Regional Telecommunications Review

The Australian Regional Telecommunications Review is currently holding regional consultations on telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia. There is an issues paper available. Here is the text of the RTF version, minus images, converted to HTML for easier reading:

2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review

The Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee is reviewing telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia. The committee is comprised of Ms Rosemary Sinclair (Chair), Mr Warren McLachlan, Mr Robin Eckermann, Ms Heron Loban, Mr Alun Davies and the Hon. Kim Chance.

The 2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review is an independent review and the committee must provide its report to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy by 5 March 2012. The committee"s terms of reference are at Appendix 1.

Background

This is the second legislated RTR and follows on from the 2008 review led by Dr Bill Glasson AO. The committee acknowledges the Glasson committee"s comprehensive report, Framework for the Future, and its commitment to improving regional telecommunications. In direct response to the 2008 review, the government established the Digital Regions Initiative to fund projects that use broadband applications to improve education, health and emergency services in regional communities.

The government"s response included funding for an enhanced Satellite Phone Subsidy Scheme and an Indigenous Communications Program, which is delivering improved telecommunications, public internet access and training to remote Indigenous communities.

Subsequent to the Glasson review, the government"s National Broadband Network (NBN) policy was announced. On 7 April 2009, the government committed to building a ubiquitous national network, providing access to high-speed broadband for every home, school and business in Australia. This represents a step change in rural and regional Australia"s access to affordable and reliable communications services.

The NBN will provide access to high-speed broadband to 100 per cent of Australian premises. The government"s objective is to connect 93 per cent of Australian homes, schools and businesses with fibre-to-the-premises technology (FTTP) providing speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second. All remaining premises will be served by a combination of next-generation fixed-wireless and satellite technologies providing peak speeds of 12 megabits per second.

NBN Co Limited was established to build and operate the new high-speed network. The NBN is expected to be completed by 2021 at which time around 13 million premises will have access to fibre-to-the-premises, fixed-wireless or satellite broadband services.

The NBN policy was strengthened by the government"s Commitment to Regional Australia, announced on 7 September 2010.

The commitment includes prioritising the regional rollout of the NBN to ensure non-metropolitan communities are amongst the first beneficiaries of reliable high-speed broadband. This will occur by:

• building fibre in regional areas as a priority

• bringing forward the introduction of wireless and satellite services so that regional Australia can gain access to better broadband as soon as possible

• putting in place uniform national wholesale prices, so that regional areas can pay the same prices as people in the city.

Since then, NBN Co has launched commercial services on the Interim Satellite Service on 1 July 2011, providing eligible rural and regional Australians with immediate access to enhanced broadband services. This new service targets customers who do not have access to a metro-comparable broadband service.

The Interim Satellite Service offers users peak speeds of 6 megabits per second download and 1 megabit per second upload. Currently, seven retail service providers (RSPs) are offering interim satellite services (Activ8me, Bordernet, Clear Networks, Harbour IT, Reachnet, SkyMesh and Australian Nomad Technologies). NBN Co has announced plans to sign up to 20 RSPs to offer retail satellite services from November 2011, ensuring rural and remote Australians enjoy the benefits of a competitive retail market.

NBN Co is also in the process of designing and procuring two new, Ka-band satellites to deliver the Long Term Satellite Service from 2015. The Long Term Satellite Service will offer peak speeds of 12 megabits per second download and 1 megabit per second upload and will enable average data higher than average DSL usage today.

NBN Co has also brought forward the introduction of its next-generation fixed-wireless service so that regional and rural Australia can get access to better broadband as soon as possible.

The first communities to receive the service will be the less densely populated rural and regional communities that surround Ballarat (Vic), Darwin (NT), Geraldton (WA), Toowoomba (Qld) and Tamworth (NSW). It is expected that customers in these areas will be able to sign up with retail service providers to use the network, with the latest 4G technology, from the middle of 2012. It is anticipated that those parts of Australia outside the fibre footprint-the so called "last 7 per cent"-will be fully covered by NBN Co"s fixed-wireless and long-term satellite services by 2015.

In addition, since the announcement of the NBN in April 2009 the majority of the fibre network construction that has occurred, or is planned, has been in rural and regional Australia.

In July 2010, the first services were switched on in the three regional Tasmanian centres of Scottsdale, Midway Point and Smithton. Of the 19 first and second-release sites on the mainland, where construction or planning is already underway, many are in regional centres.

These fibre, wireless and satellite networks will ensure that every community in regional Australia gets fair and equal access to affordable high-speed broadband. This includes the delivery of uniform national wholesale pricing within the three technology platforms. This means that wholesale broadband prices for comparable products will be the same for households and businesses regardless of where they are located--in the city, in regional Australia or in more remote parts of the country.

Further, under the Regional Backbone Blackspots Program, 6000 kilometres of optical fibre will be laid before the end of 2011. This program will connect 100 regional locations and provide around 400 000 people across six states and territories with access to competitively-priced backhaul.

Another major change in the telecommunications sector since the Glasson review has been the increase in demand for mobile access broadband services. Mobile phones and/or broadband devices are becoming increasingly popular with Australians. This is due to a number of factors such as higher rates of mobility, and the desire to connect to the internet remotely for business and personal use, including social networking. The committee is interested in better understanding the impact that this additional demand for mobile access broadband services will have, or is already having, on the existing wireless networks.

Introduction

The 2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review seeks to build upon the progress achieved since the 2008 review. In doing so, the Minister has asked the committee to have particular regard for the opportunities that the NBN creates for the emerging digital economy to improve the delivery of:

• health and education outcomes

• business efficiencies and opportunities

• growth in local economies

• government services and programs, including local government services

The committee is also interested in other telecommunications issues that are important to regional, rural and remote communities. These include:

• the communications needs of Indigenous Australians, particularly those that live in rural and remote communities

• developments in the terrestrial and satellite mobile phone sector

• the consumer concerns of people and businesses in regional, rural and remote Australia.

The committee"s approach to the 2011-12 RTR is to take a snapshot of current service availability in different areas and to look to the future to identify what further steps are needed for regional Australia to progressively take advantage of improved broadband services, including those which will become available as the NBN is deployed.

The committee is keen to learn from the experiences of consumers, businesses, agencies and organisations using telecommunications services in regional Australia.

The committee is also keen to understand the initiatives that are in place or planned to support access to, awareness of, and use of improved telecommunication services in regional Australia.

The government"s commitment to the rollout of the NBN will, over time, bring about major structural reform in the Australian telecommunications industry. The NBN also forms a key platform over which a new generation of services and applications will evolve. The committee recognises that the rollout will take some time but also is of the view that, for regional Australia to benefit from the NBN, thinking needs to start now about future opportunities, how regional communities can best prepare themselves for these opportunities, and what can be done to accelerate and extend these opportunities.

With this in mind the committee would welcome your views and ideas on:

• changes in user behaviour and preferences with telecommunications services

• the extent to which these services are used in traditional sectors, such as farming, and also new business and economic development opportunities

• the extent to which people in regional Australia are using telecommunications services to shop, access government and community services, to assist with information, communication and decision-making, and to allow for automated communications between devices, such as sensors and weather stations or dataloggers.

This is an exciting time for regional telecommunications and the committee encourages you to have your say. The committee is accepting submissions until 1 December 2011. Details on how to make submissions and provide comments are in the Have your say section of this paper.

The committee will conduct consultations in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia. The consultation schedule and other information about the committee is available at www.rtirc.gov.au

Complementary inquiries

The committee is aware of other relevant inquiries that are ongoing or have been recently completed. These include:

• the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications, Inquiry into the role and potential of the National Broadband Networkⁱ

• the Joint Committee on the National Broadband Networkⁱⁱ

• the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications inquiry into the National Broadband Network Companies Bill 2010; and Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network Measures-Access Arrangements) Bill 2010ⁱⁱⁱ.

Additionally, there are several existing reports that are of direct relevance to the committee"s review and will help inform the broad directions of our work. These include:

• our predecessors, the Glasson committee, and their 2008 Regional Telecommunication Review report Framework for the Future^iv

• Dr Genevieve Bell"s 2009 report Getting Connected, Staying Connected^v

• the Australian Government"s National Digital Economy Strategy^vi.

The 2011-12 RTR seeks to complement, but not replicate, these other bodies of work. The Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee will remain focused on the particular opportunities and challenges that face regional, rural and remote communities. You can assist the committee to do this by making a submission or attending one of the public meetings.

Have your say

The committee welcomes submissions from individuals, businesses and organisations. If you wish to make a submission, please consider the following guidelines.

You can email your submissions to secretariat@rtirc.gov.au Please clearly label the submission and any appendices that you attach. The total size of an email, including all attachments, should not exceed 3 megabytes.

If you are unable to submit electronically, you can post your submission to:

2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review Secretariat
Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
GPO Box 2154
CANBERRA ACT 2601

For people who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment

Please contact the committee secretariat through the National Relay Service:

• TTY users phone 133 677 then ask for 1800 064 851

• speak and Listen (speech-to-speech relay) users phone 1300 555 727 then ask for 1800 064 851

• internet relay users connect to www.relayservice.com.au and then ask for 1800 064 851

Further information about submissions, including confidentiality, privacy and how to contact the secretariat is at Appendix 2.

Key areas of interest

The committee has identified five key areas of interest for the 2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review:

• the digital economy

• regional health and education outcomes

• communications needs of Indigenous people and communities

• developments in the terrestrial and satellite mobile phone sector

• consumer issues.

This paper sets out the committee"s understanding of these issues for regional, rural and remote Australians. The committee also asks a number of questions in the paper, which we would like you to consider and respond to. It is not necessary to address all of these questions in your submission. The committee would also welcome submissions on other telecommunications matters that you consider are relevant to regional, rural and remote Australians.

1. The digital economy

Question 1. How is the use of telecommunications services; and information and communication technology (ICT) evolving in different industry sectors and what is the impact of these changes in regional Australia?

Question 2. What is needed to extend and accelerate the role of telecommunications services and ICT in delivering benefits to regional economies?

The "digital economy" refers to the rapidly growing use and impact of information and communications technology on the entire Australian economy-including every business, government agency, not-for-profit group and individual Australian. The ability to interact online in real-time, using the internet, is encouraging many innovative new communication models and applications.

The widespread availability of improved broadband at more affordable pricing in regional and remote areas, which the new NBN will provide, will establish a platform that people and organisations will use to change the way they currently communicate, provide and access services, and conduct their business. Many have already begun to do so.

For regional, rural and remote communities, the availability of high-speed broadband brings both opportunities and challenges.

For regional, rural and remote Australia, the NBN will provide a better platform for improving health and education outcomes, creating growth in local economies, improving business efficiency through such activities as teleworking, and delivering government services and programs. Many submissions to the Inquiry into the role and potential of the National Broadband Network by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications considered that regional, rural and remote communities will benefit from greater participation in the digital economy^vii.

However, challenges remain. For example, Australian Bureau of Statistics" data indicates that over one-third of Australians aged 15 years or older living in outer regional and remote areas have not used the internet^viii. Additionally, it is reported that less than 30 per cent of regional businesses have a web presence^ix. These are challenges to overcome before people living and working in regional, rural and remote Australia can take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the digital economy.

The committee is aware that there are programs that are designed to address these challenges. For example, the Digital Hubs program has been developed to help increase the portion of households that connect to broadband at home. This program will fund the establishment of a "digital hub" in the 40 communities that will first benefit from the rollout of the NBN. Digital Hubs will provide local people with experience of NBN-enabled services and technology and with access to education and training for the skills required to participate in the NBN-enabled digital economy.

Additionally, the Broadband for Seniors program provides seniors with free access to the internet and assists them in gaining confidence in using computer technology. Kiosks are set up in community organisations that support seniors, including community centres, retirement villages, nursing facilities, libraries and clubs. The initiative commenced in June 2008 and has delivered outcomes across 2000 sites, reaching about 94 000 seniors. The government has provided funding for a further four years from July 2011 to continue this program.

While the NBN will provide a critical piece of enabling infrastructure, the government has recognised that it is important to establish early trials of the technology to demonstrate its impact and to set the stage for broader systemic adoption in education, healthcare and government service delivery, to ensure full participation in the digital economy.

Business efficiencies and opportunities

The digital economy also provides opportunities for individual businesses, not-for-profit groups and local economic development. Initial experiences coming from the first-release NBN sites show real promise in this area. A recent report by Deloitte Access Economics valued the direct contribution of the internet to the Australian economy at approximately $50 billion in 2010^x. Experience to date suggests this figure will grow as the NBN is rolled out nationwide and consumers continue to increase their level on online activity.

Teleworking is one strategy that could lead to job opportunities and productivity gains for regional businesses, as well as increasing flexibility for individuals. Teleworking can take a number of forms, including working from home or other locations outside of the business premises, it can be done occasionally or on a full-time basis, and it can also include flexible working hours.

Specific benefits that could come from teleworking include:

• being able to recruit people irrespective of where they live;

• reduced commuting and business related travel time; and

• greater workplace flexibility, making the business a more attractive option for employees^xi.

The committee is aware that the Australian Government has developed initiatives to encourage greater online participation by businesses and community organisations. For example, the Digital Enterprise program will assist small-to-medium enterprises and not-for-profit organisations, including local cultural organisations, to better understand how they can take advantage of the NBN and online opportunities in general.

The committee has a strong interest in the potential for businesses and community organisations in regional Australia to take advantage of improved broadband services. The committee is also interested in views on the role of local governments and other bodies in encouraging growth in local economies through the digital economy.

Question 3. The committee would like to hear from businesses and organisations about their participation in, experiences of, and expectations about, the digital economy. Examples could relate to specific sectors such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing or retail; business-to-business activities; productivity; teleworking; and the development of new knowledge-based industries.

Delivery of government services and programs

Accessing government services online is increasingly becoming a preferred way of doing business with government. Many state, territory and local governments are actively developing and implementing digital economy strategies. For people living or working in rural and remote communities, the ability to access more government services online will be more convenient and achieve savings in both time and travel costs.

The Australian Government"s Digital Local Government program will assist local governments in early-release NBN sites to deliver innovative online services to homes and businesses. Additionally, developments are being investigated to improve people"s ease of use and access to Australian Government services. Such improvements include options that would enable individuals to manage their government transactions and personal information via a single online account; and provide the basis for a range of new services, including a "tell us once" capability. This would allow people to communicate updated details to multiple agencies simultaneously and pre-fill forms with information previously provided to an agency.

At the Australian government level, there are many examples of the increased focus on online service delivery. For the Australian Tax Office, tax return lodgements using e-tax increased to 2.37 million in 2009-10^xii. Centrelink reported that in 2009-10 more than 110 million web pages were viewed by 85 million visitors^xiii. The Australian Bureau of Statistics anticipated that 30 per cent of the population would use the eCensus to complete the 2011 Census of Population and Housing^xiv

Question 4. The NBN will help the range of online government services to continue to expand. The committee is interested in views and experiences about engaging with government services online, whether local, state or federal.

Question 5. What are some examples of what you want to see happen to encourage greater participation in the digital economy by people living and working in regional Australia?

The committee recognises the experiences that regional, rural and remote communities have with the digital economy will vary according to the nature, characteristics and location of that community. The committee would appreciate specific examples and case studies.

Question 6. What are the main barriers to regional communities increasing their use of information and communications technologies and do you have any ideas for ways in which regional communities could progressively overcome these barriers?

2. Regional health and education outcomes

In the health and ageing sector there are a number of telehealth trials and other initiatives underway that will take advantage of the NBN to deliver in-home and close-to-home health services. People living in regional, rural and remote communities stand to benefit greatly from these initiatives when they are rolled out nationally.

For example, the Diabetes Telehealth trial, in Townsville, is expected to deliver a range of benefits to type 2 diabetes patients such as improved diabetes management, the ability to detect and address quickly any deterioration in condition, improved patient confidence in self-managing a diabetic condition, and reduced travel times and transport costs.

A further example is the Telehealth to the Home trial in the New England and Shoalhaven regions of New South Wales. It will provide broadband-enabled access to appropriate health and mental care. This means that patients will no longer have to regularly travel long distances to access their health professionals. Patients can remain in the community and have access to the same level of care that those in major centres experience.

Through increased support for both patients and their carers, this trial will improve the quality of life for chronic disease sufferers and young people with mental health problems, and assist health professionals to provide more efficient, high-quality care for individuals wherever they live.

Similarly, trials are underway in the education sector to deliver a range of new online services. For example, EduONE-Education Our New England will trial new models of education services and resources using ubiquitous reliable high-speed broadband^xv. Vocational and adult students in rural and remote areas, many of whom have previously had to leave their homes and communities to further their educations, are obvious beneficiaries of this approach.

Expected benefits from the trial include improved access to high-quality vocational and adult education and training for students at home and in the workplace, leading to increased take-up of relevant skills development programs. This will allow greater workforce participation, as job seekers can more readily access appropriate training and professional development to get back into the workforce faster or to further enhance their existing careers.

In addition, the government has announced an NBN-Enabled Education and Skills Services Program commencing from 2011-12. This will support the development and trialling of innovative online education and skills services that take advantage of the high-speed broadband connections of the NBN and will provide more interactive and effective learning opportunities.

Regional universities in Australia are leaders in the delivery of external and distance-based studies. The committee"s view is that these institutions are particularly well-placed to develop and deliver new online education services and techniques.

For the education sector, increased experience with improved broadband to deliver training will give Australian teachers and educational institutions a competitive edge in the international education market and offer ways to deliver open-access resources. It could also improve the usage of existing teaching resources, helping to address teacher shortages. The committee believes that it will be important for teachers, students, and educational institutions to have a good understanding of intellectual property rights and licensing arrangements when offering, and making use of, open access resources.

Question 7. Do you have ideas for ways in which high-speed broadband could enhance the delivery of education and healthcare outcomes in regional communities?

Question 8. The committee would like to hear from individuals and organisations about their participation in, experiences of, and expectations about, online health and education service delivery.

3. Communications needs of Indigenous people and communities

Access to reliable high-speed broadband is the first step to participation in the digital economy for people living in rural and remote Indigenous communities. The fast-tracked availability of the NBN interim satellite solution provides an immediate opportunity to improve competitive access to broadband to the home, through a range of retail service providers.

In addition, the recent announcement of the NBN fixed-wireless network to communities in five states and territories will provide fast-tracked access to high-speed broadband, with the first services available from the middle of 2012.

However, the most recent census figures (2006) revealed that only 20 per cent of Indigenous households in remote and very remote Australia had an internet connection in 2006 compared with 60 per cent of non-Indigenous households in the same statistical area^xvi. As these figures illustrate, access will be a key challenge if these communities are to benefit from the digital economy.

Other challenges that people in Indigenous communities may face include:

• the ability of end users to access internet services to their full potential

• awareness of the opportunities provided by the digital economy.

Overcoming access and digital literacy issues will be important for Indigenous communities, as will improved awareness of the uses and benefits that the NBN can provide.

Access to high-speed broadband

There are a number of private and public programs that are improving access to computers, the internet and basic telecommunications services in remote communities.

The government"s response to the Glasson review included the Indigenous Communications Program, which commenced in 2009 10. The four-year program is helping provide public access to internet services and training for people living in remote Indigenous communities. The program is delivered through a National Partnership Agreement with four states and the Northern Territory. Since the inception of the program on 1 July 2009, 63 communities have received public internet access facilities and around 1700 Indigenous Australians have received training.

The other element of this program is the provision of communications services in smaller remote Indigenous communities. Around 210 remote Indigenous communities that did not previously have access to a public telephone have received fixed or mobile satellite community telephones.

Awareness of, and the ability to harness, the digital economy"s opportunities

Currently, there is a lack of awareness in some rural and remote communities about the opportunities afforded by the NBN. Additionally, there is a shortage of data available on the impacts, opportunities and potential applications of broadband in remote Indigenous communities^xvii.

The ability of end users in rural and remote communities to understand and use the internet is fundamental to their participation in the digital economy. A number of recent inquiries into broadband and its potential applications have raised this issue. For example, in her report Getting Connected, Staying Connected: South Australia"s Digital Futures Dr Genevieve Bell suggests adopting a digital literacy program that would be lifelong, would teach basic skills and critical thinking, and could operate out of schools and other social institutions such as community centres^xviii.

One initiative that is already in operation in Western Australia is the Community Resource Network, which is a network of community-owned and operated telecentre facilities. The Community Resource Network aims to provide local access to technology such as videoconferencing facilities, information, training and other services in small rural and remote communities across Western Australia. The role for telecentres is to provide: ICT upskilling programs, access to leading edge ICT technologies including broadband, and access to government information and service delivery-most notably e-government and other online services^xix.

Question 9: Are there examples of the internet being used by Indigenous Australians in ways that take advantage of economic, social or cultural opportunities?

Question 10. What further initiatives should the committee consider to improve awareness within Indigenous communities of the opportunities provided by improved broadband services?

Question 11: What recommendations do you have for remote communities to take advantage of the progressive increase in availability of high-speed broadband?

Question 12: What more could be done to improve digital literacy amongst Indigenous Australians and within Indigenous communities?

4. Developments in the terrestrial and satellite mobile phone sector

Mobile phones and/or broadband devices have become increasingly popular with Australians over the past decade. This is due to a number of factors such as higher rates of mobility, and the desire to connect to the internet remotely for business and personal use, including social networking.

Mobile phone coverage

The committee is advised that the three major mobile phone carriers have extended the national coverage of their networks. These carriers estimate that their network coverage extends to:

• Vodafone Hutchinson Australia-94 per cent of Australians

• Optus 3G services-97 per cent of Australians

• Telstra Next G network-99 per cent of Australians.

Based on the carrier"s estimates of population coverage, mobile phone access appears to have improved over time as demand for these services has increased. However, reflecting Australia"s highly urbanised population, these high levels of coverage equate to around 25 per cent of the Australian landmass.

Question 13. Have you been able to readily obtain information to improve your mobile phone coverage, such as using an external antenna or choosing particular phones that are better suited to rural or remote coverage?

Question 14. Are you aware of emerging technologies or initiatives that could be used to improve mobile phone coverage in regional Australia?

Satellite mobile phones

Satellite mobile phone services cover the entire Australian landmass. For areas that are sparsely populated or have little passing traffic, the only commercially-viable option for mobile services is via satellite.

Satellite mobile phones have similar functionality to terrestrial mobile phones, including voice, SMS and data services. While mobile phone towers are at risk of damage from bushfires and other natural disasters, satellite mobile phones are not as reliant on the local power supply infrastructure and can be more reliable than ground-based systems during an emergency.

Traditionally, satellite mobile phones were viewed by many as expensive to purchase, with high-cost call rates, and needing a clear line of sight to the satellite for the phone to work. However, the committee is advised that recent developments in the satellite phone market have led to a significant reduction in handset costs and more competitive call costs.

Question 15. What have been your experiences with satellite mobile phones?

5. Consumer issues

The Australian Government, industry and consumer groups are currently working on a range of strategies to improve the customer-focus of telecommunications providers. The committee would welcome feedback on any significant consumer issues that are unique to regional, rural or remote communities and which have not been raised in the context of the other consumer-related inquiries.

Consumer dissatisfaction with telecommunications services has increased in recent years. The government is aware of the importance of telecommunications services to consumers and the challenges that have existed in meeting consumers expectations. The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has reported a substantial rise in consumer complaints about issues including poor customer service, bill shock, poor credit management, confusing advertising and contract complexity.

In response to this situation, the government has strengthened consumer protection laws, introducing new protections through the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Act 2010^xx.

There are also a number of processes occurring in response to this situation, including the Reconnecting the Customer inquiry by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) that is examining customer service and complaint handling in the telecommunications industry^xxi, a review of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman scheme^xxii, and the Communications Alliance, the peak industry body, is finalising a new Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code^xxiii that attempts to address the issues that underpin consumer complaints.

In its 2008 regional telecommunications review, the Glasson committee found that voice services are generally adequate in regional areas but the consumer protections should be revised. The Glasson committee also found that regional voice services users had a poor understanding of the consumer protection standards. Since the 2008 regional telecommunications review significant changes have occurred in this area.

The committee notes that the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Act 2010, passed in November 2010, is a major reform of voice service and payphone standards. This legislation was aimed at enhancing competitive outcomes in the Australian telecommunications industry, such as allowing for the structural separation of Telstra and strengthening existing consumer safeguards. The regulatory reforms included measures to strengthen key consumer safeguards such as the Universal Service Obligation (USO) for voice and payphones, the Customer Service Guarantee, and to provide enhanced enforcement powers to the ACMA as the regulatory body.

As part of the transition to the NBN, the Australian Government is also reforming the delivery of the USO and other public policy outcomes. As part of this reform the government has reached an agreement with Telstra to ensure that all Australians will continue to have access to basic telephone services.

From July 2012, a new government entity, the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency (TUSMA), will manage the new universal service agreement. Under the terms of the new agreement Telstra will be subject to stronger standards and benchmarks for the provision of the USO for voice and payphone services. The TUSMA will also be responsible for administering safety net arrangements to assist the migration of voice-only customers to an NBN fibre service as Telstra"s copper customer access network is decommissioned. For people who live in areas where the NBN fibre does not extend and currently receive their voice services over Telstra"s copper network, Telstra will also be required to maintain its copper network to deliver voice services.

The committee notes that as part of the reforms for delivery of the USO, the government released a discussion paper (Universal Service Obligation legislative reform for transition to the National Broadband Network, 23 June 2011) calling for public comment on the proposed legislative arrangements. This included the establishment, functions, governance and accountability of the TUSMA and announced the government"s intention for the new legislative regime to begin in advance of 1 July 2012.

Question 16. Are there any significant consumer issues specific to rural and remote communities that you consider are not being addressed?

Question 17. Do people in regional areas, particularly those in vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, have appropriate access to information about their consumer rights and the service options available to them?

Question 18. If not, what additional strategies could be put in place to assist individuals and groups to better understand their consumer rights and responsibilities?

Another emerging issue for consumers in regional, rural or remote communities is the challenge of keeping pace with the growth of telecommunications technologies, notably mobile internet devices such as smartphones. With the unquestioned benefits of greater affordable access to information and services, comes the prospect of greater exposure to risks online. These risks can range from the protection of personal information to greater exposure to harmful and inappropriate content. The committee is aware of the need to ensure that all consumers are aware of the risks and the range of tools and information that they can use to manage these risks.

Question 19: Are there specific cybersafety challenges that arise from the way that communications technologies are being used by regional, rural or remote communities?

Question 20: How can education and awareness of the risks of using mobile devices, such as smartphones, be improved for consumers in regional areas?

Other issues

Question 21. Are there any other issues relating to telecommunications services in regional Australia that you would like to bring to the committee"s attention?

Appendix 1: 2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review Terms of Reference

1. Sections 158P and 158Q of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 contain the terms of reference for the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee and the conduct of regional telecommunications reviews.

2. The committee must conduct a review of the adequacy of telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia.

3. In determining the adequacy of those services, the committee must have regard to whether people in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia have equitable access to telecommunications services that are significant to people in those parts of Australia, and currently available in one or more parts of urban Australia.

4. In conducting the review, the committee must make provision for public consultation and consultation with people in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia.

5. In conducting the review, the committee must have regard to any policies of the Australian Government notified to it by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy*; and such other matters as the committee considers relevant.

6. The committee must prepare a report of the review and give it to the Minister. The report may set out recommendations to the Australian Government.

7. In formulating a recommendation that the Australian Government should take a particular action, the committee must assess the costs and benefits of that action.

* The Minister has asked the committee to have particular regard for the opportunities that the National Broadband Network creates in improving the delivery of health and education outcomes, growth in local economies, business efficiencies, and government services and programs.

Appendix 2: Further details on submissions made to the review

Publication of submissions

The secretariat will make submissions publicly available at www.rtirc.gov.au

Please allow time for this to occur.

The secretariat reserves the right not to publish any submission, or part of a submission, which in its view contains potentially defamatory material, or where it is appropriate to do so for confidentiality or other reasons.

Submission requirements

Each submission must include the submitter"s name, organisation (if relevant) and contact details. Emails should not exceed 3 megabytes in total size. This includes the submission and any appendices. If your submission is very large, send it in parts of no more than 3 megabytes each. If the submission is brief-three paragraphs or shorter-you may send it in the body of an email.

Please provide documents in a standard word-processing format.

Confidentiality

The secretariat will treat all submissions as non-confidential unless the submitter specifically requests that a submission, or a part of that submission, is kept confidential and provides acceptable reasons with the request. Email disclaimers are not considered sufficient confidentiality requests.

Submitters of material marked as confidential or sensitive must understand that submissions may be released where authorised or required by law or for the purpose of parliamentary processes. In this instance, the secretariat will strive to consult submitters of confidential information before providing that information to another body or agency.

Privacy

Submitters should note that submissions or comments are generally subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

The secretariat is subject to the Privacy Act 1988 and all submissions will be used only for the purpose of the review.

Register of lobbyists

A person who makes a submission on behalf of another person or on behalf of a company does not need to register as a lobbyist. For more information about the Lobbying Code of Conduct, see www.pmc.gov.au/lobbyistsregister

Contacting the secretariat

Further information about the 2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review and the Committee is at www.rtirc.gov.au

Contact the committee secretariat by:

• email to secretariat@rtirc.gov.au

• telephone on 1800 064 851 (a free call from a landline service)

• TTY users phone 133 677 then ask for 1800 064 851

• speak and Listen (speech-to-speech relay) phone 1300 555 727 then ask for 1800 064 851

• internet relay, connect to www.relayservice.com.au and then ask for 1800 064 851.

Appendix 3: Issue paper questions

The digital economy

Question 1. How is the use of telecommunications services; and information and communication technology (ICT) evolving in different industry sectors and what is the impact of these changes in regional Australia?

Question 2. What is needed to extend and accelerate the role of telecommunications services and ICT in delivering benefits to regional economies?

Question 3. The committee would like to hear from businesses and organisations about their participation in, experiences of, and expectations about, the digital economy. Examples could relate to specific sectors such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing or retail; business-to-business activities; productivity; teleworking; and the development of new knowledge-based industries.

Question 4. The NBN will help the range of online government services to continue to expand. The committee is interested in views and experiences about engaging with government services online, whether local, state or federal.

Question 5. What are some examples of what you want to see happen to encourage greater participation in the digital economy by people living and working in regional Australia?

Question 6. What are the main barriers to regional communities increasing their use of information and communications technologies and do you have any ideas for ways in which regional communities could progressively overcome these barriers?

Regional health and education outcomes

Question 7. Do you have ideas for ways in which high-speed broadband could enhance the delivery of education and healthcare outcomes in regional communities?

Question 8. The committee would like to hear from individuals and organisations about their participation in, experiences of, and expectations about, online health and education service delivery.

Communications needs of Indigenous people and communities

Question 9: Are there examples of the internet being used by Indigenous Australians in ways that take advantage of economic, social or cultural opportunities?

Question 10. What further initiatives should the committee consider to improve awareness within Indigenous communities of the opportunities provided by the NBN?

Question 11: What recommendations do you have for remote communities to take advantage of the progressive increase in availability of high-speed broadband?

Question 12: What more could be done to improve digital literacy amongst Indigenous Australians and within Indigenous communities?

Developments in the terrestrial and satellite mobile phone sector

Question 13. Have you been able to readily obtain information to improve your mobile phone coverage, such as using an external antenna or choosing particular phones that are better suited to rural or remote coverage?

Question 14. Are you aware of emerging technologies or initiatives that could be used to improve mobile phone coverage in regional Australia?

Question 15. What have been your experiences with satellite mobile phones?

Consumer issues

Question 16. Are there any significant consumer issues specific to rural and remote communities that you consider are not being addressed?

Question 17. Do people in regional areas, particularly those in vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, have appropriate access to information about their consumer rights and the service options available to them?

Question 18. If not, what additional strategies could be put in place to assist individuals and groups to better understand their consumer rights and responsibilities?

Question 19: Are there specific cybersafety challenges that arise from the way that communications technologies are being used by regional, rural or remote communities?

Question 20: How can education and awareness of the risks of using mobile devices, such as smartphones, be improved for consumers in regional areas?

Question 21. Are there any other issues relating to telecommunications services in regional Australia that you would like to bring to the committee"s attention?

Endnotes

i House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications, Inquiry into the role and potential of the National Broadband Network, November 2010. www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ic/NBN/index.htm

ii Joint Committee on the National Broadband Network, April 2011. www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jcNBN/index.htm

iii Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications, Inquiry into the National Broadband Network Companies Bill 2010 and Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network Measures-Access Arrangements) Bill 2010. www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/ec_ctte/NBN_bills/interim_report/index.htm

iv Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee (Glasson committee), Framework for the Future, September 2008. www.dbcde.gov.au/funding_and_programs/regional_telecommunications_review

v Dr Genevieve Bell, Getting Connected, Staying Connected, 2009. www.thinkers.sa.gov.au/lib/pdf/GB15.pdf

vi National Digital Economy Strategy, #au20, 2011. See www.NBN.gov.au/the-vision/digitaleconomystrategy/

vii www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ic/NBN/index.htm

viii ABS 2008-09 Household Use of IT, Table 2.4, p. 10. www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/9B44779BD8AF6A9CCA25768D0021EEC3/$File/81460_2008-09.pdf

ix Ibid.

x Deloitte Access Economics, The Connected Continent? How the internet is transforming the Australian economy, p. 1. See www.connectedcontinent.com.au

xi Access Economics, Impact of Teleworking under the NBN, July 2010, pp. 10-11. www.dbcde.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/130158/ImpactsofteleworkingundertheNBN.pdf

xii Commissioner of Taxation, Annual Report 2009-10, October 2010, p. 26. www.ato.gov.au/corporate/content.aspx?doc=/content/00258543.htm&pc=001/001/009/001&mnu=49806&mfp=001&st

xiii www.humanservices.gov.au/spw/corporate/publications-and-resources/annual-report/centrelink/chapter01/index.html

xiv www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/2011%20Census%20-%20Media%20Release%20-%20CO-33

xv www.dbcde.gov.au/funding_and_programs/digital_regions_initiative/eduoneeducation_our_new_england

xvi Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006a, Census data. www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/census+data

xvii Indigenous Remote Communications Association, Submission to the House of Representatives Inquiry into the Role and Benefits of the National Broadband Network, February 2011, p. 9. www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ic/NBN/subs/Sub082.pdf

xviii Dr Bell, Getting Connected, Staying Connected: South Australia"s Digital Futures p. 46.

xix ACMA, Audit of Australian Digital Media Literacy Programs, July 2009, p. 24. www.acma.gov.au/webwr/_assets/main/lib310665/audit_of_aust_digital_media_literacy_programs.doc

xx See www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2010A00140

xxi ACMA Reconnecting the Customer inquiry, December 2010. http://engage.acma.gov.au/reconnecting/

xxii Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy, Review of Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Scheme. www.dbcde.gov.au/consultation_and_submissions/TIO_reforms

xxiii Telecommunications Consumer Protection (TCP) Code Review Steering Group. www.commsalliance.com.au/Activities/committees-and-groups/tcpsg

Planning a Sustainable Canberra

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Professor Barbara Norman, is talking on "SURF, TURF and CURF: A Sustainable Regional Future". She was commissioned by the Department of Climate Change to write the discussion paper "A low carbon and resilient urban future: a strategic approach to settlement planning for climate change", published in 2010.

Professor Norman started by reviewing recent policy developments by the federal government, describing this as the most significant since the Whitlam era. The new Regional Development Australia (RDA) policy takes a triple bottom line approach:

Regional Development Australia (RDA) is an Australian Government initiative that brings together all levels of government to support the growth and development of regional Australia. RDA is delivered through a national network of 55 committees who build partnerships between governments, regional development organisations, local businesses, community groups and key regional stakeholders to provide strategic and targeted responses to social, economic and environmental issues affecting regional Australia. The RDA National Charter [PDF: 48 KB] sets out the areas of focus for the RDA network. The RDA National Roles and Responsibilities [PDF: 59 KB] sets out the roles and responsibilities of the RDA network.

Professor Norman argued that planning action was needed to the effects of climate change, particularly rising sea levels and extreme weather events, without lessening work on prevention. She asked "What do we do about the Gold Coast? It is virtually a vertical retirement village". She also criticised a now abandoned proposed NSW state policy to respond to coastal erosion by issuing sandbags to residents. More practically, local people are taking useful pragmatic action, such as building new jetties higher.

Professor Norman proposed reopening a rial link to Cooma, praising the redevelopment of rail in Victoria and its effect on the economic revival of centers such as Ballarat. She also complemented voluntary regional local government plans such as Geelong G21. She criticized the ACT Government Infrastructure Plan as it stopped at the Canberra border and the ANU and University of Canberra for not having any joint planning.

Professor Norman advocated an integrated regional spatial plan for the Canberra region and for high speed railway on the eastern Australian seaboard. There is a ACT Strategic Regional Plan 2010 from Regional Development Australia (ACT).

Professor Norman then talk about CURF: "a platform for information-sharing across organizations in the Canberra region". This appears to be based at University of Canberra, with cooperation from ANU. Unfortunately exactly what CURF was and does was not clear. Perhaps my Green Information Technology Strategies students at ANU can contribute.

Professor Norman ended by mentioning CAPITheticAL, a competition with a $70,000 first prize on planning of Canberra:

CAPITheticAL invites responses to many questions, including:

• Would you build a new capital today or could the Australian Federation be expressed in a different way?
• Would it be a city in the conventional sense or not? If not, what form might it take?
• What ideas would drive its design and development?
• How would 21^st century social, political and environmental factors influence the nature of the city?
• Of what should our national capital consist?
  

Postgraduate Certificates in Tertiary Teaching

Having completed a short course in university teaching, I was keen to learn more about how to design and deliver courses at the tertiary level. While I have been teaching at ANU for ten years, in a classroom and on-line, I would like to study what works and why, in detail.

Australian National University

The obvious program is the ANU's own "Graduate Certificate in Higher Education". This has similar content to the programs offered by other universities, with an emphasis on a constructivist approach, action learning, student centered learning, formative feedback, community of practice and reflection. One point of difference is that the ANU offers a course in "Research Supervision" (EDUC8004), appropriate to the university's leading role in research.

The ANU courses are delivered in intensive and blended modes. However, my interests lie in e-learning and so it is worth looking at other institutions which specialize in distance education.

University of Southern Queensland

The obvious choice is University of Southern Queensland. USQ have a Postgraduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching and Learning (PGTT: PostgradCertTertT&L). This program is delivered via e-learning and includes "Online Pedagogy in Practice" (EDU8114). While I have missed semester 2, they have semester 3 commencing 14 November, with applications closing 28 October, 2011.

ANU and USQ have an alliance for education. USQ also has Professor Gilly Salmon as Executive Director and Professor (Learning Futures). The model of on-line learning described by Professor Salmon in "E-Moderating: the Key to Teaching and Learning Online" is the one I have been trained to use by the ACS and use to deliver courses at ANU.

Open Universities Australia

The next to consider are the postgraduate education programs from Open Universities Australia. OUA obviously has an interest in on-line learning and my Green Technology Strategies course is offered by ACS through OUA.. Two of the universities in the OUA consortium offer certificates:

1. Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching: Provided by Curtin University
2. Graduate Certificate in eLearning: Provided by University of New England

New England, CQU, Ballarat, Edith Cowan, Canberra Consortium

Another Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education (GCTE) of interest is the one offered jointly by University of New England, CQ University, University of Ballarat, Edith Cowan University, and University of Canberra. There is a very detailed GCTE 2011 Course Handbook.

However, the course suffers from being a consortium approach, making the administrative details complex. Also the course has blended components, that is some of it is delivered face-to-face, which makes the logistics of study much more difficult.

Other Australian Programs

A search of "Postgraduate Certificate Tertiary Teaching" at Australian universities returns 13,000 web pages. This shows that many other universities have such courses.

International Programs

Many universities around the world offer courses for university teaching. Some of note are: Postgraduate Certificate in Online and Distance Education (Open University UK) and those from New Zealand.

Not School Teaching

It should be noted that these university teaching programs do not generally qualify the student to teach at a primary or secondary school. Schools have much more rigorous requirements for education of their teachers than universities (plus the requirement for a police check).

Some thoughts on CCA-EDUCAUSE Australasia 2011

Here is a summary of my blog postings from CCA-EDUCAUSE Australasia 2011, a conference held in Sydney, 3 to 6 April 2011. The conference was organised by the Council of Australian University Directors of Information Technology (CAUDIT), Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) and Australasian Council on Open, Distance and E-Learning (ACODE). The involvement of the US based EDUCAUSE, appeared to be limited to some speakers imported from the USA. For an "Australasian" event, there was minimal input or discussion of Asia. A copy of the program is appended.

The conference had plenary sessions with keynote speakers starting and ending the day, and up to five parallel streams in between. The delegates were a mix of university IT directors, university librarians and educators (mostly with an interest in e-learning). The topics therefore addressed issues of IT management, the cloud, mobile computing and the role of university libraries with e-research and e-learning. Much of what was discussed at EDUCAUSE is in everyday use by some at ANU. The task is how to make these routine practice across the university sector.

Delegates

There were about 700 people registered. A quick count showed that organisations sending ten or more delegates were:

Organisation	Number of Delegates
Australian Catholic University	10
ANU	11
Blackboard	12
CISCO	15
Curtin University	13
Flinders University	11
Griffith University	19
Macquarie University	23
QUT	12
University of Auckland	19
University of Melbourne	17
University of Sydney	19
UNSW	11
University of Newcastle	12
UTS	29
University of Wollongong	10
VMWare	11

Poster

My involvement in the conference was linted to providing a poster "International Graduate Level Sustainable ICT Course" about the Green ICT course run for ANU, attending as a delegate and asking a lot of questions. There were only about a dozen posters on display, with limited interest shown by the delegates. I put my poster online and included a

the web address for this was on the poster, both as text and as a 2 dimensional barcode. Delegates photographed the QR code with their smart phones to get the notes.

Innovative Federation: Telescopes, Labs and Clouds

Michel de la Vilefromoy, UTS, UTS, talked about "Remote Labs", where students can use real laboratory equipment remotely over the Internet. The most important reason for doing this is scheduling: students can use the equipment 24 hours a day from wherever they are. This allows for much more intensive use of the equipment: 70% of the time rather than less than 20%.

Several universities can share a remote lab, reducing costs and allowing for efficient use, when in different time zones. One issue is the issuing of security credentials for students at other universities. The same techniques can be applied to instruments for physics experiments, telescopes and the like.

Michel praised the "Australian Access Federation" (AAF) which allows staff and students to be issued with security credentials for use between institutions. Several later speakers mentioned the AAF. This was a little frustrating as none of them explained what it was. At question time I asked what it was, but took several attempts to get the presenters to explain it.

The next session discussed federated systems at the business level. This seemed to be the public part of a detailed discussion going on inside CAUDIT about how universities can get together to get a better price from cloud vendors such as Microsoft and Google. Some issues here were how visible to the end user should the products be; should the university, consortium (such as CAUDIT) or the vendor be branding the product. Other issues were if individual or even consortia of universities were large enough to be a viable market, or do they just have to use what the industry offers.

What seemed to me to be lacking was the business model: who is going to pay for this and will they see it as worth paying for? Universities naturally think in terms of products for their students on their campus. They do not want to point out to their students that there is a wider world out there they could get educational services from.

External Hosting of University IT Facilities

This is very much a conference about the relationship between academia and business. This was best illustrated by the session on "Managing Relationships with External Learning Management System Providers". Allan Sieper, ANU, talked about the need to understand what is in the contract with the LMS provider (ANU uses NetSpot to provide Moodle). In my view having an external provider can be good for internal university ICT management as it makes the processes explicit. The external provider costs money and so this encourages thought into what is important to provide and what is not.

Alan Arnold from University of Canberra (who also use NetSpot to provide Moodle) explained how it took only six months to migrate from Web CT to Moodle. UoC avoids the term LMS and refers to edgeless support for learning and teaching (ANU re-badged its LMS as "Wattle"). The UoC system has over 400,000 quiz questions in it and so gets used "a lot". NetSpot staff sit on the same governance board with senior university educational staff. It occurs to me that this could be as valuable as the LMS itself, as the vendor can help educate university people on governance of ICT projects. Alan showed a graph with LMS use increasing exponentially (40% per year), while the cost per user is decreasing steadily.

Minh-Tam Nguyen, UoC, mentioned that they use Yammer for staff discussion of the facilities.

Marina Lobastov, ANU, talked about the distributed approach where educational designers are located in the university's colleges, with a relatively small central support unit. She pointed out some interesting and unusual uses, such as teaching Sanskrit online.

One of the audience asked about the implications of student data hosted off-site. Minh-Tam replied that UoC does authentication at the university, so NetSpot does not have the student's passwords. Also marks are in a separate system. Allan explained that ANU addressed privacy in the contract, requiring the contractor to meet Australian privacy laws. To me this seems a non-issue for data hosted in Australia, but is an important issue if the data is sent out of the country (I cover this in my records management course at ANU).

E-learning in Remote Aboriginal Communities

Dennis Sharpe, Memorial University of Newfoundland discussed a study of "E-learning in Small Remote Aboriginal Communities". They found that web based learning was accepted as a viable option for remote locations, using both asynchronous and synchronous. Some students use the e-learning as a supplement to a face to face program, others have it for all schooling. Some of the students are adults returning to education. Pre and in service training for teachers was considered essential.

Dennis commented web based learning was not a cheap option. Also he pointed out that aboriginal students will miss weeks or months of schooling due to the need to go on hunting trips and courses need to accommodate this.

Pre-service (B.Ed.) courses were found to lack on-line pedagogy, web based technology and aboriginal cultural perspective. Provinces do not require on-line teacher education. Dennis pointed out that some of the school systems had vocational higher education articulated programs which were useful.

I asked Dennis if the same web based system used by the students could be used for teacher in-service training. He said this worked very well, with teachers forming on-line support groups.

This is all very relevant to Australia, which in addition to remote aboriginal communities, have itinerant communities which conventional schools do not cater for. One example are the travelling show people, for whom the Queensland government provided mobile schools. While this is not my area of expertise, my suggestion would be rather than treat these students as a special case, the curriculum should be available online to all students, so they all have this option.

Research Administration Online

Simon Porter from University of Melbourne talked about "eResearch Administration: The Game will change". He demonstrated the on-line information provided about staff at University of Melbourne. This provides a list of publications by each staff member. They also produce diagrams of who collaborates with who.

University of Melbourne no longer asks staff what publications they have produced and instead harvests this from published sources (a technique I have suggested for ANU). Apart from decreasing the administrative burden for staff it also reduces the problems of verification.

University of Melbourne is expanding this approach to use ViVo to create semantic web based system for universities. This looks useful for other universities.

One disappointment is that most of the detailed information about what University of Melbourne staff research is not available to the public. Given that this work is mostly publicly funded, in my view the University of Melbourne should not withhold it from the public.

Higher Education High Horizons

The closing keynote talk on the first day was "Visions of the higher education horizon: possible futures" by Bryan Alexander, NITLE. But Bryan's vision was still somewhat limited. He saw a future where scholarly papers were "peer reviewed" by anyone human on the planet. I suggest that it is likely that AI systems will also be used to peer review papers. Apart from this there will be a system of reputation as used on LinkedIn: anyone will be able to review a paper, but the amount of weight that carries will depend on your reputation, as judged by your peers.

Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education

Stephen Marshall, Victoria University of Wellington, talked on "Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education in the Asia/Pacific Region". This was the result of a small research project on what is happening in the region. Organisations involved included DeHub, INQAAHE. Issues included social inclusion, role of commercial providers, international providers and open universities. Other issues are the provision of Internet access and copyright.

What I found interesting was that there was no mention of the role of professional and industry bodies. These provide a form of international regulation, sometimes with and sometimes without government endorsement. An example is the ACS which sets standards for IT education in Australia and is part of international bodies settings standards.

A consortium of DE Hub, the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), The International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE), and the Australasian Council on Open, Distance and ELearning (ACODE) is undertaking a pilot review of formal and informal literature of regulatory frameworks for distance education (DE) in the Southwest Pacific/South East Asia Region. The existing laws, policies, rules and regulations related to distance and online education in the region will be collated and posted in an open source database. The frameworks of countries within the region will be compared for similarities and differences, in particular, highlighting those elements that hinder development in distance education. The comparative analysis will be discussed in the context of other recent research into regulation of distance education. Case studies will provide examples of distance and online education regulatory practice currently extant within the region. The outcomes of the project will be disseminated using an open source content management system published on the ICDE website and linked to the websites of the collaborative partners i.e. DE Hub, AUQA, INQAAHE and ACODE to ensure convenient access for the various stakeholders with an interest in regulatory frameworks for distance education. This will provide a portable, scalable resource. Deliverables will include a final report providing a contextual overview of distance education in the region and outlining the project and analytical results, and a database of the regulatory frameworks for distance education in the region.

From: Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education, International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), 2010

Online Student Conferences for Assessment

Michael Nycyk, Curtin University talked on "Online Student Conferences as Assessment Instruments". The Internet studies students were required to organise and run an academic online conference as part of their course "Debating Communities and Networks Conference 2010". They had to write their own paper and review others and were assessed on this.

Michael commented that the students were excessively polite in their online discussion. Also there were a limited number of postings by students. Michael commented that ACS with its ACS Computer Professional Education Program take a firmer approach to requiring students to contribute to forums (I use the same approach at ANU). Curtin will likely take this approach for next year.

The idea of an online conference by and for students is one which could be adopted more widely. It requires less resources than the type of face-to-face symposia organised for PHD students and would provide this experience for a wider range of students. Also real conferences will be moving to this online format and so students will need experience of this.

Library of the future

Mal Booth, UTS, talked on "How we are taking UTS to the library of the future". It was refreshing to have a presenter who invited the audience to find the notes for their talk online and read it. Unfortunately as the material is in Slideshare it is very difficult to read and access.

As was said at the Learning Commons forum in Brisbane last week, UTS claims to be at the forefront of the use of RFID in libraries. While criticising the RFID industry for not being innovative, Mal did not actually say what UTS were using it for. At question time I asked and he replied they want to use RFID to track books in the library so they know what is used where. They might have RFID readers on book trolleys and have mobile checkout devices. Mal said that the industry has difficulty with providing this. It did not sound like a very advanced requirement and is something the UTS engineers would be able to produce quickly, even if the library industry could not.

Mal praised the Philological Library at Freie Universität, Berlin. He argued that design can be sued to have an open design which discourages inappropriate behaviour without having to have as many walls and doors.

Mal also mentioned the British Library Business and IP Centre, which has materials to help start-up businesses.

What occurred to me was that Mal is showing lots of examples of physical buildings, but few of what the library's online services look like. Most clients will rarely visit the physical library, it will be the online interface they see most (and online materials are what most of the money will be spent on). So more emphasis has to be placed on how the library looks online.

Next Generation Learning

Diana Oblinger, President of Educause, talked on "Next Generation Learning". She pointed out that the US and Australian goals for increased participation in post secondary education will require courses to be provided for people had not expected to do them. To me that does not appear a new challenge. The vocational education sector has been running courses for people who are not the typical academic student. It also makes use of teachers who are not traditional academics.

Diana mentioned Purdue University’s Signals system. This detects student behavoiur online which indicates they are having problems and suggests help. This has shown to be effective. She claimed that blended learning was liked by students and staff.

E-books are worth it

Ksenija Mincic-Obradovic, University of Auckland Library talked on "E-books: how can we show they are worth it?". Ksenija showed statistics on the borrowing of paper and e-book copies of the same works, showing the electronic versions are accessed far more often than the paper books. She pointed out that students are borrowing these books because they are required to for courses, not for casual browsing. She also pointed out that proper cataloguing of e-books is just as important as for paper books. The university provides an e-learning course to familiarise both students and staff with e-books.

McKenzie Wark Through the Looking Glass

McKenzie Wark talked on "Alice Through the Looking Glass". He argued that there was no millennial generation of students who are comfortable with technology. Students producing a "newspaper" still want to see it in print.

I tried to find where I first came across McKenzie, so I did a web search and found a Libertus.net entry on the Austrlaian Senate Committee on Internet censorship 1997. This has a link to McKenzie Wark's commentary and my commentary.

McKenzie talked about Betaville, an "open-source multiplayer environment for real cities". The idea being that the public can experience proposed buildings and art installations before they are built (or ones which are completely virtual).

"The Beach Beneath the Street: The Everyday Life and Glorious Times of the Situationist International" is a graphic novel coming out in June 2011.

McKenzie pointed out that the cost of software distorts the education process. If students can't afford the software they learnt on after they graduate, them may have to enrol in a further course just to get access. He therefore argues for open access tools at unviersity. He suggested that courses should teach media students about rival video standards and the benefits of open formats. He pointed out that game engines can be sued for creating videos, without using conventional movie making tools.

McKenzie argued that blogs are not a useful way to interact about a large text work. He pointed out that with a blog there will be a large lump of text from the blogger and then comments tacked on at the end. Instead he showed an interface showing the comments as stacked cards, linked to sections in the text. This reminded me of an early Apple Mackintosh application which used a card metaphor.

McKenzie explained that giving books away online helps print sales. He said he did not understand why this works and that publishers are willing to try this as they are so desperate for sales. I suspect that this only works for well know authors.

McKenzie demonstrated an animated online graphic novel. This looked okay, but he commented it can't be found with a web search.

Monsters, eduPunks

Richard Katz presented the last talk of the conference on "Close note: Monsters, eduPunks, devils, and things that go bump in the night: Reflections of an educational optimist on a sector gone Gothic". It was not clear to me what this talk was about. But he got my attention by mentioning an Oxford debate over having compulsory lectures. Richard also mentioned Alex Reid, former director of the Oxford Computer Centre, who clarified this arose over a legal case. I found "Oxford lecture attendance could become legal requirement" (by Liz Ford, guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 31 January 2006 11.29 GMT). Oxford decided not to adopt this.

Exhibition

There is an extensive and excellent exhibition of vendors associated with the conference. One vendor which got my attention was Symplectic, a UK based company which supplies software to help academics get their papers published.

Microsoft were demonstrating a coffee table touch screen, similar to (but not as good as) the "MultiTouch Cell" units used for the National Museum of Australia (NMA) Yiwarra Kuju Exhibition.

Up Coming Events

The conference pack contained details of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education 2011 conference (ascilite 2011), in Hobart 4-7 December 2011 and Questnet 2011 is 12-15 July 2011.

Program

Sunday 3 April 2011: Meetings, Tall Ships Cruise, and Conference Welcome

13:15 - 14:45	Meeting space available	Meeting space available	Tall Ships Cruise and Lunch: Departs 13:15 from Campbell’s Cove, The Rocks (Adjacent to Hyatt Hotel). Concludes 15:45 at Darling Harbour.
15:00 - 15:45	CAUDIT Procurement Update and Discussion (All welcome)	Meeting space available
16:00 - 16:45	CAUDIT Orientation Session (All welcome)	Meeting space available
17:00 - 17:45	Meeting space available	Joint meeting of the conference Organising, Program, and Conference Experience Committees
18:00 - 19:30	Conference Welcome Reception

Monday 4 April 2011: Conference Day 1

8:30 - 9:00	Registration and coffee					The Lounge
9:00 - 10:50	Opening plenary Session chair: Peter James, Conference Chair
9:00 - 9:10	Welcome: Ross Milbourne, Vice-Chancellor, University of Technology, Sydney
9:10 - 10:00	Special Guest Speaker
10:00 - 10:50	Keynote: Changing the Game Brad Wheeler, CIO Indiana University
10:50 - 11:15	Morning tea
11:15 - 12:50	Strategy and IT Session chair: Peter Nissen, CAUDIT	Challenging the role of the library Session chair: Jemima McDonald, UTS	Course and learning management tools Session chair: Ric Canale, La Trobe University	Lightning rounds Convener: Heath Marks, AAF	Sponsors Session chair: Chris Foley, Murdoch University	The Lounge
11:15 - 11:35	Get past technology and define what you do Peter Hicks, Curtin University	Playful Engagement as Serious Strategy Suzana Sukovic, University of Sydney, and Ashley England, UTS	Integrated Course Data Management – a Strategic Approach Richard Lamb, University of South Australia	Lightning round: Innovative federation uses: Telescopes, labs, and clouds Convener: Heath Marks, AAF	TechnologyOne: QUT Case Study: Implementing a Real Time Event Driven Solution for Student Management SystemsWayne Oswin, QUT	Meet Peter James, Conference Chair and Brad Wheeler, Keynote speaker
11:40 - 12:00	It is better to travel hopefully than it is to arrive: A journey in IT strategy at the University of Adelaide David Munro, University of Adelaide	No More Us and Them: Mobile Support for Clients and Staff at UTS LibrarySophie McDonald and Rajan Davio, UTS	CourseBuilder: elearning enabler Ashwini Datt, University of Auckland		Emerson Network Power Smart Solutions: Delivering Efficiency Without Compromise™ for Higher Learning Institutions Eoin Coghlan, CCNA
12:05 - 12:25	The IT Strategic Planning Journey at the University of Newcastle Frank Herb and Carey Steller, University of Newcastle	The organisation has changed: Joining libraries, eLearning, IT and facilities management to meet new challenges Sue McKnight, University of Canterbury	Personalising the ePortfolio Experience Shane Sutherland, Pebble Learning	Lightning round: The Future of Identity Federations – where will they add value? Convener: Heath Marks, AAF	Adobe
12:30 - 12:50	A New IT Framework to Enable Effective Change Terry Nikkel, University of New Brunswick	A new role for QUT Library Natalie Ryan, QUT	Green IT Departments, Green Libraries – Moving Forward Malcolm Wolski, Griffith University		Blackboard:Driving User Adoption and Institutional Success through a Strategic and Flexible approach to Professional Development Sarah Morgan and Kimberly Hillyard, Blackboard	Meet Gordon Suddaby, ACODE President and Chris Cahill, Program Committee Chair
12:50 - 14:00	Lunch
12:50 - 14:00	CAUDIT Leadership Institute Alumni Reunion
14:00 - 14:45	Strategy and IT Session chair: Lynnae Rankine, UWS	Models for supporting learning and research Session chair: Alison Slocombe, Southern Cross University	Enterprise systems Session chair: Jenny Leonard, University of Sydney	Lightning rounds Convener: Alan Sieper, ANU	Sponsors Convener: Ian Poole, Integ	The Lounge
14:00 - 14:20	The Five Critical Success Factors That Define Success in Achieving Business Technology and Process Change Mark D Nicholls, Information Professionals	A hybrid approach – The best of both worlds: A narrative account of Griffith University’s re-structuring of academic blended learning support and student literacy support Kevin Ashford-Rowe, Griffith University	Pimp My Research Management System Stuart Lewis, University of Auckland	Lightning round: Managing Relationships with External Learning Management System Providers Convener: Allan Sieper, ANU	Integ:Changing the Game: A Panel DiscussionHost: Ian Poole, CEO Integ GroupSpeakers: Peter James, UTS, Mark Buckley, Alcatel-Lucent, and Felicity Threadgate, postgraduate student
14:25 - 14:45	Higher Education Essentials for Strategic BI Darren Dadley, UTS	A new (multiplayer) model of academic library support for research Alissa Sputore and Robin Gardner, University of Melbourne	Revolutionary Approach on how to improve Business Continuity Management at a University Alexandre Medarov and Linden Vazey, University of Auckland			Meet Richard Northam, CAUDIT General Manager
14:45 - 15:05	Coffee break
15:05 - 16:30	Afternoon plenary Session chair: Paul Sherlock, CAUDIT President
15:05 - 15:10	Announcements
15:10 - 15:40	Featured talk: Changing the Game: Building the Sustainable Library Maxine Brodie, Macquarie University
15:40 - 16:10	Gold sponsor featured talk: Intelligent Virtual Infrastructure – Building and Managing Your Cloud Michael Warrilow, Manager of Products and Solutions for VMware Asia Pacific and Japan
16:10 - 17:00	Keynote: Visions of the higher education horizon: possible futures Bryan Alexander, Director of Research NITLE
17:00 - 18:15	Posters reception					Meet Featured speakers Bryan Alexander and Maxine Brody (17:00 - 17:20)

Tuesday 5 April 2011: Conference Day 2

8:00 - 8:35	Registration and coffee					The Lounge
8:35 - 10:30	Morning plenary Session chair: Chris Cahill, Program Committee Chair
8:35 - 9:10	Cisco Platinum sponsor featured talk: Video Inspiring Innovation in Teaching & Learning Lance Ford, University of Maine, US and Kristine G Held, Madison Area Technology Colledge, US
9:10 - 9:35	Featured talk: The Future of the IT Department – will it survive the cloud? Nick Tate, RDSI
9:35 - 10:25	Keynote: The Gifts Change Brings Shirley Alexander, DVC (Teaching, Learning and Equity), University of Technology Sydney
10:25 - 10:30	Announcements
10:30 - 11:00	Morning tea
11:00 - 12:35	Portfolio, program and project management Session chair: Tracy Huntleigh-Smith, University of Otago	Research data management and eResearch Session chair: Howard Amos, University of Otago	How new ways of learning are changing universities Session chair: Janne Malfroy, UWS	CIO stream Session chair: Richard Northam, CAUDIT	Sponsors Session chair: Steve Johnston, CAUDIT	The Lounge
11:00 - 11:20	CAUDIT domestic study tour 2010: a new community of practice in portfolio, program and project management Paul Cullen, Charles Sturt University	*A Framework for University Research Data Management Malcolm Wolski and Joanna Richardson, Griffith University	Technology Design for Formal and Informal learning Spaces in the Facebook age Jason Wheatley and Nick Gilbert, University of Sydney	A half-day session aimed at CIOs and IT Directors	echo360:Video media in education after the NBNDavid Cummings, Victoria University
11:25 - 11:45	IT P3M and Delivery@Griffith Sudath Wijeratne and Ian Smith, Griffith University	Setting a focus – creating a research database one-stop-shop through cross divisional collaboration Patricia Scott, Deakin University	Growth of E-Learning in Small Remote Aboriginal Communities: Implications for University Teacher Education Programs Dennis Sharpe, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada		Desire2Learn:Enhancing student engagement through online and mobile technologiesIan Smissen, Desire2Learn
11:50 - 12:10	Portfolio Management: Art or Science? Diane Bussey, University of Auckland	eResearch Administration: The game will change Simon Porter, University of Melbourne	*Informal learning on the Internet and its importance to curriculum Deirdre Wilmott, Ballarat University		Blackboard Technologies: Getting More from What You’ve Got! Chris Eske and Ben Carmichael, Blackboard
12:15 - 12:35	Benefit Management – An Oxymoron? Diane Bussey, University of Auckland	E-research university partnerships revisited Linda O’Brien, Griffith University	Whose game are we playing? Learning, digital technology and crises of identity Herbert Thomas, University of Canterbury		IBM:Mark VeitchSales DirectorTivoli Endpoint Manager
12:35 - 14:00	Lunch
12:35 - 13:15	Incoming and Outgoing Conference Committee Meeting
14:00 - 14:45	Shared services and attracting talented IT staff Session chair: Peter Gale, UTS	Strategy and scholarly information Session chair: Andrew Wells, UNSW	How new ways of learning are changing universities Session chair: Sarah Lambert, University of Wollongong	Transforming spaces and Staff development for eLearning Session chair: Alison Neal, UNSW	Sponsors Session chair: Paul Campbell, ACU	The Lounge
14:00 - 14:20	A Journey Shared Mat Myers and Geoffrey Brown, University of Sydney	Eyes on the horizon, tackling the weeds: making organisational strategy into reality Donna McRostie and Margaret Ruwoldt, University of Melbourne	Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education in the Asia/Pacific Region Stephen Marshall, Victoria University of Wellington	Design for the New Millennium: Transforming Learning and Service Spaces Wendy Abbott and Grace Saw, Bond University	Netspot:Reflections on La Trobe’s Moodle implementationRic Canale, La Trobe University and James Strong, Netspot	Meet Nick Tate, Featured speaker and Paul Sherlock, CAUDIT President
14:25 - 14:45	Attracting, developing and retaining talented IT professionals Sophie Kysil and Peter Nissen, CAUDIT	The Only Constant is Change – Innovation in Scholarly Communication Philip Kent and Donna McRostie, University of Melbourne	*Online Student Conferences as Assessment Instruments: A Case Study of Knowledge Acquisition Michael Nycyk, Curtin University	*Staff Development For E-Learning: New Playing Field, New Rules Ian Olney and Lynnae Rankine, University of Western Sydney	Enterasys:Gaining Network Visibility and Control on the Education CampusJulian Critchlow, Enterasys	Meet Peter James, Conference Chair and Chris Cahill, Program Committee Chair
14:45 - 15:05	Coffee break
15:05 - 16:35	Afternoon plenary Session chair: Gordon Suddaby, ACODE President
15:05 - 15:10	Announcements
15:10 - 15:40	Featured talk: How we are taking the UTS library into the future Mal Booth, University of Technology, Sydney
15:40 - 16:30	Keynote: Next Generation Learning Diana Oblinger, President and CEO, EDUCAUSE
16:40 - 17:00						Meet Featured speakers Diana Oblinger and Mal Booth
18:30 - 22:00	Conference dinner

Wednesday 6 April 2011: Conference Day 3

8:15 - 8:45	Registration and coffee					The Lounge
8:45 - 10:30	Morning plenary Session chair: Cathrine Harboe-Ree, CAUL President
8:45 - 9:10	Gold sponsor featured talk: Microsoft Office 365 in Education Reed Wotiz, Director of Live Services, Microsoft Asia Pacific
9:10 - 9:35	Featured talk: Going international: The New Zealand Virtual World Grid Scott Diener, University of Auckland
9:35 - 10:25	Keynote: Alice Through the Looking Glass McKenzie Wark, Associate Dean Eugene Lang College, the New School for the Liberal Arts
10:25 - 10:30	Announcements
10:30 - 11:00	Morning tea
11:00 - 12:35	Emerging technologies: Challenging the role of IT Session chair: Kerrie Newcombe, UTS	Libraries supporting learning Session chair: Jennifer Peasley, Macquarie University	Student success and retention Session chair: Maree Gosper, Macquarie University	Point/counterpoint Session chair: Patricia McMillan, CAUDIT	Sponsors	The Lounge
11:00 - 11:20	*Infecting professional staff with the emerging technology ‘virus’: how the leadership game has changedLisa Cluett, Judy Skene and Mark Pegrum, University of Western Australia	Won Bronze, now aiming for Gold – Implementing a sustainable model for using information to learn at The University of AucklandLi Wang and Hester Mountfield, University of Auckland	Enabling Student SuccessGrace Lynch and Kara Robinson, Open Universities Australia	Point/counterpoint: Cognitive Surplus or The Shallows: Is the Internet making us stupid? Patricia McMillan, CAUDIT and Geoffrey Brown, University of Sydney		Meet Featured speakers McKenzie Wark and Scott Diener
11:25 - 11:45	Driving emerging technology evaluation with the STREET process Matthias Liffers, Murdoch University	Playing the game: adapting the LMS to engage the Library liaison team in sustainable activities in order to promote the embedding of seamless learning support Judy Fisher and Simon Hart, University of Otago	Bringing learning to regional communities: designing the game Barbara Cram, University of Canberra			Meet Richard Northam, CAUDIT General Manager and Cathrine Harboe-Ree, CAUL President
11:50 - 12:10	Improving Moodle’s Assessment Facilities – a UniSA Perspective Richard Lamb and Wayne Pedder, University of South Australia	Monash University Library & E-Learning: Shaping the Future Lisa Smith and Steven Yates, Monash University	Changing The Game: The SMARTHINKING Experience Kevin Ashford-Rowe and Debi Howarth, Griffith University	Point/counterpoint: Is there a library in the future? Barbara Goldsmith and Sean Riley, UTS; Convener: Jemima McDonald, UTS		Caudit P3MCOP Introduction and Open Discussion Hosted by Paul Cullen, Charles Sturt University
12:15 - 12:35	Using mobile devices to access data and systems – The experience at the University of Queensland’s School of Medicine Hans Dauncy, University of Queensland	Enhancing the Student Experience for Transitioning Students Lynda Cooper, University of Wollongong	Students choosing the players but the game stays the same: Accessing student academic support via an online Smarthinking service Philip Paasuke, Open Universities Australia			Meet Paul Sherlock, CAUDIT President and Richard Katz, Featured speaker
12:35 - 14:00	Lunch
12:35 - 14:00	Joint CAUDIT, CAUL and ACODE Executive Committee Meeting
14:00 - 14:45	Virtualization and Clouds Session chair: Geoffrey Brown, University of Sydney	E-books and scholarly resource discovery Session chair: Peter Green, Curtin University	Designing spaces and organisations Session chair: Tracy Huntleigh-Smith, University of Otago	New skills for the new game Session chair: Heath Marks, AAF	Sponsors	The Lounge
14:00 - 14:20	Virtualization: The need to know what is going onTim Chaffe, University of Auckland	E-books – how can we show they’re worth it? Ksenija Mincic-Obradovic, University of Auckland	The Opening of a new Campus in Manukau City – A contemporary approach to learning, teaching and the student experience. Richard Molitor, AUT University	Do technical skills matter anymore in a university IT Department? Peter Nikoletatos, Curtin University
14:25 - 14:45	My boss used to tell me I had my head in the clouds, now my strategy is in the cloud Richard Northam, CAUDIT	Discovering scholarly resources: the student experience Julia Gross and Lutie Sheridan, Edith Cowan University	Integrated design – the nexus between curriculum and space at La Trobe University Library Geoff Payne and Fiona Salisbury, La Trobe University	Distance learning and affectivity: the tutor’s role in keeping students’ enthusiasm in the virtual environment Alexandre Graeml, Positivo University, Brazil		Meet Cathrine Harboe-Ree, CAUL President and Gordon Suddaby, ACODE President
14:45 - 15:05	Coffee break
15:05 - 16:15	Closing plenary Session chair: Peter James, Conference Chair
15:05 - 15:55	Close note: Monsters, eduPunks, devils, and things that go bump in the night: Reflections of an educational optimist on a sector gone Gothic Richard N Katz
15:55 - 16:10	Closing matters — End of conference
16:10 - 17:15	Sundowner social