Futures, Microsoft’s online technology policy portal, keeps you up-to-date with the latest developments in an evolving industry. With viewpoints from government leaders, industry practitioners and technology specialists.
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Record software donations
Microsoft Australia reached new heights with the Software Donation Program last financial year donating more than $42 million dollars’ worth of software to over 2,700 community organisations. This amazing outcome is a 20 percent increase on last year’s already impressive figure.
Few people would dispute that data is the new currency of the digital economy. Digital information plays a critical role in the supply chain for business as well as helping to deliver government services to billions of citizens. Moreover, from email to social networking to internet search, data is the very foundation of the way we conduct our lives every day.
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This month ThinkUknow, a joint initiative between Microsoft, Ninemsn and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), was awarded the SC Magazine’s Innovation award at the AusCERT Gala dinner. The award recognises an individual or team that has changed the traditional practice of IT security.
Partnering with Semantic Technologies and Metadata Australia, Microsoft is hosting the Open Gov 2.0 initative. Unlike traditional conferences, this is a practical, hands-on ‘un-conference’, designed to share the vision and demonstrate the potential benefits of Open Government.
Last month I had the opportunity to talk about cloud computing at an Australian National University CEPS Seminar. It’s a timely and important topic, as the computing experience is undergoing a powerful transformation. Increasingly consumers and businesses alike are harnessing computing power in the cloud. We’re running applications and storing documents on powerful servers located in massive data centers around the world. We’re using more powerful client devices. And we’re creating, accessing, and sharing more of our personal information more frequently and with more people than ever before.
The not-for-profit sector in Australia is diverse and of significant size. The recent research report delivered by the Federal Government Productivity Commission into the not-for-profit sector identified that there are 600,000 not-for-profits (NFPs) contributing approximately $43 billion to Australia’s annual GDP.
Last week, the Australian Government announced its intention to accede to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime.
Microsoft Australia welcomes this development, and has previously advocated for Australia to be a signatory to increase international cooperation and coordination.
In a blog post this January I said, “In view of the Australian Government’s increasing engagement with multilateral processes and forums Australia has an opportunity to further assert its leadership and benefit from a number of provisions in the treaty by considering accessing to the Convention.”
This week Microsoft Australia released its “Privacy in the Cloud Computing Era” paper to coincide with Privacy Awareness Week (May 2-8). The paper is based on an earlier worldwide version launched earlier in the year.