of commerce, health and communications.

"We are thrilled to have received the award", said Shane Huntington, director of the University of Melbourne's Quantum Communications Victoria (QCV), where the diamond-based device is being developed. "It shows that we really have a product that will help industry."

Current quantum cryptography techniques involve the use of lasers to produce approximations of single light particles, called photons, which transmit information. Due to physical properties of the photons, any unauthorised attempts at extracting transmitted information result in the information being destroyed before it can be accessed by a hacker.

QCV's device is expected to greatly improve the performance of existing commercial quantum cryptosystems by using planned defects in a diamond crystal to produce single photons of light. Diamond has been chosen as it is the only material capable of delivering single photons reliably at room-temperature over a prolonged time, researchers say.

"Our technology is a component for quantum cryptography," Huntington explained. "It replaces an approximation to a source of single photons that exists in current commercial systems."

"Our device will enable a new, 100 percent secure, telecommunication system to be developed," he said.

Diamond crystals are directly grown onto the tips of optical fibres, allowing the single photons emitted from the diamond to be transmitted down the optical fibre core. As the device only requires very small diamonds, usually less than 50 nanometres in thickness, Huntington does not expect any significant increase in cost over current quantum cryptosystems.

Huntington expects the technology to initially be used in military applications, then in any area where security is paramount. Areas in which the device is expected to have significant impact include financial institutions, security agencies, governments and individuals communicating sensitive information with total security.

A working version of the diamond-based device has already been demonstrated in the laboratory environment. The technology is currently being engineered for robustness and compatibility for integration into existing telecommunication systems.

Huntington expects a final prototype of the device to be developed by 2008, after which the technology will move to market via an anticipated start-up company. QCV last year also announced a $9 million deal with a consortium of quantum communication companies for production and commercialisation of the technology.

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CW: IT firms seize fresh pickings in graduate recruitment drive

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

The first quarter of this year has barely entered the realm of recent history, and already, IT companies are clamouring to secure the next wave of freshly educated talent for their 2008 workforce.

Several companies kicked off their graduate recruitment drives last week, presenting a variety of offerings to final year students at careers exhibitions held by universities across Sydney.

At the University of New South Wales' Careers Expo 2007 on Monday, technology behemoth IBM put forth its Graduate Development Program in attempts to fill some 200 entry-level professional roles.

The highly structured, one-year program provides graduates with training, community programs, peer support through a facilitated mentoring program, organised social events, and a Web site, as well as quarterly briefing sessions for managers of graduates.

"IBM has participated in a number of career fairs and has commenced first round interviews," said Bernadette Lamaro, Vitality Hiring Manager of IBM in Australia and New Zealand, who also noted a growing trend in IT candidates tending towards business roles rather than pure technical roles.

But despite its long-standing reputation as a leader in the IT industry, the competition for skilled workers is toughening up for IBM this year, as small and medium businesses ramp up their university recruitment drives.

"There are a lot of small and medium businesses recruiting graduates who have not participated [in university recruitment drives] previously," Lamaro said, "which has lead to greater demand, [a] broader scope of graduate job roles available and increased competition to secure the brightest students."

One such company is GLiNTECH, a privately-held IT consultancy that currently hires about 55 employees in Sydney. Although it does not have the branding of large corporations like IBM, the size and structure of GLiNTECH allows it to offer a vibrant culture and a flexible graduate program that may appeal to some potential candidates.

"We do have difficulty in attracting an initial lot of students to our stall [at university careers exhibitions]," said the consultancy's Human Resources manager, Jaqueline Chan. "But once they're at our stall and we explain to them what GLiNTECH is like, the response from most of the graduates is actually very positive."

Graduates placed in GLiNTECH's entry-level roles are expected to go through a three-month probationary period, during which they are trained in basic consulting skills, project and task management skills, and equipped with a relevant professional certification of their choice.

After the initial three-month period, recruits take on junior consultant roles, and undergo quarterly performance reviews to potentially advance their salary level and position. GLiNTECH has no hiring quota to fill and will take on as many suitable candidates as there are available, Chan said, expecting the company's fast pace to be an attraction for ambitious graduates.

"A lot of large companies have two-year rotational programs, and at the end of those two years, graduates will still be graduates," she said. "We want our graduates to snap out of the graduate roles very quickly; we don't want them to be 'graduates', we want them to be consultants."

"Graduates will be able to progress as quickly as they want," she said. "This is not a graduate program to attract graduates; it is actually a company culture to attract all levels."

According to Dennis Furini, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Computer Society, structured graduate placements in large companies have their merits.

"Generally, companies that offer graduate placements are more structured and can therefore offer those starting out in the IT industry with a higher salary packages in the first few years of employment," he said. "However, graduate placements are limited."

Starting salaries for IT graduates can be expected to fall within the range of $38,000 to $52,000, Furini said, noting a particular demand for graduates with expertise in business applications, especially in e-commerce; Web site design; systems architecture; entertainment; games and the leisure industry.

"The ICT industry is shifting away from programming and towards supporting the competitive drivers of an organisation," he said. "The majority of employment opportunities occur in the application of computers to create business information systems."

Structured graduate placements afford graduates a good opportunity for learning more about the industry before deciding on the direction they want their careers to take, Furini said.

"Graduate placements are good for those who want to learn more about the spectrum of work related to ICT and who are undecided on a particular career path," he said. "For those who know exactly what career path and job they would like to do, then an entry-level position of a specific role would be more beneficial."

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CW: ICT an industry of opportunities for AIIA CEO

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

Now is a good time to be in the ICT industry, but there is still more to be done for the industry to enjoy continued growth and success in Australia, says Sheryl Moon, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Information Industry Association.

Besides attracting new recruits to ICT, industry players should also work towards re-skilling mature workers, and retaining women who traditionally leave their careers at child-rearing age, she said.

The industry must also look at the issue of climate change, Moon said, suggesting that technologies that allow workers to telecommute could address employees concerns about work-life balance as well as potentially reducing the industry's overall carbon footprint.

An ICT veteran with 25 years of experience to her name, Moon has come a long way from her industry debut as an engineer at IBM. She speaks with Liz Tay about her career experiences and opinions on green issues, the skills shortage, and opportunities for small to medium enterprises.

How did you first get started in the IT industry? Have you always had an interest in technology?

No, none at all - I fell into it! I was looking for a way to support my son, move away from my ex-husband [in Wagga Wagga] - and all of my family was in Sydney.

My sister, who had applied for a job at IBM because she was an engineer, suggested I also apply for the job. IBM was looking for people with degrees but they did not have to have a computer science degree. I've got an economics degree.

Take us on the path that led you to becoming the CEO of AIIA in November 2006

I worked for IBM for eleven and a half years, and I was headhunted by two venture capitalists to set up a management consulting company in the early 90s. I built a process on Business Process Re-engineering, and over about two-and-a-half years, I built the organization up to 18 consultants and a very profitable business.

We then moved to Brisbane, and I joined what was then Andersen Consulting - now Accenture - and I became a managing partner for one of their lines of business. I stayed at Accenture for five and a half years, and was then headhunted to head up the Federal Government's outsourcing for CSC, so I was a VP for CSC.

I resigned from CSC after IT outsourcing was stopped by the Federal Government, and took a year off, wrote a couple of books, did a bunch of work for some government agencies and private sector groups, then I was approached to head up the outsourcing of all the military recruitment [with Manpower].

It was early last year when a number of other opportunities came up, including this one [with AIIA], which is just a perfect role. It's just fabulous, and it's great to be back helping the industry be successful.

What is your opinion on the current state of the Australian IT industry?

The industry is obviously in an upward cycle, so it's very vibrant. There's lots of activity, there are lots of projects available, so people are busy bidding for that work and it's a good time to be in the industry.

There's no doubt there's quite a bit of innovation happening in some unusual spaces. Take a look at NICTA or CSIRO; there's some pretty cool stuff coming out of those organizations that have used modeling and simulation software.

If I look at small to medium enterprises, there are some really interesting things happening in some of those spaces. It's good. The industry is very buoyant and very active.

What are the biggest challenges that the industry is facing at the moment?

Skills is the biggest challenge. Looking at how we will manage the ICT workforce is absolutely critical to the success not only of our industry, but also the prosperity of Australia on an ongoing basis.

There are issues that we need to face in that workspace around attraction of young people to the industry. We need to work on the types of curriculum, particularly by tertiary institutions [such as] TAFE and universities, to ensure that there is alignment between what the industry is looking for and what those institutions are offering.

We need to look at opportunities to retrain mature workers; people who want to see change in their career or who need upskilling in new technology. We also need to look at the retention of women in the industry. The industry loses women at child-rearing time and also when they perceive they've hit a glass ceiling in their early 40s, so we'll do some work this year in all of those areas.

We also need to encourage more organizations to allow people to telecommute and work from home. There's a couple of reasons for that: one, it allows people to have the work-life balance they need, allows them to meet their family obligations, can drive increases in productivity, can also drive increases in participation - particularly of women - in the workforce; and it also can reduce the carbon footprint that we have on our planet if enough of us are able to spend significant amounts of time working from home.

What are your goals for the industry as CEO of the AIIA?

My goals are to help the industry grow and be successful in Australia, and that means things like ensuring the business environment is right. We are a federated model in Australia; we have nine jurisdictions for 20 million people, and it just doesn't make sense to have nine different tendering processes and nine different contracting processes when people are successful.

That is an inhibitor to small to medium enterprises participating fully in government business. If I add up all of the government's IT spend, it's a larger spend of organizations in Australia so small to medium enterprises need to be able to participate in that marketplace as effectively as large organizations do.

I think another thing that is very predominant, given that 70 percent of Australians say that their major concern is climate change, is that the industry is a clean industry in its own right and branded organizations already take back their own e-waste. We need to make sure the industry is a clean, green industry, and we also need to look at how our industry can work with other parts of our economy and other industry sectors to ensure that ICT applications make the most of our approaches to solving some of the climate change issues.

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