News

‘No confidence’: ACS leadership cops a hiding

The Australian Computer Society’s National Congress has voted overwhelmingly to support a ‘no confidence’ motion against its own management committee, the ultimate ruling body of the troubled professional association....

Australia and our fractured digital future

Australia’s digitally branded budget is being breathlessly marketed to drive Australia towards becoming a leading digital economy by 2030. Except that the plan is twenty years too late, and...

Defence Innovation Hub cranks $28m funding

The Defence Innovation Hub has announced its latest round of grants to industry worth $28 million, with grant funds going to nine new contracts and two existing projects. Two...

Sagie Davidovich on the future of AI and ethics

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond just predicting the future to shaping it to our will, although ethics are extremely important to this brave new world. That’s according to Sagie...

Hiring boost as CSIRO gets staff cap reprieve

The CSIRO will bring on more than 200 new employees after the federal government granted it a staffing cap reprieve and funding boost, but concerns remain about its long-term...

End of uncertainty as RDTI reforms finally pass

The federal government’s “enhanced” reforms to the research and development tax incentive passed Parliament just days after being announced, ending two and a half years of uncertainty for those...

Budget Insider: All eyes on the year of reckoning

The October 2020 federal budget was “an oxygen mask to keep us going,” according to Australian National University associate professor Catherine Ball, and the nation will won’t face its...

Manufacturing and renewables: Albo’s budget reply

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has unveiled his alternate vision for Australia’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on revitalising local manufacturing through renewable energy and defence industry...

RDTI should be reserved for startups only

The federal Government’s R&D Tax Incentive largesse should go exclusively to startups and not big business, says one of Australia’s foremost software entrepreneurs. Big companies can survive without RDTI,...

Moment of truth arrives for ACS leadership

The leadership and future strategic direction of the 50-year-old Australian Computer Society faces an existential moment of truth on Friday as its ruling management committee faces a vote of...

DTA to lose 30+ staff despite digital push

The Digital Transformation Agency will lose more than 30 staff this financial year despite average staffing levels across the public sector increasing. The federal budget showed the Digital Transformation...

Export market grants reform hits the Parliament

Funding through the Export Market Development Grants program will be delivered upfront and eligibility for the popular scheme will be tightened under legislation introduced to Parliament this week. The...

Locking down a company’s intangible jewels

Protecting the intangible assets inside an organisation has become even more important than locking the factory gates at night as the world shifts to valuing intangibles like patents more...

‘Almighty backflip’ is a welcome industry tonic

The federal government’s attempt to spin its “almighty backflip” on the research and development tax incentive as a $2 billion investment in the scheme is a “brazen misrepresentation of...