Canberra activities in review - Senator chats, digital inequality and cyber security

28 April 2022

Highlights

  • During April, ACS has been engaging with stakeholders across Government, industry and academia
  • Increasing the ACS’s relevance in Canberra has now offered opportunities for our members and your employers
  • Find out more about opportunities for you to network with colleagues and hear about the latest trends

Where does IT and technology play a role in the Canberra region and how can our local ACS community have a voice?

More and more, ACS Canberra is being asked to contribute to conversations at a local and national level.

With an election called recently, ACS Canberra took the opportunity to engage with Senator Jim Molan at a breakfast event to discuss a number of topics that related to our 2022 election platform, Building Australia’s Digital Future.

With over 100 people across the in-person breakfast event and virtual streams, ACS President, Dr Nick Tate, spoke with Senator Molan about his views on the current and future cyber security situations facing Australia.  It was also good to hear the Senator’s support for the need to build the technology workforce pipeline through relevant engagement with students to support a sovereign capability.  

The ACS Canberra Manager, Dr Vicki Gardiner, had the opportunity to participate in an industry panel at the University of Canberra 1st International Conference on Digital Inequality and Social Change.  

Discussing the relevance of education in developing a more digitally inclusive society, she was able to highlight the ACS key election platform policies of supporting school teachers by boosting the resources and support to implement the Australian Digital Technologies curriculum.  Our policy platform to build Australia’s regional digital economy by improving the digital literacy of regional communities and local businesses through providing support for hubs was also discussed.

ACS Canberra has also been involved in a discussion on how to support Australia’s quantum industry that, to date, has been led by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and has involved industry, government and industry associations.  We continue to be part of the conversation especially on how we can collaborate as part of an alliance to continue to build skills and capability in the sector.

Increasing the ACS’s relevance in Canberra has now offered opportunities for our members and your employers.

UC, ANU and UNSW Canberra are all asking ACS to promote their capstone and intern professional practice exposure programs to assist with offering real world projects for students to get a taste for what to expect when transitioning to work.  Please feel free to reach out to the ACS Canberra team or the various universities independently if you would like further information.

For members, we have a number of opportunities for you to network with colleagues and hear about the latest trends.  These include:

We are also trying a new initiative to hold webinars in languages other than English for overseas born technology professionals in order to build a more inclusive community.  If you feel you can assist in discussing career advice in a language other than English, please let the ACS Canberra team know.

There is so much happening in ACS Canberra at the moment, with a big announcement on a program in the wings that will be a wonderful opportunity for members and employers to help build the pipeline and diversity of our profession.  Look out for more about this soon.

Let's build a strong Canberra technology community together. 

Find out more about ACS Membership benefits and upcoming events.

 

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