Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Formulating Telecommunications Policy for Australia

The Australian Computer Society is convening a series of round-tables on telecommunications policy in August: Sydney Friday 16, Brisbane Tuesday 20 and Melbourne Thursday 29. My suggestion is policy on cyber security to combine public, industry and government efforts.
The role of telecommunications in driving national productivity is well known. Combined with rapid advances in cloud services and the developing open data revolution, the increasing levels of broadband connectivity in Australia bring us to a unique position in our history.
Australia is on the cusp of a new era of service delivery in many areas. 2013 also brings new challenges and new opportunities for the Telecoms industry and I am writing to all TSA members to invite you to a series of round-table conversations, seeking your views and expertise to help identify and clarify the challenges and opportunities facing Australia as viewed from a Telecoms perspective.
The roundtable conversations will take place in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne during August and will complement the work being done within the Australia 3.0 forum http://www.iawards.com.au/events/australia-3-0.aspx (a joint ACS, AiiA, Pearcey Foundation activity) which has looked at issues of productivity and enablers more broadly across the digital economy.
Our opportunity now is to focus on Telecoms in Australia. To seed the roundtable conversations, we will provide material from Australia 3.0 to registered attendees before the event.
Your thoughts and ideas are also welcome (please send these to tsa(a)acs.org.au before the roundtable dates). Places are limited for each roundtable conversation, so please RSVP at least one week before the event: Sydney Friday 16, Brisbane Tuesday 20 and Melbourne Thursday 29.

Public Engagement for Acceptance of Large-scale Technology Projects

Greetings from the Australian National University Energy Change Institute in Canberra,where
Professor Patrick Devine-Wright, University of Exeter, is speaking on Power and protest: Investigating the role of place attachments in shaping public acceptance of new energy infrastructures.
He looks at the effects of NIMBYism (Not In My BackYard) on large projects.  Professor Devine-Wright is the author of Renewable Energy and the Public: From NIMBY to Participation (Routledge. 2010). He pointed to reports in today's media on protests about development. He discussed "place attachment" emotional bonds to to particular locations. The slides from a previous presentation by Professor Devine-Wrightare available. He also has a company Placewise Ltd.
Policies to reduce carbon emissions in the UK are leading to fundamental changes to electricity generation and transmission infrastructures, as an ageing national grid is updated to cater for new and intermittent forms of power generation from offshore wind farms to solar arrays. This in turn raises complex and serious challenges in terms of public engagement and acceptance of large-scale technology projects – issues often framed as ‘NIMBYism’ (Not in my back yard). Following a critique of the NIMBY concept both as a means of describing and explaining resistance, the relevance of the concept of place attachment is discussed, with reference to recent scholarship in Environmental Psychology and Human Geography. These disciplines refer to the intensity and type of the attachment bond, and the ways it can be implicated in local strategies to resist globalisation. This paper draws on findings from several empirical studies capturing the role of place attachments in influencing public responses to proposals for new energy infrastructures, encompassing tidal energy, offshore wind and high voltage powerline projects. These studies highlight the diverse ways that attachments to place can influence both acceptance of and resistance to new technology proposals. The presentation will conclude by making recommendations for future research and highlighting implications for policy and practice.

About the speaker: Professor Devine-Wright is an environmental social scientist who draws from disciplines the Human Geography and Environmental Psychology disciplines. He has held posts at the University of Manchester‘s School of Environment and Development (Senior Lecturer, then Reader) and De Montfort University’s Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (Research Fellow, then Senior Research Fellow) before joining the University of Exeter to take up a Chair in Human Geography in 2009.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Are US Drone Strikes Legal?

Predator launching a Hellfire missileProfessor Steven Ratner, University of Michigan Law School and Shahzad Akbar, Barrister, Foundation of Fundamental Rights (FFR) Pakistan, will discuss "Drone strikes, US policy and the law", at the Australian National University College of Law, in Canberra, 2 August 2013.
Steven Ratner: The United States government has offered a legal theory for the use of drones based primarily on the jus ad bellum concept of self-defense as well as jus in bello concepts of distinction and proportionality. The US position, now elaborated in a formal paper by the Obama Administration, combines traditional doctrines and new ideas. I will examine whether that policy is and should be the basis for a new set of legal regulations on drone warfare.

Shahzad Akbar: The United States government has been conducting drone strikes within the sovereign territory of Pakistan since 2004, in breach of a plethora of international and domestic laws. According to independent sources, these drone strikes have caused a large number of civilian casualties including those of women and children. I will discuss the impact of drone warfare on civilians in Pakistan and outline the various strategies adopted by the victims to seek redress.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership

Senator Tony de Brum, Vice-President of the Marshall Islands, is speaking on "Climate change is destroying my country" at the Australian National University in Canberra. Senator de Brum expressed his outrage that the fate of low lying Pacific islands which face inundation is not being addressed in international forums. He reminded the audience of the pain and suffering faced in the past by the people of the Islands from atomic bomb tests. The Marshall Islands are already facing disaster, with a drought followed by flooding from king tides.

The Marshall Islands is proposing a 'Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership', to be issued at the 44th Pacific Islands Forum, to be hosted in the capital Majuro. The draft declaration will be crowd-sourced on-line via a new website to be released shortly.

The Marshall Islands are installing renewable energy for its outlying islands.

However, I suspect the fight might already been lost to save the most low lying of Pacific islands. Perhaps Australia could come to an accommodation with the pacific countries, temporarily housing refugees there and in return offering all the citizens of those countries dual citizenship with Australia.

Integrating Solar Power Into the US Grid

Arnold McKinley, from the ANU Centre for Sustainable Energy will speak on "PV-Grid Integration Issues in the United States, Recent Developments, 2013" at the Australian National University in Canberra, 4pm, 15 August 2013.
ABSTRACT: The first global energy crises of 1973 and 1979 initiated a large number of energy studies within the United States that outlined future energy scenarios. Many experts expected a growth in solar and other renewables during the last few decades of the 20th century. That expectation did not occur, primarily because the crises disappeared and the price of oil in the US remained low. Recently, climate change scenarios, a more receptive political climate, and a successful growth in renewables in Europe has set the stage for another possible rise in these technologies in the US. Several global indicators suggest that this time the rise in renewables may be successful. But there are problems. The principle hindrance to PV penetration on the electrical grid comes from the inherited cost of already built power generation facilities, which become less and less needed as PV comes on line. The utilities are worried about paying for them. They are also worried that renewables cannot provide the same level of grid security and stability that traditional fuels have provided. This talk is about the current perspective of several US utilities and Independent System Operators (ISOs) as they speak about these problems in their own words. We will examine the projects that operators in several states have put in place to gather data on the effects that PV actually has on the grid system. We will also discuss projects underway by the Department of Energy and the NREL. Lastly we will talk about an interesting project now underway in Belgium to study the efficacy of micro-grids.
BIO: Arnold McKinley worked as an intern in the Electrical Planning Department at San Diego Gas and Electric company in the early 1970's. In 1977 he led a multi-disciplinary team of faculty, graduate students and industry experts at Stanford University in a study of the US Energy System to the year 2025 for the US Department of Energy. He co-taught a course at San Diego State University on Energy issues in the Physics Department in the early 1980's. From 2005-2009, he worked as Senior Scientist at Apparent, Inc a startup in California on a micro-inverter for PV solar modules. He wrote the internet applications used to browse data from the device and wrote several papers on how micro-inverters can help manage voltage levels and reactive power flow on the electrical grid. His name appears on two of the patents. Since coming to the ANU in 2010 to work on a PhD, he has lectured on renewables and grid integration in several courses.

Unlawful Use of Red Cross Symbol by Express Plus Medicare App

The Apple iTunes store features "Express Plus Medicare" app which appears to be from the Australian Department of Human Services. However, the App is promoted using an icon depicting a medical worker with a red cross on their uniform. The use of the emblem of a red cross on a white background is reserved under Australian and international law for the Red Cross organization and authorized humanitarian work (Geneva Conventions). Unauthorized use of this symbol is a crime in Australia and internationally. It seems likely that an Australian government agency would be familiar with Australian law, so this app may be a hoax.  There are other symbols which are commonly used to indicate medical services. The obvious solution in this case would be to change the color of the cross.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Having Public Servants Work On-line to Advance Digital Economy

Hamish Barwick  reported that Senator Kate Lundy had told a recent IT conference that government agencies will replace paper forms and face-to-face contact with on-line equivalents ("More government services to go online: Kate Lundy", CIO Magazine, 25 July, 2013 15:27). The government issued "Advancing Australia as a Digital Economy: Update to the National Digital Economy Strategy", but this does not appear to have received the attention it deserves. Chapter 11 of the strategy sets the target that:
By 2020, four out of five Australians will choose to engage with the Government through the internet or other types of online service.

However, one barrier to on-line use which does not appear to be addressed is the digital literacy of public servants. For citizens to engage with government on-line, we first need to ensure that public servants are trained in how to engage with each other on-line. Services such as GovDex, the public service's own internal cross-agency on-line platform, are underutilized. Public servants tend to still occupy much of their time with last-century face-to-face committee meetings.

Substituting email for paper minutes and video conference for face to face is a small improvement, but real productivity gains will require staff to be trained in how to collaborate effectively on-line and given incentives. I find it takes about three weeks for my masters students in on-line courses (many of whom are public servants) to adjust to working in on-line forums. It comes as a shock to many how hard it is to make the transition and I suspect many would not do the work needed, if it was not for the prospect of failing the course (where on-line participation is assessed every week).

The Australian Public Service needs to put in place targets and effective training programs, with incentives for staff to participate and penalties for those who do not. We will then have a public service which is competent to communicate with the public on-line.

Canberra Business Startup Success Talks

Ken Kroeger, founder Catalyst Interactive, will speak at the first of the ‘Fireside chats’ at the Entry 29 Co-working Space in Canberra, 5pm 1 August 2013.

Event Details

You are invited the first Entry 29 Founders Series ‘Fireside chats’ for 2013. We are fortunate to have Ken Kroeger as the person in the hot seat.
Ken is a successful technology entrepreneur who founded Catalyst Interactive, an internationally recognised 3D simulation and training provider which was acquired by KBR (one of the world’s largest engineering, procurement, defence and construction companies) in 2008. At Catalyst, Ken grew the organisation from inception to an international business through technical innovation and sound leadership. Ken is currently the MD & CEO of Seeing Machines (AIM:SEE). Seeing Machines is an award winning technology company with a focus on vision based human machine interfaces. Ken has an extensive background in technology, R&D, business management and international sales and marketing to defence, government and industry.
Come and hear Ken talk about his own entrepreneurial journey and share with you some of the lessons (both good and bad) from his many experiences. Spaces are limited for this free event so please register early!
DATE: Thursday 1st August 2013
TIME: Arrive at 5pm for a 5:15pm start (end 6:15pm)

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Opera Without the Boring Bits in Sydney

Last night I enjoyed "Opera At The Vanguard". The Vanguard is at 42 King Street, Newtown, Sydney. This is a small music venue with a bar and dinner seating for about one hundred people, cabaret style. Simon Halligan, Warren Fisher, Katie Stenzel and Agnes Stark performed opera classics, with a few tunes from Broadway musicals mixed in, dressed in full operatic costume. There was a thin operatic plot linking it all together, with a little humor. The singing was good, the piano accompaniment was very good (an orchestra would not fit in the venue), the wine excellent and the food adequate.

If you are not an opera buff, but want an entertaining night with some of those tunes from the classier ads, then rush to book one of the General Admission tickets at the last performance tonight (all the seats are booked).

It was not quite the same as attending a performance of Turandot at the Acropolis in Athens, but I did not have to sit through a whole opera just to hear "Nessun dorma". ;-)

Friday, July 26, 2013

Open Knowledge Down Under

Dr. Rufus Pollock, founder of the Open Knowledge Foundation will speak on open knowledge and open data, around Australia in August 2013: Sydney 27 August, Canberra 28 August, Brisbane 29 August, Adelaide 30 August, and Melbourne 2 September.
Dr. Rufus Pollock graduated from Cambridge University as a Mead fellow in Economics (after graduating with a distinction in mathematics). Rufus is a well regarded economist because of his scholarly and advisory work on open data and open knowledge economies. Rufus co-founded the Open Knowledge Foundation in 2004 and personally wrote the first lines of code for the CKAN data system (Rufus is also an accomplished programmer). Rufus has sat on several government advisory panels including the British Prime Minister’s appointed Public Sector Transparency Board. This involved working with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who credited Rufus with starting the ‘Raw Data Now’ meme[1].

Currently, Rufus is a Shuttleworth fellow and is helping to expand the Open Knowledge Foundation worldwide, of which over 50+ chapters have formed including our Asia-Pacific neighbors: India, Nepal, Taiwan, China.

The objectives of this open knowledge tour include: Talk to government representatives about the idea of ‘open knowledge’ especially ‘open data’, ‘data journalism’ & other ‘open’ events and efforts. Launch the official OKFN Australian chapter.

Climate change is destroying the Marshall Islands

Senator Tony de Brum, Vice-President of the Marshall Islands, will speak on "Climate change is destroying my country" at the Australian National University in Canberra, 5:30 PM, 29 July 2013
Across the Pacific, climate change is not some abstract concept but a real and present danger. Earlier this year, the Marshall Islands – one of only four island atoll countries in the world – declared a state of emergency after a prolonged drought across its northern islands. But just as international help arrived, a king tide hit the capital Majuro and other islands in the south, flooding many homes and closing the airport. Ultimately, without much stronger action to tackle climate change, the Marshall Islands and other vulnerable countries like it will disappear from the map. But the fate of the most vulnerable is just a preview of greater dangers that lie ahead for all countries. This September, the Marshall Islands will host the 44th Pacific Islands Forum, where the region's leaders will look to adopt a 'Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership', calling for a new wave of political commitment and more ambitious action from Pacific partners and stakeholders to fast-track the fight against climate change.

Senator Tony de Brum is the Minister-in-Assistance (Vice-President equivalent) to the President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) with responsibility for climate and energy issues and the former Foreign Minister. After growing up on Likiep Atoll during the 12-year period when the United States tested 67 atomic and thermonuclear weapons in the atmosphere and under water in the Marshall Islands, Senator de Brum is now fighting to save his country from another existential threat posed by climate change. Senator de Brum also played a key role in the negotiations that led to the first compact of free association between the U.S. and the RMI and his country's independence, and participated in the development of RMI's Constitution. In October 2012, Senator de Brum was awarded the 2012 Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's Distinguished Peace Leader Award and in February this year addressed a special session of the UN Security Council on the threats posed by climate change.

This event is hosted by the ANU Pacific Institute.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Power, Protest and Energy Infrastructure

Professor Patrick Devine-Wright, University of Exeter, will speak on Power and protest: Investigating the role of place attachments in shaping public acceptance of new energy infrastructures at the Australian National University Energy Change Institute in Canberra, 1pm 31 July 2013. The slides from a previous presentation by Professor Devine-Wrightare available.
Policies to reduce carbon emissions in the UK are leading to fundamental changes to electricity generation and transmission infrastructures, as an ageing national grid is updated to cater for new and intermittent forms of power generation from offshore wind farms to solar arrays. This in turn raises complex and serious challenges in terms of public engagement and acceptance of large-scale technology projects – issues often framed as ‘NIMBYism’ (Not in my back yard). Following a critique of the NIMBY concept both as a means of describing and explaining resistance, the relevance of the concept of place attachment is discussed, with reference to recent scholarship in Environmental Psychology and Human Geography. These disciplines refer to the intensity and type of the attachment bond, and the ways it can be implicated in local strategies to resist globalisation. This paper draws on findings from several empirical studies capturing the role of place attachments in influencing public responses to proposals for new energy infrastructures, encompassing tidal energy, offshore wind and high voltage powerline projects. These studies highlight the diverse ways that attachments to place can influence both acceptance of and resistance to new technology proposals. The presentation will conclude by making recommendations for future research and highlighting implications for policy and practice.

About the speaker: Professor Devine-Wright is an environmental social scientist who draws from disciplines the Human Geography and Environmental Psychology disciplines. He has held posts at the University of Manchester‘s School of Environment and Development (Senior Lecturer, then Reader) and De Montfort University’s Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (Research Fellow, then Senior Research Fellow) before joining the University of Exeter to take up a Chair in Human Geography in 2009.

Brightest LED Light in Australia

Greetings from Security 2013 Exhibition at Darling Harbor in Sydney. There are security devices on display ranging from the low tech fence with pints on it, up to automatic infrared cameras. The notable display was Australia brightest LED security light (50,000 Lumen, 600 Watt), with it own water cooing radiator.

Cloud Computing Security

Professor John Grundy, Swinburne University, will speak on "Model-driven software security engineering for the cloud" at the Australian National University in Canberra, 12 Noon, 31 July 2013.

Also, as noted by Senator Kate Lundy, Minister Assisting for the Digital Economy, the Federal Government released a National Cloud Computing strategy. The Australian Computer Society has released a Cloud Computing Consumer Protocol Discussion Paper and is inviting input for the consumer code. In the ACS Cloud Discussion Paper, cloud computing is defined as:

"... a general term for the delivery of hosted services over the internet, enabling users to remotely store, process and share digital information and data."

From: Cloud Computing Consumer Protocol, July 2013: http://www.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/19928/ACS-Cloud-Discussion-Paper.pdf
That would not seem to make it any different to a 1960s Time-sharing business.

Model-driven software security engineering for the cloud

Professor John Grundy (Swinburne University)

GENERAL Software Engineering

DATE: 2013-07-31
TIME: 12:00:00 - 13:30:00
LOCATION: CSIT Seminar Room, N101
CONTACT: lani.smales@anu.edu.au

ABSTRACT:
Software security engineering is a challenging problem. The emergence of cloud computing platforms as a "new" way to deliver software services in many ways compounds the problem: multiple tenants have differing security requirements; service and cloud providers have differing (sometimes conflicting) security requirements and platforms; and many security issues are emergent at run-time as tenants, service providers, cloud providers and deployment environments all evolve. We describe our recent research into securing cloud-hosted software applications from cloud provider, service provider, and cloud consumer (tenant) perspectives. This includes a new infrastructure-as-a-service security monitoring appliance, a new platform-as-a-service security analysis, design and management framework, and a novel tenant security requirements capture and management console. We describe several evaluations of these approaches identifying key strengths and weaknesses and some of our on-going research in this area.
BIO:
John Grundy is Professor of Software Engineering and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of ICT at Swinburne University of Technology. Previously he was Head of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Swinburne, Head of Department for Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and Director of Software Engineering, University of Auckland. He has published widely in the areas of automated software engineering, model-driven engineering, visual languages, software architecture and software methods and tools. He is an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, IEEE Software and Automated Software Engineering. He is currently the CORE Australia President, was on the ERA 2012 MIC Panel, and is on the Steering Committee for the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Automated Software Engineering. He is a Fellow of Automated Software Engineering and Fellow of Engineers Australia.

Electric Foot Warming Pad


Occasionally I have to sit in a very cold office. The room is not well insulated and has no built in heating. One option was a radiant panel and another a Electric Foot Warming Pad . The Foot Warming Pads have an electrical element embedded in a floor mat, a thermostat, cable with standard electrical plug and use about 100 Watt of power. Most seem to have a rubber core, with an optional carpet or fake fur cover.

Examples of foot warming pads available in Australia are the the MATFOOT footwarmer (400mm x 550mm, 150 Watt) and the Negergy Energy Efficient Foot Mat Heater (400mm x 600mm, 75 Watt). Note that a unit purchased overseas might not meet Australian electrical safety regulations and not be Australian voltage.

While electrical heaters are not the most environmentally the best, at least the foot-warmers are low power, compared to other portable room heaters (which are about 2,400 Watt).

Electric foot warmers are not a new idea. Museium Victoria has a cast iron Hecla Electrics Foot Warma,  from 1927.

It should be noted that there are also Pet Bed Warmers which work in a similar way to the foot warmers, but are a lower power (and usually low voltage in case your dog chews the wires).

Does anyone have experience of using these?

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Finnish Design for Canberra

Dr Robert Bell AM, Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, National Gallery of Australia will speak on "A capital through Finnisheyes", at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra, 5:30pm, 7 August 2013. He will discuss the entry in the 1912 competition for the design for the City of Canberra by Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen, who lost to the design by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Australian Deputy Commanding General for Operations US Army Pacific

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Major General Rick Burr, Deputy Commanding General for Operations, U.S. Army Pacific, is speaking on "The U.S. Army in the Indo-Asia Pacific: Implications for regional security"General Burr, is an Australian Army officer, commanding US forces. He commented that he wears an Australian Army uniform (the same uniform I wore at Exercise Tandem Thrust 97), but with a US shoulder patch. He mentioned the US Asia-Pacific re-balance. Also he commented that the Asia-pacific is seen as a air force, navy and marine area of operations, but there are large armies in the region and so a potential area for operations of the US Army. Forces previously earmarked for Afghanistan are now back in the region (about 80,000). One HQ is in Brisbane currently for exercise  Talisman Saber 2013. Two brigades are based in Alaska, one of which flew for 17 hours to parachute into Queensland on Saturday.

While Major Burr made the case for the US Army in the region, it remains the case that the US Marines, and the US 7th Fleet remains the core US force for the pacific. The US Brigade parachuted into Queensland, for example, could only survive in a hostile military environment for a matter of hours without support from the US Navy. General Burr described the Pacific as a "logistics theater".

The US Army is working with the Chinese military on disaster response exercises. The first exercises was in China last year and the next will be in the USA.

One point which occurs to me is that the Australian Army shares many issues with the US Army in confronting the Pacific theater. The Australian Defence Force has no distinct marine forces, unlike the USA and UK. It is therefore expected that the Australian regular army will undertake littoral operations. Australia has recently made a large investment in equipment for amphibious operations, with the purchase of the former UK landing ship dock RFA Largs Bay (L3006) and two new Landing Helicopter Dock Ships (essentially mini-aircraft carriers) under construction in Spain and Australia. However, the Australian Army has no recent experience in operating with the navy and conducting amphibious operations. I asked the General about this and in response he pointed out the that US Army has around 700 of its own ships and so considerable experience in the marine environment.He saw the Exercise Talisman Saber as the primary way for the Australian Army to learn littoral skills.

It should be noted that some US Army ships are Australian designed. These are  the the Fortitude class Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) from Austral in Perth and similar designs from Incat Australia, in Hobart.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Government Communication in the Internet Age

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where academics, journalists and public servants are discussing "How government communicates in a complex world". The event is hosted by the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy. This features Andrew Hockley, Executive Coordinator, Strategic Policy, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; Katharine Murphy, Deputy political editor for Guardian Australia; James Button, Communications Manager, Grattan Institute; Michael Wesley, Professor of National Security, ANU. There is a large contingent in the audience from the Singapore Government. This bookends neatly with the DesignGov Co-Design Workshop I attended this morning.

The panel event was disappointing, they discussed social media as something used for political campaigns. They did not touch on how government might engage with the community about complex, long-term policy, or the public service communicate about its work and role? There was none of the depth of theory and experience in implementation of the Department of Finance's "Proposed online engagement courses for the APS".

DesignGov Rebuilding Government

Greetings from 121 Marcus Clark Street Canberra, in the innovation precinct next to the Australian National University. It is a clear cold winter's day and snow is visible on the Brindebella Mountains in the distance. I am attending a DesignGov Co-Design Workshop, where a team from government is consulting business on how red tape could be reduced. While the team undertaking the project are enthusiastic, they seem to be hamstrung by using a narrow mindset and obsolete work techniques. As an example, I only found out about the event because it happened to be mentioned at a meeting I was at Friday night. I then searched online and could find no mention of the event on the DesinGov website, or anywhere else. The website and the event has a lot of long-winded hard to understand language, which ironically is about how government could communicate better. I could not find any document to describe concisely what DesignGov is trying to do and what they have done so far.

It may be that I come from a narrow IT design background and so do not understand a more free-flowing approach to design, or it might be that those undertaking DesignGov lack experience in how to conduct such a process in an efficient and effective way. During the workshop we were asked to comment on phrases describing the problem to be tackled, but I found myself requesting the problem statements to make then shorted and easier to understand.

I suggest DesignGov should lead by example and look to undertake the government process they are doing in a new way, not in the old-fashioned one they are currently using. They should provide clear descriptions of what they are doing on-line, invite input online and then have some face to face events, which are on-line enhanced.

Also the DesignGov process seemed to be very government and public service orientated. Government does not provide most of the day to day services and does not do most of the day to day regulation in Australia, nor need it. Most services and government are by the provide sector, bit for-profit and non-profit. There is nothing unique about government administration. DesignGov needs to look at processes outside the Australian Federal government, in other sectors. Also to some extent DesignGov needs to understand that government has a limited role. It would be useful f those in government were trained in efficient management techniques, but realize that are not there to solve all of the communities' problems.

In 1995 I got up at a IT conference in Canberra and proposed that public servants should not wait for senior leadership to give them permission to innovate. In particular I proposed we start using the Internet and get official endorsement later (see: "Internet in Government - for IT Practitioners". This process worked well, with agencies implementing Internet access and later web sites, then getting ministerial endorsement for this retrospectively.

Friday, July 19, 2013

How government communicates in a complex world

The Australian National University is holding a forum on "How government communicates in a complex world", in Canberra, 5:30pm, 22 July 2013. This features Andrew Hockley, Executive Coordinator, Strategic Policy, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; Katharine Murphy, Deputy political editor for Guardian Australia; James Button, Communications Manager, Grattan Institute; Michael Wesley, Professor of National Security, ANU.
Politics and the media move fast. But the longer-term work of democracy and government goes on, often dealing with complex policy issues of major importance.
The ways in which we understand changes in geopolitics, demographics, equality and the environment have long histories and will shape the future of the nation for decades to come. This public event focuses on the public service and the changing ways in which it communicates and engages with the community about complex, long-term policy.
How does the public service communicate about its work and role? How has the relationship between the public service and media changed, and what does this mean for public understanding and debate of major policy issues? And what role can academics and think-tanks play?
This forum brings together leading figures from the public service, academia and policy think-tanks for a discussion of these important questions.
-Michael Wesley, Professor of National Security, ANU and 2011 winner of the John Button Prize;
-James Button, Communications Manager, Grattan Institute and board member, John Button Foundation;
-Andrew Hockley, Executive Coordinator, Strategic Policy, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet;
-Katharine Murphy, Deputy political editor for Guardian Australia;
-Chaired by Mark Matthews, Executive Director, HC Coombs Policy Forum, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU
It is presented in partnership with the John Button Foundation - johnbuttonprize.org.au
REGISTRATION REQUIRED. This forum is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided after the forum

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Renewable Energy Technologies for Economic Development

Greetings from the ANU Energy Change Institute, where Richard Adams, Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC),  US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is speaking on "Innovation and Commercialisation of Renewable Energy Technologies". He commented that the NREL wasted time talking about environmental benefits of renewable energy technology, when economic benefits and jobs would better get attention. Richard said he was "stunned" that electricity demand had dropped in Australia, whereas it is still increasing in the USA. I found that comment surprising, as he should be aware that Australia has a policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and had implemented this party through an increase in electricity prices, which has reduced demand. In contrast the USA doesn't have an effective greenhouse gas emissions policy.
Richard commented that much of the solar panel industry had moved to China and NREL needed to consider how new technologies could be implemented by industries in the USA for local jobs. This seemed to me a short sighted and infeasible goal. If the aim is to create wealth and provide energy in the USA, this might be better done by licensing the technology to where it can be best manufactured.

Richard gave Tesla Motors as a model of low investment US manufacturing start-up. However, Tesla's first electric car was the Tesla Roadster, which is largely built in the UK as a modified version of the the Lotus Elise, with components from throughout Europe. The car is assembled in the UK and USA with imported batteries. This is a valid form of international manufacturing, but does not provide many US jobs.
Richard is the Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as well as the Director of the Center for Renewable Energy and Economic Development (CREED). NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. It is a global leader in developing creative answers to today's energy challenges. From fundamental science and energy analysis to validating new products for the commercial market, NREL researchers are dedicated to transforming the way the world uses energy. Drawing on his deep expertise and experience in supporting innovation and commercialisation of renewable energy technologies as well as his understanding of the Australian and US renewable energy sectors, Richard will introduce NREL and discuss, among others, possible areas of Australia - US collaboration, NREL’s experience in commercialisation of energy technologies, US policies encouraging innovation in renewable energy as well as major obstacles to broader uptake of renewables in US.

Counterinsurgency Iraq and Afghanistan

Dr. John A. Nagl, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army (Retired) will speak on "Learning to eat soup with a knife - counterinsurgency Iraq and Afghanistan", at the Australian National University in Canberra, 13 August 2013. He is the author of "Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam" (University Of Chicago Press, 2005)

About the lecture:
In this lecture, celebrated counterinsurgency specialist John Nagl will discuss the lessons from the Iraq and Afghanistan war. As one of the chief authors of the US's Counterinsurgency field manual and celebrated scholar of counterinsurgency in history, John Nagl will offer insights into how counterinsurgency planning is developed, how, why and where it worked and did not work in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the implications for counterinsurgency operations in the future. With the rise of non-state threats to governments and increasing urbanisation of mankind, counterinsurgency conflicts are sure to remain a fundamental part of any militaries potential field of operations.
About the speaker
John A. Nagl is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army who is an influential expert in counterinsurgency. He is former president of the Center for a New American Security and incoming headmaster of The Haverford School. Nagl served in both the Gulf and Iraq wars. He has a PhD from Oxford university. His dissertation Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife (drawing on a quote from T.E Lawrence) was later revised for publication and gained significant public and military debate. Nagl has worked as a Social Sciences Professor at Westpoint, and worked as a Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defence. As part of a team overseen by General David Petreus, Nagl helped write the United States Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency field manuel. Nagl is a non-resident fellow with the Centre for a New American Security in DC, and has taught at Georgetown University, Kings College London and the US Naval Academy.

Samsung Galaxy Folder Android Phone

According to DDaily newspaper, Samsung is preparing to release a flip phone running the Android 4.2  (Jelly Bean) in Korea ("Galaxy, there comes a folder phone ... Samsung Electronics 'Galaxy folder' domestic market", yunsangho, 16 July 2013"). To be called the "Galaxy Folder", this will have a physical keyboard, as well as a small touch screen. This is a format I would prefer as you can more easily use the physical keyboard for typing quickly. The microphone is placed closer to the month with a flip hone making sound quality better. Also the cover can be quickly closed to cut off a call and protect the screen. Previously I suggested a "3D Printed StarTrek Style Flip Phone Case" to convert screen only phones.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Killer robots and military ethics

Professor Christian Enemark will speak on "Killer robots: military ethics and post-human war" at the Australian National University in Canberra, 5:30pm 8 August 2013.

Event Details

About the topic

In April this year the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions recommended a moratorium on the development of lethal autonomous weapon systems (so-called ‘killer robots’). In some countries there is strong technological and military momentum towards the use of such systems, partly because the physical and mental frailties of human users of force are increasingly seen as posing operational risks and impediments. However, there is also growing concern over the prospect of a machine that can make a decision to extinguish human life. From an ethical perspective, an argument in favour of autonomy might be that, given the poor record of human adherence to principles of military ethics, a robot could be programmed to do a better job. An alternative is to hold fast to the notion that war is necessarily, albeit tragically, a human affair. In exploring the idea of ‘post-human war’, Christian Enemark addresses the critical issue of whether robotics technology can overcome ethical shortcomings in the use of force while preserving the moral influence of human responsibility.

About the Speaker

Christian Enemark is Associate Professor in the National Security College, Crawford School of Public Policy. Prior to completing a PhD at the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Christian worked as a policy advisor in the Parliament and Attorney General's Department of New South Wales. He has held academic positions as Lecturer in Global Security at the University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy, and Senior Lecturer in International Security at the University of Sydney. Christian has held ANU Visiting Fellowships at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (2007-08) and the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (2009-11). He currently teaches two postgraduate courses -- NSPO8013 Disease, Security and Biological Weapons, and NSPO8014 Ethics and Technologies of War -- and he was listed among the Crawford School's 'Best Teachers' in 2012.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

U.S. Army in the Indo-Asia Pacific

Major General Rick Burr, Deputy Commanding General for Operations, U.S. Army Pacific, will speak on "The U.S. Army in the Indo-Asia Pacific: Implications for regional security" at the Austr5laian National University in Canberra, 5:30pm 23

Event Details

About the Event:
This lecture will draw on Major General Rick Burr's experience as an Australian in the position of inagural Deputy Commanding General for Operations, U.S. Army Pacific. This has given Burr a unique perspective on the role of the US army in the Pacific. Burr will discuss how the US army operates in this region, how it views the changing regional security environment and the implications for regional security and especially Australia.

About the Speaker:
Major General Rick Burr is the inaugural Deputy Commanding General for Operations, U.S. Army Pacific. As an Australian Army officer he brings unique perspectives and experiences to this appointment.
Major General Burr’s previous assignment was Commander of the 1st (Australian) Division and Deployable Joint Force Headquarters, and he also has extensive multinational command and operational experience with Special Forces.
In 2008 he was the inaugural Commander of ISAF SOF, comprising all Special Forces assigned to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. He has commanded the Special Air Service Regiment, and the Australian Special Forces Task Groups in Afghanistan (2002) and Iraq (2003).

Major General Burr has held a number of key staff appointments, including Military Assistant to the Chief of Army, Director General of Preparedness and Plans for the Army, a senior adviser in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Director General of Military Strategic Commitments in Defence Headquarters.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Donald Friend's Love Me Sailor Returns to Bathurst

Greetings from the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, where the Mayor has just opened the latest exhibition by Merrick Fry. The Mayor mentioned that the gallery had recently purchased  Love Me Sailor by Donald Friend (1949?). This was painted at, and of, the former gold-field, Hill End near Bathurst.

Bathurst Art and Learning

Greetings from Bathurst NSW. After meandering through the Blue Mountains, with raisin toast and coffee from the buffet car, the 7:10am XPT train arrived from Sydney on tim. I am here for the opening of the Merrick Fry exhibition at the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery. Before then I thought I would visit the Charles Sturt University (CSU), to look at their new
Master of Education (Knowledge Networks and Digital Innovation).
.

Play About Career and Thatcher's Britian

The opening of the play "Top Girls" at the New Theatre Sydney last night was a little confusing and a little confronting. The fist scene is a dinner party where the guests may be figments of the host's imagination and metaphors for,  something. We then move to a cubby-house in a working class background and then a recruitment agency in Thatcher's Britain. Seven female actors play various roles, but are they all the same person?

"Top Girls"is on at the New Theater, Newtown, Sydney, until 3 August.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Obvious Consequences of Mobile Use

Like many Harvard Business Review articles, "The Unanticipated Consequences of a Frictionless Mobile Experience" by Peter Kriss dresses up the obvious in jargon, to make it look profound. The article relates that making customer surveys easier to fill in (via a mobile device) resulted in lower ratings for a hotel. The conclusion was that because the survey was easier to fill in, customers who were less engaged filled it and so the hotel's rating went down. As far as I can see, this has little to do with mobile devices and you would get the same effect from switching from a multi-page paper questionnaire to a tick-and-flick postcard.

Technology Outlook for Australian Tertiary Education 2013-2018

The report "Technology Outlook for Australian Tertiary Education 2013-2018" (Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Freeman, A., Ifenthaler, D., and Vardaxis, N., 2013) was produced by New Media Consortium (NMC) and
Open Universities Australia. I found their short term topics of most interest. But in all of this I suspect the technology which will have most impact is the use of relatively conventional small scale, closed on-line learning for teaching teachers how to teach.

Time-to-Adoption:
  • One Year or Less:
    1. Learning Analytics,
    2. Massive Open Online Courses,
    3. Mobile Learning
    4. Social Media
  • Two to Three Years:
    1. 3D Printing
    2. Badges
    3. Information Visualisation
    4. Location-Based Services
  • Four to Five Years:
    1. Flexible Displays
    2. The Internet of Things
    3. Virtual and Remote Laboratories
    4. Wearable Technology

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

China New Model for Growth Creates Tension


Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Chen Yuming, Chinese Ambassador to Australia is launching the book "China: A New Model for Growth and Development". The Ambassador said that China will not repeat the mistake of other countries as they developed, with hegemony, but with a peaceful, responsible and open country. However, there are tensions.

For the last few weeks I have been attending seminars at and near the ANU on strategic, legal and security issues. Many of these have addressed China.

On 9 July Dr Robert O'Neill, Planning Director for the US Studies Centre (University of Sydney) talked on
"Defence 2013 - preparing to face our next enemy" and explicitly referenced China.

On 28 June Admiral Dennis C. Blair (USN Retired) is talked on "What should we do about China?". 

On 20 June Dr Christopher Ward talked on "South China Sea: The disputes and prospects for international law". He pointed out problems with the vagueness of China's claim to most of the South China Sea.
On 22 August a panel of experts discussed possible military conflict, as a result of the USA's ‘pivot’ to Asia. The event announcement, somewhat provocatively, had a photo of a US Carrier strike group, the symbol of American power in the Pacific, on the announcement. Coincidently in 1997, I visited the USS Blue Ridge, flagship of the 7th Fleet, when on exercise with Australian Defence Force.

On 2 July at the CSIRO Discovery Centre (opposite ANU), Asher Jamieson from the Australian Government's CERT Australia talked on current and emerging threats in the Cyber Security landscape, including the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) from China. The followed previous talk 13 March on the Cyber Range for Teaching Cyber-Warfare at the Australian Defence Force Academy.
China: A New Model for Growth and Development 
Table of Contents
  1. China’s New Strategy for Long-term Growth and Development - Ross Garnaut, Cai Fang and Ligang Song
  2. New Institutions for a New Development Model - Dwight H. Perkins
  3. The New Normal of Chinese Development - Yiping Huang, Cai Fang, Peng Xu and Gou Qin
  4. The End of China’s Demographic Dividend - Cai Fang and Lu Yang
  5. Chinese Industrialisation - Huw McKay and Ligang Song
  6. China’s Saving and Global Economic Performance - Rod Tyers, Ying Zhang and Tsun Se Cheong
  7. Growing into an Innovative Economy - Yixiao Zhou
  8. China’s Agricultural Development - Li Zhou
  9. Rural–Urban Migration - Xin Meng
  10. Reforming China’s Public Finances for Long-term Growth - Christine Wong
  11. Changing Business Environment in China - Xiaolu Wang, Jingwen Yu and Fan Gang
  12. Will Chinese Industry Ever Be ‘Green’? - Shiyi Chen and Jane Golley
  13. Can China Achieve Green Growth? - Yongsheng Zhang
  14. China’s Climate Change Mitigation in International Context - Ross Garnaut
  15. China’s Energy Demand Growth and the Energy Policy Trilemma - Simon Wensley, Stephen Wilson and Jane Kuang
  16. Financial Constraints on Chinese Outward Direct Investment by the Private Sector - Bijun Wang, Miaojie Yu and Yiping Huang
  17. Determinants of Chinese Exports in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Products - Kunwang Li and Bingzhan Shi
The Chinese economy is undergoing profound change in policy and structure. The change is necessary to increase the value of growth to the Chinese community, and to sustain growth into the future. The changes are so comprehensive and profound that they represent a new model of Chinese economic growth. This book describes the replacement of an old uninhibited investment expansion model of growth, by transition to modern economic growth and provides insights into recent changes and where they are likely to lead. These include requirements for building the new institutions including its public finances for future growth, adjustments in its savings, industry and agriculture, changes in its demographic structure, business environment, and pattern of rural-urban migration, prospects for ‘green growth’, its energy policy dilemma and the climate change mitigation strategy, and changes for China’s interaction with the international economy through its overseas investment and trade in high tech products. China’s adoption of a new model of economic growth is of immense importance to people in China and everywhere. This book is an early attempt to take a close look at many of the features of the new model.

Australia Aopting USA STEM Plan

Professor Ian Chubb, Australian Chief Scientist, issued a National Science, Technology, National Engineering and Mathematics Strategy Discussion Paper, 21 June 2013. The wording of the paper sounded familiar to me, but I could find no sources cited in the paper. A web search using words from the paper identified the Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education 5-Year Strategic Plan, from the US National Science and Technology Council, May 2013. Adopting existing plan from the USA is a valid strategy for Australia, but if that is the intention, it would be best this was made clear.

I suggest that the priority should be placed on how to implement such strategies. In 1998 I was part of an Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering exercise to prepare a strategy for the development of research in information technology (IT) in Australia over 10-15 years. That strategy lead, in part, to an investment of around $1B in NICTA. But preparing the strategy was the easy bit. ;-)

Innovation and Commercialisation of Renewable Energy Technologies

Richard Adams, Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC),  US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will speak on "Innovation and Commercialisation of Renewable Energy Technologies", at the ANU Energy Change Institute, Australian National University, Canberra, 2:30pm 18 July 2013
Richard is the Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as well as the Director of the Center for Renewable Energy and Economic Development (CREED). NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. It is a global leader in developing creative answers to today's energy challenges. From fundamental science and energy analysis to validating new products for the commercial market, NREL researchers are dedicated to transforming the way the world uses energy. Drawing on his deep expertise and experience in supporting innovation and commercialisation of renewable energy technologies as well as his understanding of the Australian and US renewable energy sectors, Richard will introduce NREL and discuss, among others, possible areas of Australia - US collaboration, NREL’s experience in commercialisation of energy technologies, US policies encouraging innovation in renewable energy as well as major obstacles to broader uptake of renewables in US.

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

ANU Preparing Australia to Face The Next Enemy

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Dr Robert O'Neill, Planning Director for the US Studies Centre (University of Sydney) is speaking on
"Defence 2013 - preparing to face our next enemy". Dr O'Neil pointed out tht since 1945 wars had been confined to a small number of nations, constrained by international law and public opinion. However, environmental pressure over resources such as water are a source of international tension. Hunger may reduce the restraints on war.

Dr O'Neil suggested that conditions could be more dangerous for Australia due to its sparse population and natural resources. He commented that the rise of China, India and Indonesia were to be welcomed, but that the ADF would need to be strengthened.

Dr O'Neil suggested that Australia needs to prepare to go to war with little allied support, in a scenario reminiscent of the novel "Tomorrow When the War Began". He argued for making crossing the norther sea air gap and establishing a beachhead in North West Australia. This would be to deter attack using advanced weapons on a limited scale.

Dr O'Neil  called for a "brains trust" with input from the existing defence related university centres, ADF personnel, junior politicians and journalists. Given the importance of cyber-security and the use of the Internet for propaganda, I suggest that computer professionals could be added to this list. Some years ago, when a public servant at the Department of Defence I took part in a workshop at the Australian Defence College, Western Creek, with ADF personnel, security personnel and foreign affairs. Also I observed the use of the Internet at a joint Australian-US Amphibious exercise.

For the last few weeks ANU has had several public seminars each week, which seem to be around common themes of regional strategic issues, particularly tension in the South China Sea. Many also have dealt with amphibious warfare. It may be no coincidence that the ANU is now training senior Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and the ADF is working out how to conduct Amphibious Operations.

It seems to me that an issue which Australia needs to plan for now is how to "turn back boats", if a new Collocation government orders this. Such an order would place the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in a difficult situation. If those seeking asylum on a vessel refuse to turn it away from Australia it is difficult to see what practical and legal steps the RAN could take. In addition to resistance by the asylum seekers, the security forces of a country they were turned to may intervene. The RAN could detain the passengers and crews of a boat but it would not be feasible to safely "turn" them anywhere. ADF personnel need to therefore carefully consider what orders would be lawful to obey. It is difficulty for the ADF to be seen to be prepare options for a future government, or deciding what orders it will obey. However, that is a role which a university think thank can assist with.
As the Australian Defence Force prepares to leave combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014, a question arises as to who our next enemy might be. For what contingencies should the ADF train? How should our forces be organized, equipped, commanded and deployed in the interval between 2014 and the next possible assignment? Shall we prove to be very good at preparing to fight our latest war, which will probably never repeat itself, or might we be able to take a well-founded look into the future and prepare the ADF for the challenges it will actually have to face?

Releasing his Centre of Gravity Paper Dr O'Neill will explore the challenges facing the ADF today and how they should prepare to face the next enemy. Previous Centre of Gravity papers can be downloaded from http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/sdsc/centre_of_gravity.php
  About the Speaker:
Dr Robert O'Neill, AO is Honorary Professor at the US Studies Centre. O'Neill served as Planning Director for the Centre before its CEO was appointed.
One of the world's leading experts on strategic and security studies, O'Neill previously served as Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and then as Chichele Professor of the History of War and Fellow of All Souls College at Oxford University. Earlier in his career, O'Neill was Head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the ANU.
Professor O'Neill's extensive record of public service includes appointments as Chairman of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, Chairman of the Council of the Centre for Defence Studies, King's College, Chairman of the Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies in the University of London, and Chairman of the Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Lowy Institute for International Policy.
A prodigious author and editor, O'Neill wrote the Official History of Australia's role in the Korean War, influential reports for the Ford Foundation on reducing levels of conflict in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as dozens of academic books and innumerable articles and essays. Professor O'Neill is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in Britain.
O'Neill is a graduate of the University of Melbourne and the Royal Military College of Australia. A Rhodes Scholar, he received his PhD in Modern History from Oxford University

Post-nominals for Qualifications

Having spent a year learning about education, I thought I had done the hard part. But almost as difficult it seems is the process of obtaining my results. I had assumed that on completion of all the requirements for an educational program, there would be a week or two for the administrative processes and I would be sent my certificate. However, I have found that this process takes 6 to 8 weeks for a vocational institution and about four months for a university. In the case of the vocational institution the process is automatic, but for the university it is necessary to apply for an award.

Also there is the process of the awards ceremony. It may be fun to dress up in an academic gown, but this delays the awarding of certificates as the ceremonies are only held a few times a year. This seems an unnecessary encumbrance in the Internet age: why not issue the certificate (preferably electronically) immediately and have the (optional) ceremony later? It seems bizarre to spend effort making sure that students can get through a course quickly and then hold up awarding of the qualification for months.

Then there is the matter of working out what post-nominals you can have (letter after your name) and in what order they appear. The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) has a policy on qualification titles, including abbreviations for in postnominals. Institutions issue their own guidance but this can be cryptic. The ECU Authorized Post Nominals is a more comprehensive list. In other cases you may have to look for examples in publications, such as the ANU College OF Business Report.

Then the is the question of the order in which post nominals are listed.  According to the Oxford University Calendar Notes on Style: "The overall order is civil honours; military honours; QC; degrees; diplomas; certificates; membership of academic or professional bodies.".

Higher Education Whisperer Helping Improve University Course Design

For the second year running I received high student feedback scores for the course "ICT Sustainability" I designed and run at the Australian National University. Other lecturers have asked how I did this and for tips on improving their courses. I didn't think I was doing anything exceptional with course design or assessment. But then realized I had spent a year studying for a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and four years refining on-line course design and delivery. In that time I guess I learned a thing or two. So I thought I would offer some tips on how to improve courses.

The title "Higher Education Whisperer" is inspired by Dr Inger Mewburn's "Thesis Whisperer" blog. The term whispering is from horse whispering: training based on a rapport with the animal, observing behavior and having respect. I have found the same applies to students: you need to see things from the student's point of view, look at what they actually do and treat them as people. A teacher who assumes their students are stupid, lazy and dishonest should not be surprised if they do not inspire effort from the students and get poor feedback scores.

The best way I have found to see things from the student's perspective is to enroll in a course. The obvious course to enroll in is one on teaching, where you can look at the research available on student behavior. It can be difficult for a teacher to come to terms with student behavior, even when confronted by the evidence. The most obvious case is with assessment. Assessment is very important to students, which should be obvious to teachers, but many design courses with assessment as an afterthought.

The first thing to look at to improve a course is the assessment. In a recent case I looked at the assessment for a course which was not popular with students. The first obvious problem was that there was a 60% final examination. Such examinations are very stressful for students (and for staff making them), not useful aid to learning and not an effective way to assess what students have learned. So I suggested reducing the exam to 30%.

Also I suggested moving more of the assessment to the first half of the course (up from 20% to 44%). Staff complain that students don't study until just before the final exam, but if you design the assessment that way, what can you expect? Increasing an early assignment from 7% to 20% provided more reward for the student's effort and the opportunity for this to be a learning exercise not just final assessment. For simplicity I suggested also increasing the second assignment from 13% to 20% to match the first.

The course already had 15% allocated for small weekly assessment items. This is a good way to keep students working and also having them pay attention to feedback provided (as it has a mark attached). But the assessment scheme confusingly had the top 10 of 12 items assessed. I suggested a simple sum of all 12 weeks, increased to 24% (2% per week).

Also it is important that students get their mark and feedback promptly each week for the previous week. This is particularly important early in a course so that students who are not doing well (or not doing anything) get the message: "Shape up or ship out".

The final suggested scheme was:
  1. Weekly Work: 24% (+9%) 
  2. Assignment 1: 20% (+13%)
  3. Mid Semester Exam: 10% (+5%)
  4. Assignment 2:20% (+7%)
  5. Final Exam: 26% (-34%)
Obviously the assessment scheme could be revised further, but these changes should greatly reduce the stress on students (and on staff).

Another change is to make deadline firm. Teachers make the mistake of thinking if they provide "flexibility" with assessment it will be appreciated by students. But if you have rubbery deadlines you will cause confusion, stress and a perception of unfairness. If there is a deadline for an assignment, then make it firm: students who do not submit on time get zero marks. Obviously there needs to be provision for special circumstances, such as due to illness. But this should be exceptional, not routine.

Particularly when training professionals, on whom the lives of the community depends (such as doctors, engineers and computer programmers)  deadlines matter. A professional who does not learn to deliver work on time is a danger to the community.

Monday, July 08, 2013

Volinteer Humanitarian Mapmakers

Hal Hodsen writes in New Scientist about volunteers producing their own on-line maps for developing nations ("Citizen cartographers fill the gaps in maps", (5 July 2013). This has been done in the past where a disaster has occurred, most prominently for the Haiti earthquake. But the New Scientist discusses mapping to improve conditions, rather than just after a disaster. In May I attended a meeting in Colombo to discuss how to help deal with pandemics, including the use of mapping.

Planting Trees Will Not Offset Fossil Fuel Emissions

Professor Brendan MackeyGreetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Professor Brendan Mackey, Director of the Griffith Climate Change Response Program, is asking "Does planting trees offset fossil fuel emissions?".  Appropriately the talk is being held in the timber paneled forestry lecture theater. The talk is based on the paper Untangling the confusion around land carbon science and climate change mitigation policy (by Mackey, Prentice, Steffen, House, Lindenmayer, Keith and Berry in Nature Climate Change, 2013). To cut to the chase, they find that planting trees will not 'offset' emissions from burning fossil fuels. It is not that trees don't store carbon, it is just that the amount to be stored is too large. However, avoiding cutting down more trees would be useful for not further increasing emissions.

Professor Mackey commented this was his first presentation using Prezi. He apologized if this made us seasick, but it was a very clear and interesting visual presentation (much better than another dull Powerpoint slide show).

The issue of carbon emissions is not just an academic one for ANU.  The ANU student newspaper has a lead article criticizing thee university for increasing its investment in coal seam gas mining (ANU Turns Up The Gas, Woroni", Ben Latham, No 7, Vol 65, Thu 16). Research by Southern Cross University suggests that far more methane is leaking from coal seam gas mining than previously expected (Fugitive Emissions from Coal Seam Gas, Santos and Maher, 2012). So it appears possible that coal seam gas increases global warming, not reduce it.