Rudd to open two-day NBN summit in Sydney

James Riley
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 06:46

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy will host a two-day broadband summit in Sydney next month to identify industry development opportunities and productivity windfalls that can be derived from the National Broadband Network project.

The summit, to be opened by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on December 10, will be held just two weeks after the Senate debate regulatory changes that could change the face of the telecommunications sector into the future.

The so-called 'Realising Our Broadband Future' is being organised by the Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy department and includes keynote speakers ranging from Mr Rudd, to NBN Company executive director Mike Quigley and the University of Southern California's Centre for the Digital Future director Jeff Cole.

"We want to demonstrate the great innovation taking place in education, health, business, government and the community that will shape the way we live our lives in the future," Senator Conroy said.

"This forum will highlight the opportunities and help our research community and commercial sectors plan for the digital applications, services and business models of the future."

Other keynotes include long-time industry advocate Senator Kate Lundy; internet pioneer Vint Cerf; Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett; ICANN senior president Paul Twomey; and Gov2.0 Taskforce chair Nicholas Gruen.

Senator Conroy said the summit would include the technology that has been popularoised by this Government through Kate Lundy’s PublicSphere events, including Webcasts, live audio streaming, Twitter feeds and a collaborative wiki.

The summit includes breakout sessions on Smart Infrastructure, eHealth, digital education, eBusiness and eCommunity.

Senator Conroy said the summit aimed to create a 'national dialogue' to help extract value –for both business and social outcomes – from the nation’s investment in high-speed broadband.

"This is about casting a vision for the future, highlighting the opportunities for businesses and other organisations to develop and embrace new applications and services enabled in the high-speed broadband environment."