Studying the Chinese Internet

The Australian National University has presentations on "Studying the Chinese Internet" (研究中国互联网／ 研究中國互聯網), Friday 1 August 2014. The workshop is free and it is possible to register just for day two. A small group is learning social network analysis today, using the free open source NodeXL and VOSON software. Tomorrow's presentations discuss the results of using such research and the challenges involved:

Day 1 (Thursday 31 July) – Small group training in social media analysis

Instructor: Dr Robert Ackland, Guest lecturer: Prof Jonathan Zhu

Day 2 (Friday 1 August) – Research presentations

9.00 Welcome

9.15-10.30 Keynote presentation

“Charting the Landscape of Chinese Social Media: What We Know and What We Don’t Know from Existing Research”, Prof Jonathan Zhu, City University of Hong Kong
中国社会化媒体研究的已知与未知 / 中國社會化媒體研究的已知與未知

10.30-11.00 Morning tea

11.00-12.30 Paper session 1

“A Web Analysis of HIV Information Delivery in China”, Dr Robert Ackland, Australian National
University and Dr Jiaying Zhao, Australian National University
爱滋病信息的传递 :
基于网络的分析 / 愛滋病信息的傳遞 :
基於網絡的分析
“Predicting Depressed Individuals with Suicide Ideation Using Social Media Data”, Jin Han, Australian
National University
微博社交网络抑郁用户识别 / 微博社交網絡抑鬱用戶識別
“Analyzing Events in Chinese Microblogs”, Dr Lexing Xie, Australian National University
社交网络上的新闻事件分析 / 社交網絡上的新聞事件分析

12.30-1.30 Lunch

1.30-3.00 Paper session 2

“Preliminary Analysis of Muslim Networking on the Chinese Web”, Dr Wai Yip Ho, Hong Kong Institute of
Education and Dr Robert Ackland, Australian National University
中国穆斯林网络的初步分析 / 中國穆斯林網絡的初步分析
“Multiple Identity Formation via Social Media by Professional Chinese Immigrants to Australia”, Dr Jerry
Watkins, University of Canberra and Dr Chong Han, University of Western Sydney
社交媒体上的多重身份构建:以澳大利亚中国技术移民为例 /
社交媒體上的多重身份構建:以澳大利亞中國技術移民為例
“Human Flesh Searching in the Greater China Region”, Dr Lennon Chang, City University of Hong Kong
分析大中华地区人肉搜索之现象 / 分析大中華地區人肉搜索之現象

3.00-3.30 Afternoon tea

3.30-4.30 Paper session 3

“Institutional Analysis of Chinese Internet Governance: Some Tentative Thoughts”, Ryan Manuel,
Australian National University
关于互联网体制与管理若干问题的分析 / 關於互聯網體制與管理若干問題的分析
“Internet Use in China: Citizens, Consumers, and Social Consumption in Chinese”, Dr Michael J. Jensen,
University of Canberra and Wei Si, University of Canberra
因特网在中国的应用 :
公民 ,
消费者与社会消费 / 因特網 在中國的應用:公民,消費者與社會消費
4.30-5.00 Wrap up

The emergence of the Australian Intelligence Community

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Dr John Blaxland is speaking on "The emergence of the Australian Intelligence Community". In this talk he is looking at the Australian Intelligence Community up to WW2. He will be covering later periods at the annual confeence of the AIPIO (Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers), next week

Dr Blaxland pointed out that Australia has a divide between intelligence and police forces, unlike Canada and the USA. Much of this is familiar from history books (and the Wikipedia). One aspect I was not aware of is that University of Sydney provided code-breaking during WW2. This function was transferred to what became the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), which has recently been renamed the Australian Signals Directorate.

One point which needs to be corrected in Dr Blaxlan's talk was when he said the Australian WW2 intelligence units were doing things "Ian Flemming could only dream of", it appears he is only familiar with Flemming as the author of James Bond books. But Flemming worked for the British Naval Intelligence during WW2.

This presentation is held in conjunction with the . Dr John Blaxland provides a century-spanning reflection on how the Australian Intelligence Community emerged and how it works. The talk covers the origins of intelligence and security in the early parts of the twentieth century and traces the rapid expansion of intelligence and security organisations during the Second World War -- all of which set the scene for the post war intelligence arrangements. Those post-war arrangements saw a number of organisations working in separate locations, answerable to different authorities and working to different priorities. It wasn’t until the momentum for reform gathered pace in the mid 1970s that they underwent a metamorphosis into what emerged as the Australian Intelligence Community. If you want to have a clear understanding of how the Australian Intelligence Community functions and how it came to be that way, this is the talk for you.

Bachelor of Counter Terrorism Online

Open Universities Australia, a consortium of universities offering online degrees, is now advertising a "Bachelor of Counter Terrorism", via Google ads. The web site this links to explains the degree is actually a Bachelor of Arts (Security, Terrorism and Counter-terrorism). Most of the units appear to be provided by Murdoch University, with titles such as "Spies, Saboteurs and Secret Agents".

Defence Semantic Web Intelligence System

The Australian Department of Defence has issued a Request for Tender for the intriguing sounding "Project Riddler", which appears to be a semantic web based strategic intelligence system.

The Customer has a requirement for a Commercial Off The Shelf software product which supports the following key capabilities:

• Storing and editing knowledge in a centralised ontology based repository;
• Ability to support a minimum of 100 concurrent users;
• Changes to knowledge and recently imported knowledge should be available for access by other users within a short timeframe;
• Management of ontology must be flexible and easy to change by sepcified users;
• Searching, filtering and visualising the knowledge in multiple different ways;
• Direct access to the stored knowledge via a documented API; and
• Fine grained security access controls to the knowledge. ...

From: "Project Riddler", DISG 2010/10, Request for Tender, Department of Defence, Intelligence, Security and International Policy, 5 May 2010

Open Source Intelligence Job

The Office of National Assessments (ONA), the Australian Prime Minister's intelligence agency, is advertising for a Director of their Open Source Branch.
Open source intelligence is based on publicly available information, rather than finding out secrets and has come to prominence with the Internet. The ONA OS Branch uses the Internet to disseminate intelligence reports, as well collect information. There is a password protected section on the ONA web site, to provide reports to Australian and allied government agencies.

ONA is seeking a highly motivated and skilled individual to coordinate the collection and research activities of the Open Source Branch. The successful candidate will have demonstrated management and coordination experience, well developed interpersonal skills and strong analytical skills. Proficiency in Indonesian language will also be highly regarded. ...