-----
This weekly blog is to explore the news around the larger issues around
Digital Health, data security, data privacy, AI / ML. technology, social media
and related matters.
I will also try to highlight ADHA
Propaganda when I come upon it.
Just so we keep count, the latest Notes from the ADHA Board were dated
6 December, 2018 and we have seen none since! Its pretty sad!
Note: Appearance here is not to suggest I see any credibility or
value in what follows. I will leave it to the reader to decide what is
worthwhile and what is not! The point is to let people know what is being said
/ published that I have come upon.
-----
https://www.zdnet.com/article/attorney-general-asked-to-update-personal-information-definition-in-privacy-act/
Attorney-General asked to update 'personal information'
definition in Privacy Act
Many tech
giants, finance sector participants and regulators, human rights campaigners,
and startups agree the current definition is outdated.
By Asha Barbaschow |
February 9, 2021 -- 04:46 GMT (15:46 AEDT) | Topic: Security
The
Attorney-General's Department is currently in the midst of reviewing the
Australia Privacy Act 1988. Since October, it has been calling
for all interested parties to provide their two cents.
A reoccurring
theme from many of the submissions has been to align the Act with international
laws, such as Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Facebook, for
example, has suggested making such a change would prevent the creation of a
"splinternet".
Adopting many
elements of the GDPR would also provide for a more up-to-date definition of
"personal information", according to many. The Cyber Security
Cooperative Research Centre (CSCRC), which is based out of Edith Cowan
University in Western Australia, in its submission, called for the definition
of personal information to be amended
to align with the GPDR. As did Facebook.
-----
https://www.zdnet.com/article/senate-committees-one-recommendation-is-the-news-media-bargaining-code-be-passed/
Senate Committee's one recommendation is the News Media
Bargaining Code be passed
Labor
Senators, once again, set to wave through a piece of legislation with hopes the
party's concerns will be addressed before its passage.
By Asha Barbaschow |
February 12, 2021 -- 05:00 GMT (16:00 AEDT) | Topic: Tech Industry
Despite
hearing testimony from experts in the tech industry, such as the inventor
of the World Wide Web himself, the Senate Economics Legislation Committee
has given the green light to what is essentially a legacy media subsidy.
The
committee, after probing the Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms
Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2020 [Provisions], made one sole
recommendation: The committee recommends that the Bill be passed.
The
legislation mandating the Australian News Media Bargaining Code entered
the House of Representatives in December.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/realtime-data-will-be-key-to-australias-vaccine-rollout/news-story/f19a8fa16ff682eeeaf5cc95d5df0932
Real-time data will be
key to Australia’s vaccine rollout
Lee
Thompson
·
4:07PM February 12, 2021
One of the biggest economic issues COVID-19 has highlighted is the
complexity – and fragility – of supply chains. Critically, this complexity is
not just limited to the movement of international goods as state border
closures and hotspot declarations place strains on domestic supply chains.
But this economic challenge could become a major health issue as
Australia prepares to roll out COVID-19 vaccines – and IT is set to play a
major logistic role in ensuring vaccine distribution is smart, efficient, and
effective.
Healthcare and the pandemic’s digital switch
COVID-19 hasn’t just put healthcare providers at the centre of
public consciousness; it has also highlighted the pressing need for digital
transformation in the sector.
Recent
research Nutanix conducted found more than two-thirds (70 per cent) of
healthcare organisations said COVID-19 had caused IT to be viewed more
strategically and more than half had invested in additional hybrid cloud
capabilities last year.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/should-big-tech-be-regulated-like-big-banks-20210212-p571y6.html
Should big tech be regulated like big banks?
February 13, 2021 — 12.00am
The
UK’s competition regulator Andrea Coscelli is confident ‘big tech’ could be
regulated like the big banks as regulators globally continue to play catch up
in the race to clip the wings of the high-flying technology giants.
Speaking
at the annual Bannerman Competition lecture, in association with the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), this week, Coscelli didn’t mention
Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple by name but he didn’t need to.
The
pervasive power of these companies is now on the radar of every regulator in
the world, many of whom are keenly watching the
Australian government’s news media bargaining code.
The
code is the latest spot fire in the evolving tussle between regulators and
technology companies as Coscelli reiterated why a collective response was
urgently needed.
-----
https://itwire.com/it-industry/75th-anniversary-of-eniac-on-feb-15-2021,-the-first-all-electronic-programmable-computer.html
Friday, 12 February 2021 11:54
75th anniversary of ENIAC on 15 Feb, the first
all-electronic programmable computer
By Alex Zaharov-Reutt
In
just a few days time on February 15, it will be 75 years since the deployment
of the first all-electronic, programmable computer at the University of
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, called ENIAC, which stands for an
"Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer".
According
to Wikipedia, ENIAC was
"the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer. It
was Turing-complete, and able to solve "a large class of numerical
problems" through reprogramming."
Although
ENIAC was completed in 1945 and first put to work for practical purposes on
December 10, 1945, Wikipedia states "ENIAC was formally dedicated at the
University of Pennsylvania on February 15, 1946 and was heralded as a
"Giant Brain" by the press."
As
the ENIAC Day website
states, "the impact this machine has had on modern computing is
why its creation is still recognised and celebrated today."
-----
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a3c926bc-713c-496f-a830-dc6286d1e61d
Notifiable Data Breaches: What are your reporting
responsibilities?
Nyman Gibson
Miralis Australia February 10 2021
Dennis Miralis
The
Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme stipulates that an organisation must
notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) when a data breach involving personal information is likely
to result in serious harm.
The
OAIC has reported on notifications
received under the NDB scheme from 1 Jan. 2020 to 30 June 2020. We look at the
reported breaches relating to cyber incidents, which highlight the growing
risks from ransomware attacks.
Cyber
incidents reported
Cyber
incidents were the largest source of malicious and criminal
attacks during the reporting period, with the OAIC receiving 218 notifications.
This represented a slight decrease compared to the previous six months, where
225 cyber incidents were reported.
Phishing,
malware, ransomware, brute-force attack and compromised or stolen credentials
were the main sources of the data breaches:
-----
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/opinion/why-we-must-disrupt-social-medias-billiondollar-antivax-business
Why we must disrupt social media's billion-dollar
anti-vax business
Professor John
Dwyer
Professor
John Dwyer is co-founder of Friends of Science in Medicine and Emeritus
Professor at UNSW.
11th February
2021
With
the COVID-19 virus killing more than 2000 Americans daily, the
country's Surgeon General recently noted that a vaccine is of
"no use if you are dead and no use to you if you don’t get vaccinated”.
The
latter point matters — some 42% of Americans are reluctant to be vaccinated
despite estimates that a 70% uptake is necessary to produce herd
immunity.
Irresponsibility,
and outrageous even for Fox News, presenter Laura Ingraham recently
interviewed a ‘retired microbiologist’, who took to the airwaves to share
his view that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous.
“Why
is that?” she asked.
“Well,
your producer told me the interview was limited to three minutes and it would
take about 15 minutes to explain my concerns.”
Promising
a follow-up, Ms Ingraham apologised for the brevity.
-----
https://wildhealth.net.au/the-booking-engine-cat-herding-dilemma/
11 February
2021
The booking engine cat herding dilemma
Insights
Posted by Jeremy Knibbs
Is
it feasible that we can develop a centralised federal co-ordinating system that
talks to all the commercial bookings systems and the state based ones in
time for the vaccine roll out?
Most
GPs (maybe up to 85% even) are well served by an existing patient booking
service (eg, Hotdoc, HealthEngine, HealthSite etc).
The
Department of Health has just determined that their Central Booking Service
(which they had advertised broadly to GPs and pharmacists in each expression of
interest program) won’t actually be a central service any more and they will
instead attempt to link to all the existing booking engines in market (clever
approach) to get bookings done.
They
will list all clinics providing vaccinations centrally on their National Health
Services Directory, run by HealthDirect, and quickly build a central inventory
system that talks to each of the existing booking engines to extract
de-identified data on bookings so they can effectively manage the massively
complex process of getting the right amount of stock to the right clinics at
the right time (more on this below).
-----
https://medicalrepublic.com.au/privacy-of-public-health-datasets-under-scrutiny/40136
11 February
2021
Privacy of public health datasets under scrutiny
Public Health Technology
Posted by Clare
Watson
A
new data privacy tool, designed to ensure publicly released anonymised datasets
remain secure and private, has cybersecurity experts asking questions about its
veiled design.
An
early version of the Personal Information Factor (PIF) tool, developed by the
NSW government and the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre in
collaboration with CSIRO’s Data61, has already been put to use in the pandemic,
analysing privacy risks of sharing deidentified datasets tracking COVID-19
cases across the state.
With
the pandemic still in full swing, more personal data is flying around than ever
before. Deidentifying data involves
removing any personal identifiers and using other software safeguards to
prevent reidentification.
In
the context of the pandemic, making such information available to policy
makers, health experts and researchers has been critical to informing COVID-19
outbreak response.
Nevertheless,
when any kind of anonymous public data is shared online an individual’s privacy
is at stake.
-----
https://apo.org.au/node/310831
The digital lives of Aussie teens
9 Feb 2021
Office of the eSafety
Commissioner (Australia)
Cyberbullying Social media Cyber safety Digital communications Digital media Technology and youth Teenagers Youth Australia
Resources The digital lives of Aussie teens 437.43 KB
Description
The
internet is an integral part of Aussie teens’ digital lives. While teens’ high
use of technology offers many benefits, there is a downside – negative online
experiences.
This
research provides a glimpse into the digital lives of Australian teenagers, how
they deal with negative online experiences, the types of information they need
to stay safe online and the information sources that they trust. It also looks
at the types of positive online behaviours in which they engage.
The research
is based on a survey of 627 teens aged 12-17 in September 2020.
Key
findings:
- Results in 2020 show that this group
spend a large amount of their time online on a range of activities. This
is not particularly surprising given the critical role the internet played
in connecting people to services, information, friends and family during
the recent COVID-19 restrictions. It highlights that while social media
preferences are changing, mainstream players such as YouTube and Facebook
continue to capture much of this group's attention. Newer services,
including TikTok and Discord have, however, made significant inroads into
the youth market in Australia over a relatively short period of time.
- While teens’ increased use of
technology offers many benefits such as being able to research topics of
interest and connect with family and friends, there is a downside – teens
continue to deal with negative online experiences including unwanted
contact, cyberbullying and harassment.
- A surprising finding was that
Australian teens are active in helping build positive and inclusive online
relationships, which could help others when dealing with similar issues
online. This was even more apparent with teens who had previously had a
negative online experience.
-----
4 hrs ·
Safer
Internet Day 2021 – ‘Start the chat about online safety’
On
Safer Internet Day, Tuesday 9 February, the Australian Digital Health Agency
encourages you to “start the chat about managing your digital footprint”.
By
sharing your experiences and encouraging online awareness you can protect your
family, workplace and community from cyber threats – for example reporting
suspicious online activity or taking the six steps for simple digital
self-defence.
https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/recent-media-releases/six-steps-for-digital-self-defence-during-australian
-----
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=fcb2c400-d0da-49e9-b6f1-38b4c4c6d75f
Australian Signals Directorate: Recent offensive cyber
signals intelligence operations
Nyman Gibson
Miralis - Dennis Miralis
Australia February 8 2021
The
Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) defends Australia from global threats and
advances its national interests through the provision of foreign signals
intelligence, cyber security and offensive cyber operations as directed by the Australian
Government.
In
its 2019-20 annual report, the ASD
outlines its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its approach to offensive
cyber operations.
ASD’s
COVID-19 response
The
pandemic created an increased need for cyber security advice and support across
business, government, and the public.
Throughout
the reporting period the ASD focused on:
- Providing tailored cyber security
advice, including to the healthcare sector and to small and medium-sized
businesses.
- Providing cyber security technical
advice to assist in the development and ongoing implementation of the
COVIDSafe app.
- Mitigating and disrupting COVID-19 related crimes such as cybercrime, as
demonstrated below.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/national/google-is-on-thin-ice-if-it-wants-to-remain-in-australia-it-should-rethink-20210210-p5713l.html
Google is on thin ice. If it wants to remain in
Australia, it should rethink
By Shumi
Akhtar
February 10, 2021 — 11.03am
Google
is taking the media world by storm. The multinational tech giant, which owns an
eye-watering 94 per cent of the Australian search engine market – worth about
$4 billion – is unsurprisingly using its immense market power to attempt to
thwart the federal government’s proposal to revise our outdated national media
codes.
Far
from being cowed, the Australian government is digging in its heels. It is
showing itself to be unafraid of taking on foreign investors who, for decades,
have taken unfair advantage of our business-friendly environment, which has
resulted in Australia bleeding trillions of dollars to technology companies
such as Google, whether in the form of inadequate compensation to local
businesses, a failure to pay their fair share of tax, or both.
Google’s
managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Melanie Silva, declared the
new media code would “break” the company’s business model – an ironic claim,
given that Google prides itself on constantly changing and adopting new
strategies to maintain its market share and stay competitive.
While
prominent US bodies such as the US Chamber of Commerce and the Office of the US
Trade Representative expressed concern during the Australian Senate inquiry
into the News Media and Digital Platforms Bargaining Code – alleging that
Australia was explicitly discriminating against US companies – the proposed
revision of our media code has nothing to do with targeting or victimising
American technology companies.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/facebook-bans-vaccine-conspiracies-in-covid-19-misinformation-crackdown-20210209-p570vh.html
Facebook bans vaccine conspiracies in COVID-19
misinformation crackdown
By Lisa Visentin
February 9, 2021 — 6.28pm
Facebook
says it will ban vaccine conspiracy theories from its platforms, including
claims they cause autism, as part of a wider crackdown on COVID-19
misinformation.
The
tech giant said it would immediately begin removing false claims on Facebook
and Instagram that contributed to vaccine rejection, as well as those that
discouraged “good health practices” including claims that masks did not help
prevent the spread of the virus.
Liberal
MP Craig Kelly, who has come under fire for using Facebook to advocate for
COVID-19 treatments at odds with official medical advice, said he was “not at
all” worried he would be captured by the tech giant’s revised misinformation
policy.
“The
accusations against me that I’ve been publishing misinformation are
misinformation themselves,” Mr Kelly said.
However,
Mr Kelly confirmed he had removed one post at Facebook’s request after the
company complained it was at odds with World Health Organisation advice. He
said Facebook had also flagged two other posts on his page with warning labels.
-----
https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/technology/news/facebook-issues-update-on-covid-19-misinformation-819755706
Facebook issues update on COVID-19 misinformation
Wednesday, 10 February, 2021
Facebook
has announced important updates to its misinformation
policy in relation to COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines and vaccines in general
during the pandemic.
The
social media giant will expand its efforts to remove false claims from Facebook
and Instagram, following consultations with leading health organisations,
including the World Health Organization (WHO).
“We
are expanding the list of false claims we will remove to include additional
debunked claims about the coronavirus and vaccines,” Facebook VP Integrity Guy
Rosen posted in an update. “This includes claims such as:
- COVID-19 is man-made or
manufactured.
- Vaccines are not effective at
preventing the disease they are meant to protect against.
- It’s safer to get the disease than
to get the vaccine.
- Vaccines are toxic, dangerous or
cause autism.”
The
full list of claims is available here.
-----
https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/eu-ready-to-follow-australia-s-lead-on-making-big-tech-pay-for-news-20210209-p570rg
EU to copy Australia’s lead on making Big Tech pay for
news
Javier Espinoza and Alex Barker
Feb 9, 2021 –
9.02am
Brussels/London
| EU lawmakers overseeing new digital regulation in Europe want to force Big
Tech companies to pay for news, echoing a similar move in
Australia and strengthening the hand of publishers against Google
and Facebook.
The
initiative from members of the European Parliament would be a serious blow to
Google, which has threatened to leave Australia in protest at a planned new law
that would compel it to pay for news.
Facebook
has also warned it will stop users in Australia from sharing news if the
legislation is passed in its current form.
Lawmakers
working on two landmark draft European digital regulations, the Digital
Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), told the Financial
Times the laws could be amended as they pass through the EU
Parliament to include aspects of the Australian reforms.
-----
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=2d173cfd-d3c3-4d84-b63c-235e1ae44f2e
Government vs Google: Will The Tech Giant Really Leave
Australia?
Sydney
Criminal Lawyers - Sonia Hickey – 3
Feb, 2021
The
battle lines have been drawn. Google Search has threatened to leave Australia
if the new media bargaining code is introduced. So what does the future hold
for the search engine that controls 95% of the market?
The
proposed law
The
Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and
Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2020 was
introduced into the House of Representatives in December last year.
It
follows a 12-month review into Google
and Facebook by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and
is designed to force the digital media giants to negotiate with Australian
media companies to pay for their content.
Facebook
and Google have called the code ‘unworkable’ and have, over the past several
months, used their digital presence to spruik their sides of the argument.
Google
has gone so far as threatening to entirely shut down Search in Australia.
Caught
in the middle are internet users in Australia; about 22 million of them. And many questions remain unanswered.
-----
https://www.medianet.com.au/releases/196688/
09 Feb 2021
1:00 PM AEST
News
Release
February
9, 2021
Bush Uber … but for blood and meds: Australia’s first
drone trial for life-saving medical supplies for remote communities
Custom-made,
state-of-the-art medical drones with a flying range of up to 250km will be
developed and trialled for delivery of potentially life-saving medicines in the
Northern Territory - Australia’s first ever healthcare drone trail for regional
Australia.
The
project will also pave the way for future delivery of critical items such as
cold-storage vaccines (Covid 19) in regional and remote communities, the iMOVE
Cooperative Research Centre – part of the Federal Government-funded CRC Program
- revealed today.
The
Northern Territory is one of the most sparsely settled jurisdictions in the
developed world with a significant Indigenous population living in remote
communities.
iMOVE
is funding the project in partnership with the NT Government Department of
Health and Charles Darwin University (CDU), who will manage the trial under
Associate Professor Hamish Campbell.
-----
https://www.ddwmphn.com.au/upcoming-events/digital-health-tools-for-specialist-practices-panel-discussion
Digital health tools for specialist practices - Panel
discussion
The
Australian Digital Health Agency is pleased to be hosting an interactive
webinar focusing on digital health technologies for private specialists and
practice staff, including My Health Record, telehealth, electronic prescribing
and secure messaging. A panel of experts will be fielding questions and
discussing how digital health can enable improved decision support and
continuity of care.
When
7:00pm - 8:00pm,
Tuesday 16th February 2021
Where
Online
Organiser
Australian Digital Health Agency
CPD
Points Available?
No
-----
https://www.anzca.edu.au/news/safety-and-advocacy-news/digital-health-specialist-toolkit-launched
Digital Health Specialist Toolkit launched
8 February, 2021
A new resource is available to assist private specialist practices
to better understand and adopt digital health technologies.
The Australian Digital Health Agency has co-developed the Digital Health
Specialist Toolkit with input and testing from specialists and practice staff. The
toolkit contains interviews, guides, learning modules, demonstrations videos
and much more.
CPD-accredited eLearning modules provide an introduction and overview of
digital health technologies, electronic prescribing, My Health Record and
telehealth, including applications, proven benefits and ethical considerations.
-----
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/can-vaxxies-help-promote-covid19-vaccines-hesitant
Can 'vaxxies' help promote COVID-19 vaccines to the
hesitant?
Supporters
believe they're a public health message that should go viral
15th January
2021
By Antony Scholefield
The
head of one major hospital network in the US recently discovered what
he calls the “most effective” technique of persuading patients to get the
COVID-19 vaccine.
It’s
a ‘vaccine selfie station’.
“It
enables people, once they’ve gotten their shot, to take a selfie, take a small
video, make a testimonial, and we then post it on social media so people find
out that folks just like them have got the vaccine and are quite happy about it,”
said Dr Mark Keroack, the CEO of Baystate Health in In Massachusetts.
The
vaccine selfie — or “vaxxie”, as it was christened by US
actor-turned-science-educator Alan Alda — has become a big thing in the US.
And
as a result, it has become an object of research, an art object and a source of
controversy.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/why-the-accc-is-rightly-zeroing-in-on-google-s-ad-tech-monopoly-20210207-p570bk
Why the ACCC is rightly zeroing in on Google’s ad tech
monopoly
Could you
imagine the New York Stock Exchange being at the same time the broker of the
seller and the broker of the buyer, while also running the clearing house?
Damien Geradin and Dimitrios Katsifis
Feb 7, 2021 –
6.02pm
Google’s
dominant position as both buyer and seller in online ad exchanges is the kind
of thing not
tolerated in financial markets.
Last
month the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released a
200-plus-page interim “ad tech” report which found that “a lack of
competition and transparency in the digital advertising technology supply chain
is impacting publishers, advertisers and consumers”.
Ad
tech is no small business. According to the ACCC, in Australia alone ad
tech services enable the delivery of $ 3.4 billion in ad opportunities
every year.
But
why are regulators – not just in Australia but also in the US, UK, EU, and
beyond – probing the arcane world of online advertising?
Regulators
are justifiably zeroing in on the anti-competitive conduct of the dominant ad
tech player – none other than former Silicon Valley darling Google.
-----
https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/rod-sims-big-tech-fixation-blinds-him-to-murdoch-s-monopoly-20210203-p56zam
Rod Sims’ big tech fixation blinds him to Murdoch’s
monopoly
News Corp’s
market power will grow under the ACCC boss’ media bargaining code by forcing
Google and Facebook to pay for Fox News-style clickbait.
Kevin Rudd Former
Australian prime minister
Feb 7, 2021 –
12.59pm
It’s
understandable that Rod Sims worries about emergent digital monopolies. They
are huge. But the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman’s
fixation on new media monopolies has blinded him to existing ones – especially
Rupert Murdoch’s 70 per cent stranglehold on print readership.
As
Sims recently told The Australian Financial Review, Murdoch isn’t
such a “big,
bad guy”. After all, he says, News Corp’s global market
capitalisation is just a fraction that of Google or Facebook.
This
same attitude guided Sims to green-light Murdoch’s cementing of his undisputed
domination in Queensland in 2016 through the
acquisition of APN Australian Regional Media’s 12 daily newspapers,
60 community titles and 30 websites.
-----
https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/the-daunting-task-of-bringing-big-tech-to-heel-20210129-p56xra
The daunting task of bringing Big Tech to heel
The Morrison government
has been able to claim a small victory in its skirmish with big tech. But
Google will be deeply aware that any deal it strikes to pay publishers for
content will create a global precedent.
Karen Maley Columnist
Feb 8, 2021 –
12.00am
The
Morrison government’s relief was palpable as Google withdrew its threat to shut
down its search engine in Australia if it is forced to pay media publishers for
content.
After
crisis talks on Thursday morning with Sundar Pichai, the head of
Google’s parent firm, Alphabet, Prime Minister Scott Morrison appeared
confident that the threat of a Google-free Australia had been averted.
But
he emphasised that he had not stepped away from proposed new laws that would
force Google to pay for news on their platforms, instead advising the Silicon
Valley titan to negotiate commercial deals with media publishers.
-----
https://www.itwire.com/guest-articles/guest-opinion/how-it-will-lead-digital-transformations.html
Monday, 08 February 2021 01:54
How IT will lead digital transformations
By Andrew Henderson, Jitterbit
GUEST OPINION by Andrew Henderson,
Managing Director APAC, Jitterbit: As enterprises race towards digital
transformation, initiatives to achieve transformation have become IT leaders’
most urgent goal. The pressure to deliver new and personalised customer
experiences has reached crisis mode.
The Covid-19 pandemic has raised
the urgency of digital transformation as companies have been forced to shift
from in-person to contactless sales and services overnight. Delivering digital
customer experiences has become the only way to do business.
IT departments have been obliged
to pivot and rapidly develop new products and personalised customer
experiences.
Digital transformation is often
described as ‘a foundational change in how an organisation delivers value to
its customers.’ Today’s environment demands delivering value via personalised
customer experiences from digital channels such as mobile apps, messaging apps,
social media, as well as physical delivery (supported by digital
communications).
-----
https://www.itwire.com/guest-articles/the-it-industry-in-2021-what%E2%80%99s-next.html
Saturday, 06 February 2021 09:00
The IT industry in 2021: What’s next?
By Guest Writer
Guest
Opinion: The IT industry kept the world going throughout 2020’s devastating
global pandemic. With employees forced to work from home, parents schooling
their children and businesses relying on online sales to keep afloat – digital
solutions came to the fore in every aspect of our lives. With fewer social
interactions, digital entertainment and communications were more important than
ever too – with streaming, gaming and video
calls replacing nights at the cinema, concerts, sports or even just chats with
your family.
That
reflected in a strong market performance. As IG has highlighted, the tech
sector grew 24.5% globally between February and October. Many individuals were
exposed to some technologies for the first time – and many businesses had to
fast forward their digital transformation – with existing trends fast forwarded
out of necessity.
Clearly,
there were still challenges for those within IT – and this sector doesn’t
operate in a silo. When other industries struggle, their spend on
IT will clearly be hampered. But, there’s good news on that front too. Gartner
estimates that IT spending across Australian industries will pick up, with 3.6% growth predicted for 2021
and transport, education and healthcare with the particularly strong
performance expected. A big economic recovery – if it
can occur – will have a big knock-on effect for demand in IT.
-----
https://www.itwire.com/technology-regulation/google-launches-news-showcase-in-australia-a-day-after-morrison-call.html
Friday, 05 February 2021 14:10
Google launches News Showcase in Australia a day after
Morrison call
By Sam Varghese
Google
has launched its News Showcase in Australia, a product that was announced in October 2020,
but not introduced Down Under till now due to the company's stoush with the
government over the news media code.
After
much drama, with Google
telling a Senate hearing that it would pull its search service from Australia,
the company launched the showcase (image below, courtesy Google) on Friday
with a number of publications, many from Australian Community Media, being
featured in the initial version.
The
fact that it has launched just a day after Australian Prime Minister Scott
Morrison had what was described as
a "cordial" chat with Alphabet and Google chief executive Sundar
Pichai means it must have been in the works for some time. Such an initiative
could not be launched at short notice.
Among
the publications that have cut deals with Google are the The
Canberra Times, The Illawarra Mercury, The
Saturday Paper, Crikey, The New Daily, InDaily and The
Conversation.
-----
Comments more
than welcome!
David.
