The book “Natural Hazards, UnNatural Disasters: The Economics of Effective Prevention” from the World Bank and United Nations, will be discussed 9 March 2011 at the Australian National University in Canberra.Wednesday 9 March 2011Event Type: OtherTitle: Natural Hazards, Unnatural Disasters: The Economics of Effective PreventionVenue: Canberry/Springbank RoomDate: 9/3/11Time 12:00 pm – 2: Original post
Note: this is a HTML version of Submission 017 to the Inquiry into the role and potential of the National Broadband Network, received by the Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications, 14 February 2011. Broadband for a Broad Land: The role and potential benefits of the National Broadband Network the forRead… Read more »
Lyn Stephens, Director of the Australian Centre for Dialogue Project dropped in on Friday. The project’s aim is to provide facilities people to discuss issues of public interest. Lyn wanted to see how technology could help foster discussion, both in real and virtual spaces, so visited me at the ANU College of Engineering and ComputerRead… Read more »
An unusual souvenir I picked up at the Bega Cheese Factory was a can of Bega Processed Cheese. The 113g tin of cheddar style cheese was $1.20 in the visitors centre. This is exported around the world (the label is in English and Arabic) has an official shelf life of two years. Larger 200g cansRead… Read more »
The Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh, has apologised for delays in processing of payments from the Premiers Disaster Relief Appeal. The Premier has ordered that the process be overhauled. Unfortunately, it appears that the processing was being done manually and there are no plans to change this, so it is unlikely the process will beRead… Read more »
There are 47 published submissions to the “Inquiry into the role and potential of the National Broadband Network” on on the the House Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications web site. Some which got my attention were:Infrastructure Australia (PDF 566KB)Mr Andrew Freeman (PDF 95KB)Mr Tom Worthington (PDF 306KB)Mr Chris Avram (PDF 113KB)University of Tasmania (PDFRead… Read more »
The Royal New Zealand Navy reported that multi-role vessel (MRV) HMNZS Canterbury was alongside in Lyttelton when an earthquake struck on 22 February 2011. The ship was able to immediately begin relief operations.Unfortunately Media reports indicate that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has no comparable ships available to assist, with all in for repair. ThisRead… Read more »
I was a little surprised to find myself mentioned in “The Internet and Australia parliamentary democracy” by K Magarey (Parliamentary Affairs, Oxford University Press, July 1, 1999):Tom Worthington, an influential IT policy commentator, has reflected that the process of the government’s entry to the on-line environment amounted to a process of ‘reconciling traditional bureaucratic cultureRead… Read more »
“The Indispensable University: Higher Education, Economic Development, and the Knowledge Economy” by Eugene P. Trani, Robert D. Holsworth (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010) discusses the role of the unviersity in the twenty-first century economy. I happened across this book because it references my summary of The Cambridge Phenomenon (on pages 22, 153 and 265). Product DescriptionRead… Read more »
The Austrlaian National Audit Office has issued a report on the “Digital Education Revolution program — National Secondary Schools Computer Fund”. The auditor found the administration of the fund generally sound with school principals generally positive about it.The report provides a useful Summary of the Digital Education Revolution. Most of the $2.4B funding for theRead… Read more »