Final thoughts on Our Broadband Future

Roger Clarke wrote some "Final Thoughts about the Broadband Future Event" in Sydney last week. For me the event ended on a positive note with Genevieve Bell, on e-Community. It was refreshing to hear ideas about broadband for people to use,
rather than as something done to them.

I started to suffer from conference fatigue on the last day, to the
point that in a moment of inattention I plugged the wrong power supply into my wireless modem and destroyed it.

George Bray wrote in the Link List: "I was able to participate remotely from my beachside cabin ...". In a way he got better access to the event than I did, sitting in the venue (just behind the PM, Minister and assorted dignitaries).

There were power boards and WiFi supplied for the Twiterarty in the fist and last few rows of seats. However, sitting cramped over a 10 inch netbook screen in your lap for hours is not very comfortable. Given that much of the time I was not looking at the live speaker, but instead at my netbook or at the projected image on the big screen in the auditorium, I might as well have been somewhere more comfortable.

There were some advantages being there live, such as the spectacle of Senator Lundy operate a laptop with one hand while Twittering on a smart phone with the other. The coffee and lunch breaks were very high bandwidth networking events. A node of ACS people formed in the centre of the room, grabbing anyone important who wandered past and lobbying them on assorted issues (It was useful to be able to meet the new ACS CEO and President Elect).

It was a little unsettling to wander into a conversation and find the Minister for Communications, the head of the ABC, or the PM part of the discussion.

One frustration I had was that the media were never in the media room, they were wandering around taking part in the discussions. The speakers preparation room was more open that I have seen it at commercial events, with non-speakers allowed to wander in.

Another frustration was the large number of the Link mailing list members present. As everyone else was furiously trying to plug their product or policy proposal, I tried this myself, but people kept saying: "Yes Tom, I read you posting about that on Link".

In retrospect, perhaps I would have been better off sitting in the media or speaker's room at a comfortable desk during the sessions, watching them on screen. Then I could have come out to mingle during the breaks.

The stream sessions did not work so well. The problem was that most of the time was taken up with talks by the panellists. While mostly excellent people and speakers, this was a waste of the limited time. It would have been better to provide the talks online in advance and then go straight to discussions. Also I could not get the Wiki to work at all, despite (or because of) all the user-ids and passwords I had been issued with. As a result I felt I had less ability to communicate by being in the room.

This was an excellent experiment in an Internet enhanced event (not quite as good as the Internet Global Summit).

But perhaps more of the bar camp format could be adopted. There was too much spent on glitz and stage managing. As an example we could have done without the glossy colour program (so glossy you could not scribble notes on it). A sheet of monochrome paper printed at the last minute (so it was up to date) would have done. The expensive looking neoprene
conference satchel was so large it was an encumbrance and does someone at the Department have a rubber fetish? ;-)

Perhaps what is needed is an official event with the important speeches and "fringe" events with the less formal bar camp style discussions.


ps: Technology does have its limits. After the forum I took a 370 bus to King Street to go to a performance of "Cabret" at the New Theatre. In the street I bumped into Chris
Chesher, who mentioned there is a Fibreculture event on Wednesday, about "Freedom and control in the Australian Internet".

e-Community in Our Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). The event ended on a positive note with Genevieve Bell, on e-Community. It was refreshing to hear ideas about broadband for people to use, rather than as something done to them.

Wireless Our Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). Stephen Wilson, CIO, NSW Department of Education and Training, described how wireless will be provided on school grounds. There seems to be little point in the school sector building a wireless network. Instead, I have already suggested, NBN Co. provide wireless as part of their network.

Tasmanian Open Source e-Learning Materials for Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). Dr Evan Arthur pointed out that their were difficult issues with access to educationally relevant digital materials, such as ABC's archive. One way I suggest the education sector could help of federal funding that such a licence is used. This could start with the funding for e-learning which the PM announced for Tasmania yesterday. The Commonwealth can simply specify the open source licence, such as Creative Commons, to be used. The Tasmanian Government will then be required to comply with that licence in order to receive funding. If done carefully this can also boost the Tasmanian economy by encouraging additional commercial services which can add to the open source.

"In Tasmania, we will invest $4.9 million in the Connected - Any Student, Any School project. This will enable Tasmanian schools to use technologies to offer exciting and innovative personalised learning opportunities - using practical, hands on and local, national and global e-learning programs and services. In the short term, the focus will be on services in the NBN pilot towns of Scottsdale and Smithton, while in the longer term services will be delivered across the whole of Tasmania as the NBN is deployed...."

From: Realising our broadband future, Prime Minister of Australia, 10 December 2009

Tasmanian Alternative Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). After the disappointing presentation from David Bartlett, Premier of Tasmania, there was an excellent talk by Jane Bennett, CEO, Ashgrove Cheese in Tasmania. This was the sort of well researched, sober and serious presentation the Premier should have been given. Perhaps he should take up making cheese and Ms Bennett could take over running Tasmania.

Tasmania's Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). Speaking now is David Bartlett, Premier of Tasmania. I have proposed that Tasmania should put its smaller tourism accommodation online, for Green Broadband Jobs, (so that tourists who can't book online instead decide to go to New Zealand) and hopefully this message will get to the Premier. The premier mentioned the trial for "Smart Street" set top boxes. He also mentioned the potential for smart grid technology combined with renewable power. This would be a good application for Tasmania. Unfortunately whoever wrote the Premier's speech did not research it properly. The speech was peppered with inaccuracies, such as the claim that each google search produced 1.5 Grammes of CO2. Also the level of hype in the speech might suit a political rally but was inappropriate for a broadband conference.

Old Media Still Struggling with Our Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). Abigail E. Thomas, Head, Strategic Innovation & Development, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, is talking about how the ABC sees the broadband future. Unfortunately the ABC seems to see this future as little video clips from TV put on a web site. The ABC is making several bold experiments online, but seem to be fixated with old fashioned TV. What the ABC seems to have difficulty with is joining up all the disparate technologies into one current whole. As an example, the ABC is starting to provide radio via Digital Audio Broadcasting, but doesn't provide the same radio via the audio channels already available on digital TV. This would be a very simple to do, but the ABC doesn't do it, perhaps because they see "radio" and "TV" as two separate media.

What ABC needs to do is restructure itself for the new environment: its all bits. The challenge is to work out what business the ABC is in. The convergence of technology would suggest that the ABC is there to collect and create content, which then can be available in the form of text, audio and video. The ABC needs to therefore restructure itself for that environment.

ps: Perhaps I was a little harsh with the ABC. The next speakers were Stuart Tucker, GM Marketing Aussie Home Loans & Iain McDonald, Director, Amnesia. They bored the audience rigid with a tedious history of how Aussie Home Loans uses the web for marketing. Such a presentation might be f interest to marketing executives who had not heard of the web before and were not familiar with its history, but this was a waste of their time and our time at a broadband conference. If this is how Aussie Home Loans think they should do promotion of their business, then this is not a business I would want to invest in.

Getting to Our Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). Speaking now is Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. He is arguing that investing in broadband is an investemnt in education, health, the enviornment and regional devlopment. Next is Abigail E. Thomas, Head, Strategic Innovation & Development, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Stuart Tucker, GM Marketing Aussie Home Loans & Iain McDonald, Director, Amnesia. After morning tea is David Bartlett, Premier of Tasmania, Australia and Jane Bennett, CEO, Ashgrove Cheese. I have proposed that Tasmania should put its smaller tourism accomidation online, for Green Boradband Jobs, (so that tourists who can't book online instead decide to go to New Zeland) and hopefully this message will get to the Premier.

Education in our Our Broadband Future

Greetings from "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum in Sydney (you can participate online). The afternoon stream I selected is Digital Education with Greg Moo, CIO, Department of Education and Training, Northern Territory, Craig Foster, Education Director, Microsoft Australia, Andrew Skewes, Executive Director, Bendigo Campus, LaTrobe University, David O'Hagan, CIO, The Learning Place, Education Queensland. Also like the rest of the delegates, I am coming to grips with the Wiki for the event. We have all been invited to contribute. My book of my e-learning course was launched earlier at the event.

The first d-education session was a little disappointing. The low point was a promotional video from Microsoft, with their version of the future. This video was not specific to education (and apparently was being show in one of the other streams as well). I was having difficulty getting the wifi to work, so I could use the Wiki and so went out to the conference technical support desk (The conference has excellent technical support).

At that point I decided to take a break and wandered off for a coffee at the student union. The coffee turned out to be free, as I found I had wandered into a scientific conference. This was at something called the "Eora Exchange", by lahznimmo architects. This was a dropping cyber cafe (with real coffee). There are wall botths which seat about six students, on each side of a table. One the wall at the end of each table is a large computer screen, with a VGA cable. There are five power points available on the wall for laptops and another two points on a pop-up panel in the tabletop. Also there is the UNSW wireless. I felt right at home here and was a little reluctant to go back to the fast pace of the forums. Also I felt I was learning more about d-education from observing this room than I had at the official forum.

ps: I tried to post the following comment to the wiki comments on the forum. But I was unable to enter my user id or get the anti-spam image check to work, so here is my comment. Perhaps someone who can get the wiki to work can add it:

One of the reality checks on digital education is that in many ways broadband will not change education. Many of the fundamentals will be the same. My e-learning course, which Senator Lundy launched the book for this morning at the forum is very hi-tech, but underneath is about old fashioned education. David Lindley, calls this Mentored and Collaborative Online Learning. I have coined the term e-Oxbridge education to describe this.

Education has not changed since Aristotle was teaching: the teacher gives some guidance to the student and then sends them off to explore for themselves, later the student discusses what they found with other students under the guidance of a tutor, the student then explores some more alone or in groups and produces more and more complex analyses, until the tutor and the student think they have learnt enough.

Green IT Answers the Challenge of Copenhagen

Opening the "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum Sydney this morning, the Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, stated that broadband could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Australia by 5%. Senator Kate Lundy then launched a new book "Green Technology Strategies" to detail how to do this. saying "I would like to pay tribute to the work of Tom Worthington with his new book and training on the important issue of dealing with climate change".

Tomw Communications Pty Ltd

Media Release

Green IT Answers the Challenge of Copenhagen

Sydney, 10 December 2009, 11:30am: While the climate change conference in Copenhagen struggles, technologists and political leaders are detailing practical answers today in Sydney. Opening the "Realising Our Broadband Future" forum Sydney this morning, the Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, stated that broadband could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Australia by 5%. Senator Kate Lundy then launched a new book "Green Technology Strategies" to detail how to do this. saying "I would like to pay tribute to the work of Tom Worthington with his new book and training on the important issue of dealing with climate change".

The new book "Green Technology Strategies: Using computers and telecommunications to reduce carbon emissions" by Tom Worthington, is available online for free, as well as in printed and e-book download formats: <http://www.tomw.net.au/green/>

The book is about how to reduce carbon emissions and achieve other environmental benefits by using computers and telecommunications technology. It is designed to be used within an online course for professionals, using mentored and collaborative learning techniques. The book is currently being used in masters level postgraduate courses offered by the Australian National University, Open Universities Australia and the Australian Computer Society.

Author and course designer, Tom Worthington, claims that using the techniques of Green IT can reduce greenhouse emissions globally by 25% by 2020. Tom Worthington, an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the ANU said: "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions rewuires us to work cleverer. As the Prime Minister said, technologies such as broadband can make a significant contribution to reducing emissions and boosting economic development.We can grow the economy and save the planet at the same time."

See also:

* Realising Our Broadband Future forum: <http://broadbandfuture.gov.au/participating-remotely/>
* Green Information Technology Strategies (COMP7310), Graduate Studies Select program, Australian National University: <http://studyat.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310;details.html>
* Green Technology Strategies, Computer Professional Education Program, Australian Computer Society: <http://www.acs.org.au/cpeprogram/index.cfm?action=show&conID=greenict>
* Green ICT Strategies (ACS25), Postgraduate Program of Open Universities Australia, available from 2010 to students of Curtin University, Griffith University, Macquarie University, Monash University, RMIT University, Swinburne University and the University of South Australia: <https://www.open.edu.au/wps/PA_eBusinessPortlets/Unit-Profile-?year=2010&unitCode=ACS25>

Authorised by, and media contact: Tom Worthington FACS HLM
t: 0419496150 email: tom.worthington@tomw.net.au
Director, TomW Communications Pty Ltd., PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia http://www.tomw.net.au

Media release at: http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2009/12/green-it-answers-challenge-of.html

*** Ends ***

NBN CEO on Our Broadband Future

Greetings from the Realising Our Broadband Future forum at University of NSW in Sydney (you can participate remotely). Mike Quigley, Chief Executive Officer of NBN Co., has been explaining that the National Broadband Network is installing fibre to the premises for demanding applications, such as video. He argued that wireless broadband could not provide this due to limited spectrum (in fact the conference organisers asked deli gates to limit their access o the WiFi in the room). The NBN CEO suggests they will need a couple of KA Band satellites for remote areas of Australia (which brings us back to AusSat). NBN will also provide an analog telephone adaptor.

Most of what Mike Quigley said I agree with. However, wireless devices do not necessarily needs as much bandwidth as fixed devices. When watching video on your mobile phone you need much less bandwidth than when watching on a regular TV. This is because the mobile device has a much smaller screen and so needs less data. Similarly, mobile web applications need less bandwidth because people are busy doing other things when they are out and about. Applications in the "cloud" can summarise the data and present just what the user wants to know then and there. A good example of how this has surprised telecommunications companies are SMS and e-mail. These are very plain text based services which take little bandwidth, but a very popular

In my view, the NBN will need to evolve to incorporate wireless. This might be done at, or near the premises. Under current schemes, the NBN will deliver fibre to the home. The customer will then likely attach a wireless router to the NBN termination. As a result the last 10m of the NBN will be wireless. However, this last 10m, which is the most important to the customer will not be managed by the NBN and will waste capacity. Each premise will have a separate wireless device, which will compete for bandwidth. I suggest that instead the NBN should provide a terminating device with wireless built in. That wireless can then be used by the customer in their own home, but also shared with their neighbours. This will make a cheaper, more resilient system. If the home owner's NBN link fails, they can automatically switch over to use the neighbours. If they need more than one node provides, they can use several. If a smart meter or burglar alarm is installed in their hoe, ti will take no configuration, as it can use the standard wireless. Similar wireless telephony can use the wireless network.

Next is: Jeffrey Cole, Director USC Annenberg School.

Senator Kate Lundy will then be launching my book "Green Technology Strategies" in her speech. But first the Minister for Communications will introduce Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister.

PM on Our Broadband Future

Greetings from the Realising Our Broadband Future forum at University of NSW in Sydney (you can participate remotely). Senator Kate Lundy. will be launching my book "Green Technology Strategies" in her speech. But first the Minister for Communications will introduce Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister.

The PM talked about the NBN as the infrastructure for jobs of the 21st century, as the railways were in previous times: "Slow broadband is holding our nation back ... Australians want high speed broadband." The PM quoted a claim that broadband could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Australia by 5%. The PM announced $26.5M in grants across Australia $2.3M Ambulance mobile connect in SA: mobile terminals in ambulances. $7.5 Health E-Towns. Also $500,000 for bushfire spotting in North East Victoria. $5M Hunter health for telehealth. WA for buhfire prediction and warning services. $4.9M for e-learning in Tasmania at the NBN pilot towns. $4M CDM health project for cronic desease management accross Austrlaia.

The program for the morning is: Opening Remarks: Forum Co-chair - Dr Paul Twomey, Senator, the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Opening Address, Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, Mike Quigley, Chief Executive Officer of NBN Co., Jeffrey Cole, Director USC Annenberg School.

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

Problems with Print on Demand Books

I am planning to launch my book "Green Technology Strategies: Using computers and telecommunications to reduce carbon emissions" at "Realising Our Broadband Future" in Sydney next week. But I have had some problems making the book available.

The book was available on the LuLu.com print on demand catalogue (Paperback and e-Book) and some had been sold. But then I requested LuLu add the "GlobalReach", which distributes the book via Amazon.com and conventional bookstores. Instead of the book being more widely available, it disappeared from the LuLu catalog. After getting no response to LuLu support I decided to try and fix it myself.

I "revised" the book, going back to the first step in the online publication process in the hope this would un-stick it. I then went through each step. When I got to the design of the cover artwork I noted an error message warning that the text would not fit on the cover. I reduced the font size and was then able to publish the book on the web site.

My dilemma now is: dare I request "GlobalReach" again, before the launch in Sydney next week? It may well be the problem had nothing to do with this and all will be well. But it may be that if I press "approve" the book will not be available, just as it is being officially launched.