Participating in the Realising Our Broadband Future forum

Only a few hundred people can attend the Realising Our Broadband Future forum in Sydney this week. The organisers have therefore arranged for Participating Remotely. Main (plenary) sessions will be webcast and smaller workshop sessions audio streamed. The format for this is simialr to that developed for the Public Sphere events and is explained at Senator Kate Lundy's website.

The twitter hash tag #bbfuture is being used for the event, allowing comments.

Ideas and questions for discussion can be submitted in 'Open to Your Ideas'. This moderated forum accepts short Twitter style comments, plus You Tube video. They can be on of the five discussion streams: Smart Infrastructure, Digital Education, e-Communities, e-Health and e-Business.

Also there will be a Wiki will to bring together ideas, with a separate section for each stream. The audio of the live sessions will also be linked for replay.

There are also some remote venues for live participation, such as Parramatta City Council.

Last night I attended a Google Wave developers session. Wave and similar technologyg ives the prospect of a more unified and easier to understand way to do such collaboration. While instant messaging, video, wikis and web forums provide useful tools, there is a confusing range of different interfaces.

Conference Program Day 1 - Thursday 10 December 2009

0800	Registration Open
Plenary Session
0900	Opening Remarks: Forum Co-chair - Dr Paul Twomey, Senior President of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers Session chair - Senator, the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
0905	Opening Address, Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP
0935	Keynote Speaker: Mike Quigley, Chief Executive Officer of NBN Co.
1000	International Keynote Speaker: Jeffrey Cole, Director USC Annenberg School
1030	Morning Tea
Plenary Session
1100	Opening Remarks: Session Chair - Senator Kate Lundy, Senator for the Australian Capital Territory
1105	International Keynote Speaker: Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft
1110	International Keynote Speaker: Vinton G Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google David King, YouTube Product Manager, Google
1130	Keynote Speaker: Samantha Hannah-Rankin, Manager Corporate Development, Australia Post
1150	Keynote Speaker: Dr Nick Gruen, Chair, Government Web2.0 Taskforce
1210	Keynote Speaker: Brad Wearn, CIO, BHP Billiton Iron Ore
1230	Q&A Session with speakers
1240	Lunch Break
Stream Session 1 What are the possibilities
1340	Stream 1 Smart Infrastructure Facilitator - Alan Smart, Senior Consultant/Marketing Director, ACIL Tasman Panelist 1 - Tristram Carfrae, Arup Fellow & Deputy Chair, Global Buildings Board Panelist 2 - Geof Heydon, Director, Market Development & Digital Economies, Alcatel-Lucent Panelist 3 - Chris Althaus, CEO, Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association
	Stream 2 e-Health Facilitator - Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, Visiting Fellow, GP Melbourne's West; Head of Clinical Unit - NEHTA; Former AMA President & Commissioner NHHRC Panelist 1 - Gary Cohen, CEO, iSOFT Panelist 2 - Adam Powick, Deloitte Partner, Technology Panelist 3 - Glen Boreham, Managing Director, IBM Australia
	Stream 3 Digital Education Facilitator - Greg Moo, CIO, Department of Education and Training, Northern Territory Panelist 1 - Craig Foster, Education Director, Microsoft Australia Panelist 2 - Andrew Skewes, Executive Director, Bendigo Campus, LaTrobe University Panelist 3 - David O'Hagan, CIO, The Learning Place, Education Queensland
	Stream 4 e-Business Facilitator - Deena Shiff, Group Managing Director, Telstra Business Panelist 1 - Lisa Colley, Centre Director, Creative Industries Innovation Centre Panelist 2 - Robert Murray, CEO, Firemint Panelist 3 - Darren Alexander, CEO, AuTech
	Stream 5 e-Community Facilitator - Jan Fullerton, CEO, National Library of Australia Panelist 1 - Geoff Anson, Chairman and Co-founder, One Laptop per Child Panelist 2 - Lisa Harvey, CEO, Energetica Panelist 3 - Richard Kimber, CEO, Friendster
1530	Afternoon Tea
Stream Session 2 Reality Check
1600	Stream 1 Smart Infrastructure Facilitator - Dr Alex Zelinsky, Director, ICT Centre, CSIRO Panelist 1 - Ross Carter, Division Head, Department of Environment, Water Heritage and the Arts Panelist 2 - Prof Rod Tucker, Director, Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) Panelist 3 - Denis McGee, GM Infrastructure and Security Services, NAB
	Stream 2 e-Health Facilitator - Carol Bennett, Executive Director, Consumers Health Forum Panelist 1 - Dr Chris Pearce, GP and Researcher Panelist 2 - Prof Michael Georgeff, CEO, Precedence Health Care Panelist 3 - Prof Branko Celler, Director, TeleMedCare
	Stream 3 Digital Education Facilitator - Prof Catherine Beavis, Professor of Education, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University Panelist 1 - Anne-Marie Lansdown, Division Head, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Panelist 2 - Raju Varanasi, GM, Centre for Learning Innovation, NSW Department of Education and Training Panelist 3 - Heather Watson, Director, The Learning Federation
	Stream 4 e-Business Facilitator - John Grant, Managing Director, Data#3 Panelist 1 - Jim McKerlie, CEO, Bullseye Group Panelist 2 - Daniel Petre, Executive Chairman, netus Panelist 3 - Chris Rodwell, Director Innovation and Queensland Director of the Australian Industry Group
	Stream 5 e-Community Facilitator - Kerry Graham, CEO, Australia Social Inclusion Board Panelist 1 - Frank McGuire, Founder Global Learning Village Panelist 2 - Denis Moriarty, COO, Our Community Panelist 3 - Allan Asher, CEO, Australian Communications Consumers Action Network
1730	Networking Function Hosted by Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

Conference Program Day 2 - Friday 11 December 2009

Plenary Session
0900	Day 2 Opening Remarks: Forum Co-chair - Dr Paul Twomey, Senior President of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers
0905	International Keynote Speaker: Dr Larry Smarr, Founding Director, California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology
0910	Keynote Speaker: Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
0930	Keynote Speaker: Abigail E. Thomas, Head, Strategic Innovation & Development, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
0950	Keynote Speaker: Stuart Tucker, GM Marketing Aussie Home Loans & Iain McDonald, Director, Amnesia
1020	Morning Tea
1040	Keynote Speaker: David Bartlett, Premier of Tasmania, Australia
1100	Keynote Speaker: Jane Bennett, CEO, Ashgrove Cheese
Stream Session 3 Next Steps
1120	Stream 1 Smart Infrastructure Facilitator - Prof Stuart White, Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures Panelist 1 - Dr Brian Boyle, Director, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility Panelist 2 - Kevin Bloch, CTO, Cisco Australia Panelist 3 - Brendan Morling, Division Head, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
	Stream 2 e-Health Facilitator - Prof Michael Legg, Chair, Health Informatics Society of Australia Panelist 1 - Prof Rob Evans, Victoria Research Laboratory Director, National ICT Australia Panelist 2 - Rosemary Huxtable, Ag Deputy Secretary, Department of Health and Ageing Panelist 3 - Nigel Milan, National Chief Executive Officer, Royal Flying Doctor Service
	Stream 3 Digital Education Facilitator - Dr Stephen Winn, Senior Lecturer, Special Education/Educational Psychology, UNE Panelist 1 - Dr Evan Arthur, Group Manager, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Panelist 2 - Tom Cochrane, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Technology, Information and Learning Support, Queensland University of Technology Panelist 3 - Stephen Wilson, CIO, NSW Department of Education and Training
	Stream 4 e-Business Facilitator - Dr Bronte Adams, Principal, Dandolo Partners Pty Ltd Panelist 1 - Mike Sibley, GM Online e-Business Services, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Panelist 2 - Maha Krishnapillai, Director of Government and Corporate Affairs, Optus Panelist 3 - Tim Harcourt, Chief Economist, Austrade
	Stream 5 e-Community Facilitator - Clare Martin, CEO, Australian Council of Social Service Panelist 1 - Brad Wynter, Manager Organisation Support, Whittlesea City Council Panelist 2 - Omar Khalifa, Managing Director, Livewire Panelist 3 - Barry Sandison, Group Manager, Families Group, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
1300	Lunch Break
Plenary Session
1400	Dr Paul Twomey - Overview of Final Plenary Session
1405	Stream 1 Smart Infrastructure Lead Editor - Alan Noble, Engineering Director, Google Australia
1425	Stream 2 e-Health Lead Editor - Peter Fleming, CEO, National E-Health Transition Authority
1445	Stream 3 Digital Education Lead Editor - Bruce Dixon, President, Anytime, Anywhere Learning Foundation
1505	Stream 4 e-Business Lead Editor - Dr Bruce McCabe, Director, Technology Innovation, KPMG
1525	Afternoon Tea
1555	Stream 5 e-Community Lead Editor - Genevieve Bell, Director, User Experience, Intel
1615	Closing Remarks Senator, the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
1630	Conference Close